MLB Player News

Ashcraft (toe) was scheduled to begin physical therapy this week, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

Ashcraft underwent surgery in September to relieve a stress reaction in his big right toe. Physical therapy appears to be the first step in the recovery process, and he is expected to be 100 percent by the time spring training rolls around.

Brown allowed two hits across three scoreless innings in Thursday's 10-3 victory over the Rangers in Game 3 of the ALCS. He struck out two.

Brown was tasked with covering the bulk of the innings after Jose Urquidy lasted only 2.1 innings as the starter. He faced pressure in the fifth inning with two runners on, but he managed to be rescued by his defense when Corey Seager lined out and Marcus Semien was tagged out on the basepaths to end the inning. Brown has pitched to a 1.80 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with four strikeouts across five innings out of the bullpen this postseason.

Dunning took the loss in Thursday's 10-3 defeat to the Astros, allowing three runs on three hits and three walks over 2.2 innings. He struck out four.

Dunning has had a rough time in the postseason so far, contrasting with his 3.70 ERA in over 172 innings during the regular season. The right-hander had a roller coaster outing with his command, nullifying his strikeout gains by allowing too many free passes. He was replaced by Cody Bradford in the fourth inning after Dunning had loaded the bases, and Bradford promptly served up a sac fly and a home run to pin three runs onto Dunning's line. He now has a 7.71 ERA and 1.93 WHIP across 4.2 innings this postseason with five strikeouts.

Pfaadt did not factor into the decision in Thursday's 2-1 victory over the Phillies in Game 3 of the NLCS, allowing two hits across 5.2 innings. He struck out nine.

Pfaadt put together his best start of the postseason by far, but the team's offense could not get anything going, leaving him waiting on his first win of the playoffs. The rookie right-hander's success came on the back of his fastball and sweeper, which both were racking up whiffs, allowing him to finish with 17 total swing-and-misses across 70 pitches. So far in the postseason, Pfaadt has pitched to a 2.21 ERA and 0.98 WHIP with 15 strikeouts across 12.2 innings.

Suarez did not factor into the decision in Thursday's 2-1 loss to the Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the NLCS, allowing three hits and one walk across 5.1 innings. He struck out seven.

Suarez reached a career-high strikeouts with his seven punchies as he kept his playoff success rolling Thursday. The southpaw had his command on point, as evidenced by a 39 percent called strikes+whiffs rate across all pitches, markedly higher than his 28.3 percent value he averaged across 125 regular-season innings. Suarez has allowed only one run so far this postseason, where he has pitched to a clean 0.64 ERA and 0.64 WHIP with 13 strikeouts across 14 innings.

Sanchez will start Game 4 of the NLCS on Friday against the Diamondbacks, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Taijuan Walker was the presumed starter for Game 4, but Sanchez will instead get the ball in a pivotal matchup. Sanchez pitched well during the regular season, maintaining a 3.44 ERA with a 20.2 K-BB% across 99.1 innings. He has yet to appear in a postseason contest during his career.

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.