MLB Player News

Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu (2-1) permitted a season-high five runs and eight hits over six innings during Los Angeles' 7-5 loss at Baltimore in an interleague game Saturday. Ryu was unable to protect a 4-0 lead after two innings and surrendered three of his runs on a pair of homers to finish with a no-decision.

The left-hander entered the matchup on a two-game winning streak, but watched his ERA spill over four for the first time this season to 4.01. He draws the Mets on the road during his next projected start Thursday.

Diamondbacks starting pitcher Patrick Corbin should be worth picking up and sticking in your lineup for Fantasy Week 4 (April 22-28), according to Al Melchoir's pitching planner. Melchoir ranks Corbin 52nd among all starting options this week, with a pair of starts on the way. He will take on the Giants Tuesday and the Rockies Sunday.

Corbin had an up-and-down rookie season, but he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball through the early part of this season. Through three starts, Corbin is 2-0, with a 1.42 ERA. Corbin is the fourth-most added player in CBSSports.com Fantasy leagues but is still available in 42 percent of leagues as of Saturday.

During his first three starts for Triple-A Las Vegas, Mets pitching prospect Zack Wheeler has lacked the effectiveness that helped land him a spot on nearly every prospect list prior to the 2013 season.

That trend continued during his fourth outing Friday against Sacramento (Athletics) as he issued six walks -- matching his total from the previous three games combined -- and struck out just four over 4 1/3 innings.

Wheeler, who reportedly underwent an MRI for a blister on his middle finger last week, was also charged with three hits and four runs as his ERA swelled to 8.31 on the season. The right-hander has yet to complete more than 5 1/3 innings in any of his starts.

"That's a red flag and I don't want to see walks from those guys," Mets manager Terry Collins told ESPN.com on Saturday. "We know one thing with Zack's history, he doesn't walk a lot of guys, so when I saw the six base on balls today, there's got to be a reason for it. He's got good enough zone that if he pounds the zone, he'll get people out."

To say Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright has been in control through the early part of the season would be an understatement. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wainwright is the first player since 1900 to record 28 strikeouts and no walks in his first four starts, setting himself up for a run at team history.

The veteran right-hander has faced a staggering 128 batters since yielding his last walk during the regular season, which came to then-Nationals pitcher Edwin Jackson. For the season, he is sporting a solid 3-1 record and 2.48 ERA.

"If I get three-balls counts I'm not just casting heaters down the middle," Wainwright told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "There are a couple times last game that I threw a curveball. ... Just because I may not be walking people doesn’t mean it’s not still pitching."

The Braves have plenty of experience with young pitchers and their growing pains, so they aren't panicking about Julio Teheran's poor start.

"I think it's a process," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez told MLB.com Friday. "The Braves have always been in a position to keep running them out there."

Teheran's ERA is 7.31, but the Braves have worked through growing pains with successful pitchers like Brandon Beachy and Mike Minor.

"We've got to be patient with him," Gonzalez said. "Yesterday we could have easily got him out of that situation and put somebody else in there. But we didn't. We let him get out of it."

Gonzalez knows what Teheran can do based on his minor-league production, as well as the 1.04 ERA in six spring starts that earned him his place in his rotation. According to MLB.com, Teheran has struggled to command his fastball and has not had confidence in his offspeed pitches. Teheran's fastball velocity averages 91.0, down from 92.1 last season, according to PitchFx data. He has thrown just 54.6 percent of his fastballs for strikes. 

"Everybody, including myself, saw the spring training success," Gonzalez said. "But it's not spring training any more. The lights are on and he's facing major-league hitters. It's a process of going through this stuff."

Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg was unable to stop his losing streak Friday against the Mets, who scored two unearned runs in the first inning after an error by shortstop Ian Desmond.

Strasburg's wild pitch scored the first run and the second came on two-out RBI single by John Buck. Strasburg (1-3) allowed two solo home runs in the sixth inning to end his night. He struck out six, walked two and allowed five hitsinthe 7-1 loss. After the game, he downplayed losing to Mets' phenom Matt Harvey (4-0).  

"It's funny because you guys want to make a big deal out of all this, but every game's huge for me," he said. "I want to go out there and want to help this team and it doesn't matter who's facing us."

Despite his record, Strasburg has a 2.96 ERA and 1.19 WHIP but has received just seven runs of support in four outings. He faces the Cardinals Wednesday.

Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright  has a chance to make history in his next start. 

Wainwright, who has not allowed a walk in his first four starts (29 innings), needs to go two-thirds of an inning to tie Pea Ridge Day's streak of 29 2/3 innings without a walk, which ranks second in franchise history. 

"I know this is going on," Wainwright told MLB.com. "I am being deliberate about it, that's kind of my intention going out."

Wainwright, who has 28 strikeouts over his 29 innings, will next start Tuesday at Washington.

Dodgers starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu had his scheduled start Friday against the Orioles postponed due to inclement weather. Both teams have scheduled a makeup day-night doubleheader Saturday.

Ryu is scheduled to start the first game of the doubleheader. The left-hander is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in his first three starts.

Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton, who made his first rehab start Thursday night since undergoing Tommy John surgery last summer, earned rave reviews from manager Clint Hurdle. 

Morton needed only 44 pitches to get through three innings for Class A Bradenton and his fastball hit 97 mph on the radar gun. Before his surgery, Morton's fastballs topped out in the mid-90s. 

"He was 92 to 97 [Thursday]," Hurdle told MLB.com, "ninety-seven. It was very encouraging. A very good first step."

Barring setbacks, Morton is expected to rejoin the Pirates by mid-May at the latest. 

Diamondbacks starting pitcher Patrick Corbin had another strong start in Thursday's 6-2 no-decision against the Yankees, allowing one earned run on just two hits and three walks in seven innings while striking out seven.

Corbin surrendered just three hits in his previous start against baseball's other premium-salary franchise, the Dodgers. He'll take a 1.42 ERA into Tuesday's start against the Giants in San Francisco.