MLB Player News

Darvish (elbow) has been playing long toss out to 180 feet, but he's likely at least three weeks away from being activated off the injured list, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Darvish landed on the 15-day injured list in late March due to right elbow inflammation. The veteran hurler threw 11 pitches to a catcher standing up in the bullpen at less-than-full intensity Saturday, per Talking Friars, so he at least seems to be making some progress, but it doesn't appear that he's close to seeing game action. Acee suggests that Darvish will need multiple bullpen sessions and a minimum of two minor-league rehab appearances before he's able to join San Diego's rotation, putting his earliest possible return date in early May.

Suarez (back) struck out four while giving up one hit and no walks over three innings in his first rehab start Thursday with Single-A Clearwater.

Suarez's first competitive appearance since his March 9 Grapefruit League start against the Orioles went about as well as the Phillies could have hoped; he fired 24 of his 33 pitches for strikes and faced the minimum over three innings while not allowing a ball to leave the infield. He's expected to stick around with Clearwater for his next rehab start Tuesday and will be targeting around four innings and 55 pitches, per Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Suarez will most likely need at least one more rehab appearance after Tuesday before being deemed ready to return from the 15-day injured list.

General manager Dana Brown said Sunday that the Astros' series with the Royals that runs from April 25 through 27 could be a potential target for McCullers' (forearm) season debut, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports. "That would be pretty encouraging, but we don't want to rush it," Brown said.

McCullers made the third start of his minor-league rehab assignment Saturday with Triple-A Sugar Land and delivered his best performance yet; he struck out five over four scoreless innings, yielding just one hit and one walk. He covered 61 pitches in the outing, inducing 13 whiffs while averaging 91.4 miles per hour on his 13 sinkers, 80.5 mph on 13 curveballs and 85.1 mph on 12 sliders, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. All of those velocity readings were a couple ticks below his averages from his last healthy season in 2022, but McCullers noted that it's not an unexpected development, and he's happy overall with how his surgically repaired forearm has been responding coming out of his first three rehab starts. According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, McCullers will shift his rehab to Double-A Corpus Christi for his fourth rehab start next weekend. He's expected to reach 75-to-80 pitches in that outing, and if all goes well, he'll be activated from the 15-day injured list to make his 2025 Astros debut during the Kansas City series.

Rodriguez worked in relief in Thursday's 7-2 loss to the Rockies, retiring one batter via strikeout and allowing a double to the other batter he faced.

With Jose Quintana completing his ramp-up program at Triple-A Nashville and getting called up to make his Brewers debut Friday, Rodriguez ended up shifting to the bullpen. The Brewers' decision to drop Rodriguez from the rotation came as little surprise, as he had served up 11 earned runs on 14 hits and two walks over nine innings between his two starts. He'll likely see most of his usage in lower-leverage spots moving forward.

Woodruff (shoulder) struck out five and allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks over 3.2 innings in his first rehab start Saturday with Triple-A Nashville.

Woodruff had made a one-inning appearance toward the end of the Cactus League, but his start Saturday with Nashville represented his first in-season game action since Sept. 23, 2023, as he missed the entire 2024 campaign while recovering from right shoulder surgery. He was generally sharp during the outing, spotting 44 of his 66 pitches for strikes and topping out at 94.4 miles per hour with his fastball. Woodruff is likely to make at least two more starts in the minors before potentially returning from the 15-day injured list and joining the Milwaukee rotation in early May.

Woods Richardson (1-1) earned the win Sunday, allowing one run on five hits with no walks over five innings against Detroit. He struck out five.

Woods Richardson had a solid outing with a slight increase in velocity to a max 95.9 mph fastball after two lackluster starts to begin the season. He likely needed a strong outing to remain in the rotation with David Festa making a case for keeping a starting role and Zebby Matthews pitching well at Triple-A.

Myers (oblique) struck out one batter while allowing three earned runs on six hits and one walk over five innings in his rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Nashville.

Making the second start of his rehab assignment, Myers topped out at 94.1 miles per hour with his four-seam fastball and built up to 60 pitches (42 strikes). He'll look to push his pitch count up into the 75-to-80 range in his next outing with Nashville, which could be his last before returning from the 15-day injured list and making his season debut with the Brewers.

Hendricks (0-1) yielded five runs on four hits and three walks over four innings Sunday, striking out one and taking a loss against Houston.

All the damage against Hendricks came during a disastrous second inning, capped off by Isaac Paredes' three-run shot. Hendricks tossed 48 of 79 pitches for strikes and forced only two whiffs. He had allowed only two runs through 11 innings before Sunday's rough outing. His ERA jumped to 4.20 with a lackluster 9:5 K:BB through 15 frames. Hendricks is currently in line for a home start against the Giants next week.

Atlanta is planning to activate Strider (elbow) from the 15-day injured list to make his season debut Wednesday in Toronto, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Shortly after Strider completed his third and final rehab start with Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday, Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said that the right-hander was on track to return from the IL during the upcoming week. While Atlanta has yet to officially confirm that Strider will debut Wednesday, the 26-year-old felt good during his bullpen session Sunday and will take the hill for the series finale in Toronto, barring any unforeseen setbacks with his arm. Strider is just over a year removed from undergoing internal brace surgery on his right elbow, but he exhibited no signs of rust during his two Grapefruit League starts and three rehab outings. He got stretched out to 5.1 innings and 90 pitches in his final start with Gwinnett, striking out 13 of the 21 batters he faced while inducing 21 swings-and-misses. Atlanta likely won't push Strider past the 100-pitch mark Wednesday, but given how strong he's looked during his time on the farm, fantasy managers who have been stashing him will likely want to activate him right away this week.

Glasnow did not factor into the decision in Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Cubs, pitching six innings while allowing two runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out seven.

After yielding five runs over two innings in his previous outing, Glasnow looked much sharper in this 98-pitch effort but generated a middling seven whiffs. The two blemishes on the right-hander's evening were a pair of solo shots -- one by Pete Crow-Armstrong in the third, the other by Michael Busch in the sixth. Through 13 innings, Glasnow's ERA now stands at 4.85 and is paired with a 17:9 K:BB. He currently lines up to make his next start against the Rangers on the road next weekend.