MLB Player News

Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said Monday that a determination hasn't been made whether Lorenzen will serve as a starter or reliever with his new team, Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star reports.

The Royals acquired Lorenzen from the Rangers earlier Monday, sending left-hander Walter Pennington to Texas in exchange for the righty. Lorenzen offers the flexibility to pitch out of the rotation and in the bullpen, and how the Royals choose to deploy him could depend on what other moves the Royals make prior to Tuesday's trade deadline. Eighteen of Lorenzen's 19 appearances with the Rangers in 2024 have been as a starter, with his lone relief appearance coming Sunday after Jon Gray (groin) was scratched from his start without throwing a pitch.

Pepiot (knee) will increase the intensity of his throwing in a bullpen session Tuesday, MLB.com reports.

Pepiot threw a lighter bullpen session Saturday, his first significant activity since landing on the injured list. After Tuesday, Pepiot will throw a simulated game or go on a rehab assignment, though the team has not specified its plans.

Houck (8-7) took the loss Sunday against the Yankees, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks while striking out two in six innings.

The Yankees jumped on Houck early with three runs in the first frame and tacked on another in the fourth. Houck gave up four of his five hits in the opening inning and then settled in for his third straight outing reaching six innings. Despite attaining this mark, Houck has shown some regression with his command, posting an 11:14 K:BB in 21.1 innings in July. He's struck out two or fewer batters in three of his last four starts after only having done that once in his first 17 starts of the year. Despite all of this, Houck is still eighth in baseball with a 2.79 ERA to go with a 1.11 WHIP and 116:33 K:BB in 129 innings. He lines up to face the Rangers on the road over the weekend his next time out.

Atlanta recalled Vines from Triple-A Gwinnett on Monday.

Grant Holmes is scheduled to make his first MLB start Monday, but because he hasn't covered more than 3.1 innings in his 10 appearances since joining Atlanta in mid-June, he could be on a limited pitch count in the series opener in Milwaukee. With that in mind, Vines could be needed out of the bullpen to provide length behind Holmes. Vines has been a regular member of Gwinnett's rotation this season, but he's struggled over his three outings (two starts) with the big club in 2024, giving up 11 runs on 17 hits and four walks over 12.2 innings. If he isn't needed to work behind Holmes on Monday, Vines could be a candidate to fill the opening Atlanta has in its rotation for Tuesday's contest versus the Brewers.

Gray plans to undergo imaging in the coming days to determine the severity of the right groin injury that forced him out of his start in Sunday's 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays before the beginning of the first inning, Ethan Diamandas of MLB.com reports.

Gray tweaked his groin during one of his final warmup pitches Sunday, and after consulting with manager Bruce Bochy, the right-hander was pulled from the game without facing a batter. Texas used three relievers to record all 24 outs in an impromptu bullpen day, but the Rangers may need to turn to long relievers Dane Dunning or Jose Urena or call up a pitcher from the minors to make a spot start next weekend against the Red Sox if Gray isn't fully healed from the groin injury by then. The Rangers should have a better feel for Gray's status heading into the weekend once the results of his imaging are in.

Mahle (elbow) struck out three and allowed three earned runs on three hits and one walk over four innings in his rehab start Thursday with Double-A Frisco.

Mahle tossed 55 pitches (34 strikes) in the outing, his second with Frisco and the fifth overall of his minor-league rehab assignment. Over those five starts, Mahle has turned in a 2.03 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 14:3 K:BB in 13.1 innings, and his fastball velocity has mostly sat in the lower 90s -- right in line with his readings from before he underwent Tommy John surgery last May. Mahle will likely look to push up his pitch count to the 60-to-70 range his next time out Wednesday with Triple-A Round Rock in what could be his final minor-league outing before he returns from the 60-day injured list. Texas has an off day coming up Thursday and could be able to get by with a four-man rotation this week before Mahle potentially returns from the IL to make his Rangers debut Aug. 5 against the Astros. The Rangers will have a spot open for Mahle in the rotation after trading Michael Lorenzen to the Royals on Monday.

The Royals acquired Lorenzen from the Rangers on Monday in exchange for left-hander Walter Pennington.

Kansas City has shored up its pitching depth with the acquisition of Lorenzen, though it's not immediately clear if the right-hander will be part of the rotation with his new team, as the Royals have gotten quality results from back-end starters Michael Wacha and Alec Marsh. Lorenzen has plenty of prior experience working in relief, and he could prove to be a more useful weapon at the back end of the Kansas City bullpen, especially after Hunter Harvey (back) and John Schreiber (knee) exited Sunday's game against the Cubs with injuries. Lorenzen had started in 18 of his 19 appearances with Texas this season, logging a 5-6 record, 3.81 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 75:48 K:BB over 101.2 innings. The 32-year-old is set to become a free agent after the season.

Diaz did not factor into the decision in Sunday's loss to the Pirates. He did not allow a run and gave up one hit while walking four and striking out seven over five innings.

The only hit allowed by Diaz was a leadoff single from Andrew McCutchen to begin the game. He had to work around some traffic on the bases in the first and third innings but otherwise put together a fantastic bounce-back outing after getting shelled in his prior start against the Royals. Diaz punched out a career-high seven batters, which included striking out the side in the fourth inning, after only racking up seven strikeouts in his first three career starts. He now owns a 4.05 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 14:8 K:BB in 20 innings so far and lines up for a rematch against the Pirates on the road over the weekend.

Festa is scheduled to start Tuesday's game against the Mets at Citi Field.

After being roughed up for 12 earned runs in 10 innings in his first two big-league starts earlier this summer, Festa was deployed as a bulk reliever in this past Wednesday's game against the Phillies following his call-up from Triple-A St. Paul. Upon entering the game behind opening pitcher Steven Okert, Festa delivered by far his best MLB outing to date, striking out seven over four innings of relief while giving up one earned run on four hits and two walks. Despite Festa's success out of the bullpen, the Twins will give him another look in a starting role when his next turn through the rotation comes up in New York. Festa brings plenty of strikeout upside to the table, though keeping the ball in the yard has been a major issue for the 24-year-old both in the majors and minors in 2024.

Fried (forearm) threw a ball in the outfield before Sunday's game, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

The southpaw didn't appear to be bothered by the nerve inflammation in his forearm that landed him on the IL on July 21. "Max is feeling better," manager Brian Snitker said Sunday. "He'll amp up as they see fit, but just talking to him the last couple of days, I think he likes where he's at right now. No timetable or anything like that, we'll just take it day to day and see where he's at. But it sounds pretty good." It's not yet clear whether Fried will need a rehab assignment before returning to the Atlanta rotation, but with Reynaldo Lopez (forearm) leaving his start early Sunday, the team may have incentive to get Fried back as soon as possible.