MLB Player News

Imanaga (9-10) earned the win against the Marlins on Friday, allowing one run on three hits and no walks with four strikeouts over six innings.

Imanaga cruised through six scoreless innings and was charged with a run in the seventh after departing following a leadoff single. He filled the zone with 64 strikes on 94 pitches while generating a whopping 22 whiffs, including 17 with his splitter. It's been an up-and-down campaign for the 33-year-old, but he's posted a 3.35 ERA with five quality starts in nine outings since the All-Star break. He'll take a 3.91 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 152:35 K:BB across 156.1 innings this season into a road matchup with the Brewers next week.

McLean (11-8) earned the win against the Giants on Friday, allowing two runs on six hits and four walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.

McLean was given an early lead and ran with it despite issuing four walks and generating only seven swinging strikes on 105 pitches. The end result was the 25-year-old's fifth straight quality start, and he's now yielded two earned runs or fewer in 11 of his past 12 outings. He owns a 3.06 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 179:65 K:BB across 161.2 innings this season and lines up for a road matchup with the Marlins next week.

Wilkinson (0-3) took the loss against the Mets on Friday, allowing seven runs (four earned) on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts over three innings.

Six of the seven runs off Wilkinson came via the long ball, and he threw just 36 of 62 pitches for strikes with only three whiffs. The southpaw logged a quality start Saturday but has managed just 8.2 innings over his other three major-league outings since debuting Aug. 19. He'll take a 6.14 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 8:4 K:BB across 14.2 innings with the Giants into a home matchup with the Cardinals next week.

Gray (elbow) would like to pitch in the majors this season, even if it's out of the bullpen, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports. "I think that's the goal for this year, to get innings up here, help the team win some games," the right-hander said Monday from the big-league clubhouse.

It's been a long time since Gray was able to make a contribution for the Nationals, as his last major-league action came April 4, 2024. Since then, he's undergone Tommy John surgery in July of that year, endured a lengthy rehab that only began to ramp up last September, and then dealt with a right flexor strain that cropped up this spring. Gray was able to begin a new rehab assignment at Single-A Fredericksburg in mid-August but has been limited to short outings, working his way up to Double-A Harrisburg on Wednesday and tossing a shutout inning. It's still not clear if the Nationals have any plans to take him off the 60-day IL and find a spot for him on the 40-man roster before the end of the season, but at the very least Gray seems to be on his way to wrapping up the campaign in good health.

Quintana (elbow) is in line to begin a rehab assignment next week, Kevin Henry of The Denver Gazette reports.

Quintana has been steadily building up his pitch count in bullpen sessions since early August as he progresses in his recovery from a left elbow sprain that landed him on the injured list in late May. It's been a lengthy recovery for the veteran southpaw, so even if he's cleared to embark on a rehab assignment, it's unclear whether he'll see major-league action before the conclusion of the regular season.

Freeland (neck) is scheduled to throw an up-and-down bullpen session Saturday, Kevin Henry of The Denver Gazette reports.

Since landing on the injured list Aug. 24 due to cervical radiculopaty, Freeland threw what he called a "fairly aggressive" 20-pitch bullpen session Wednesday, per MLB.com reports. He'll be throwing more of a simulated bullpen session Saturday, and if all goes well, Freeland could be cleared to head out on a brief rehab assignment. Freeland appears to be tracking toward a return from the injured list around the middle of September.

Pallante (elbow) has been activated from the 15-day injured list ahead of his scheduled start against the Rockies on Friday.

Pallante has been officially cleared to return from a two-week stint on the injured list due to right elbow inflammation. He'll take a 3.57 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over 136 innings into Friday's start, his first against the Rockies since July 23, 2025, when he took the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out five batters over five innings. Right-hander Ryan Fernandez was optioned to Triple-A Memphis in a corresponding move.

Cabrera (finger) will continue his rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Friday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Cabrera will be making his second rehab appearance since landing on the injured list in mid-August due to right middle finger blister. In his first outing in the minors on Tuesday with Iowa, Cabrera struck out two batters and allowed one earned run on one hit. The Cubs plan to bring Cabrera back as a reliever, but it's unclear how many more rehab outings beyond Friday he'll require prior to being activated from the IL.

Wilkinson will start Friday's game against the Mets at Citi Field.

The southpaw took a tough-luck loss against Arizona in the first game of last Saturday's doubleheader as the 27th man for the twin bill, but he ended up sticking around with the big club after reliever Sam Hentges (forearm) was placed on the injured list a day later. Wilkinson will be awarded another turn through the rotation and couldmake regular starts for the Giants over the final month of the season if he performs adequately.

Cavalli (calf) is listed as the Nationals' probable pitcher for Saturday's game against the Dodgers.

Cavalli was removed from his last start Saturday versus the Marlins after four innings when he was hit in the calf by a comebacker. However, he checked out fine after the contest and handled his normal between-starts throwing routine with no concerns. Cavalli will enter Saturday's start having gone 7-1 with a 1.83 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 67:14 K:BB over 54 innings covering nine outings in the second half.