MLB Player News

Montgomery will start Game 5 of the ALCS on Friday against Houston, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.

Montgomery shut down the Astros in Game 1, throwing 6.1 scoreless innings while striking out six batters and walking one en route to a victory. Aside from a shaky outing against Baltimore in the ALDS, Montgomery has been solid in the postseason with an overall 2.08 ERA through 17.1 frames.

Verlander will start Game 5 of the ALCS on Friday at Texas, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

An easy call here for Astros manager Dusty Baker. Verlander took the loss in Game 1 of the ALCS on Sunday at Houston, but that was mostly due to a lack of run support. The veteran right-hander has allowed only two runs while tallying 11 strikeouts through 12.2 innings (two starts) this postseason.

Urquidy will start Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday against the Rangers, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

After coming into the postseason with the expectation of working out of the bullpen, Urquidy was granted a start against the Twins in Game 4 of the ALDS and gave up two runs over 5.2 innings. He'll now take the mound for another Game 4 and look to keep quiet a Rangers offense that has slashed .202/.269/.364 through the first three games of the ALCS.

Heaney will start Game 4 of the ALCS on Thursday against the Astros, Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com reports.

Heaney turned in 3.2 innings of one-run ball during his first postseason appearance against Baltimore, and he's now set up to face an Astros lineup that has been relatively quiet through the first three games of the series. Heaney faced the Astros four times during the regular season, giving up six runs across 19.2 innings while striking out 16 batters and walking 11.

Blach went unclaimed off waivers Wednesday and was sent outright to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Blach posted a 5.54 ERA and 1.64 WHIP through 74 innings in 2023, and he'll have the opportunity to elect free agency in the offseason. The 32-year-old southpaw holds a 5.66 ERA since 2022, though playing his home games at Coors Field may have contributed to his inflated numbers over the past two seasons.

Cincinnati outrighted Lively to Triple-A Louisville on Wednesday.

Lively passed through waivers unclaimed after being removed from the Reds' 40-man roster. The 31-year-old right-hander made it back to the majors this season for the first time since 2019 but posted a rough 5.38 ERA in 12 starts and seven relief appearances covering 88.2 innings.

DeGrom (elbow) has full range of motion back in his pitching arm, he told Joel Sherman of the New York Post on Tuesday.

The goal for deGrom -- who is a little over four months removed from Tommy John surgery -- is to begin a throwing program early on in the new year and progress to mound work sometime during spring training. "My arm feels pretty close to normal already," he said. DeGrom is aiming to rejoin the Rangers' rotation by next August.

Nola allowed three hits over six scoreless innings to earn the win in Tuesday's 10-0 victory over the Diamondbacks in Game 2 of the NLCS. He struck out seven.

Nola followed up a solid outing against Atlanta in the NLDS with another gem, this time taking advantage of a quiet Diamondbacks offense to cover the bulk of a shutout. Key for Nola in this contest was the success of commanding his curveball, which averaged a 32.7 called plus swinging-strike percentage during the regular season but was up to a 39 percent mark in Tuesday's start. In the playoffs so far, the right-hander has a tidy 0.96 ERA and 0.75 WHIP with 19 strikeouts across 18.2 innings.

Kelly took the loss in Tuesday's 10-0 defeat to the Phillies in Game 2 of the NLCS, allowing four runs on three hits and three walks over 5.2 innings. He struck out six.

Kelly stumbled in this outing after coming off a clean start against the Dodgers in the NLDS. His biggest dilemma was limiting the long ball, as he gave up three separate solo home runs, two of which came off the bat of Kyle Schwarber in the third and sixth innings. The right-hander may have been a bit unlucky given he managed to mostly keep the traffic off the basepaths aside from the big mistakes. Kelly has pitched to a 3.00 ERA and 0.92 WHIP with 11 strikeouts across 12 innings this postseason.

Pfaadt will start Game 3 of the NLCS on Thursday versus the Phillies, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Zac Gallen took the loss in Game 1 on Monday in Philadelphia and Merrill Kelly will try to right the ship for the visiting Diamondbacks in Game 2 on Tuesday. Then it'll be Pfaadt in Game 3 on Thursday as the best-of-seven National League Championship Series moves to Arizona. The 25-year-old rookie right-hander did not face the Phillies during the regular season. He threw 4.1 scoreless innings on just 42 pitches in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Dodgers last Wednesday.