MLB Player News

Wainwright will not make his next scheduled start this weekend in San Diego, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Wainwright notched his 200th career victory Monday versus the Brewers and it sounds like the Cardinals want him to go out on a high note. If the retiring right-hander does make another start this year, it would probably be during the final weekend of the regular season at home against the Reds.

Fried (finger) is scheduled to start Thursday's game in Washington, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Fried received the green light to return to Atlanta's rotation after throwing a bullpen session Monday without any protective tape covering the small blister on his left hand. The 29-year-old southpaw hasn't appeared in a game since early last week, but it never seemed to be a serious concern for the NL East champions.

Fried threw a bullpen session Monday without any protective tape covering the blister on his left index finger, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Fried was skipped on his last turn through rotation because of the blister, but he is expected to return to action at some point during Atlanta's upcoming four-game series in Washington, which begins Thursday. It seems like the NL East champions are simply playing things cautiously with the 29-year-old southpaw, who boasts a 2.64 ERA and 73:13 K:BB in 71.2 innings (13 starts) this season.

Cavalli (elbow) played catch Tuesday and said he "felt awesome," Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

It was his first throwing workout of any kind since he underwent Tommy John surgery this past March. Cavalli is targeting next June for a return to live games and could be an intriguing rotation option for the Nationals in the second half of the 2024 campaign. A first-round draft pick in 2020, the right-hander holds a 3.51 ERA with 279 strikeouts in 220.1 career minor-league innings.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay confirmed that Estes will be called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to start Wednesday's game against the Mariners, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Oakland will likely wait until a few hours before Wednesday's 3:37 p.m. ET opening pitch to make Estes' call-up official, but the 22-year-old right-hander will get the chance to make his MLB debut as the season winds down. Acquired last March as part of a prospect haul in the deal that sent All-Star first baseman Matt Olson to Atlanta, Estes has been one of the Athletics' better upper-level starting pitchers in the minors this season. Between stops at Double-A Midland and Las Vegas, Estes has struck out 131 and walked 43 over 137 innings while pitching to a 3.74 ERA and 1.16 WHIP.

Rea is expected to work in bulk relief behind Trevor Megill in Tuesday's game against the Cardinals, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Rea was called up from Triple-A Nashville ahead of Monday's series opener in St. Louis, but he wasn't needed out of the bullpen in the Brewers' 1-0 loss. With Milwaukee seemingly looking to build in an extra rest day for all five members of their rotation, Megill is expected to serve as the lead pitcher Tuesday for what projects to be a bullpen day. Since Rea last pitched Sept. 13, he'll be well-rested and should be able to handle multiple innings out of the bullpen once Megill exits the contest.

Sanchez (shoulder) did not make a second appearance with Double-A Pensacola on Sunday as scheduled, MLB.com reports.

Sanchez did throw a scoreless inning for Pensacola on Sept. 12 in what was his first appearance at any level since 2020. Evidently, he must not have recovered from that outing as hoped, so his next appearance was scratched. Sanchez is slated to throw a bullpen session soon, so there's a slim chance he'll make it back to game action again before the end of the minor-league season.

Lively is expected to work as a bulk reliever behind opening pitcher Fernando Cruz in Tuesday's game against the Twins, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

After being activated from the COVID-19-related injured list last Thursday, Lively looks poised to make his second consecutive appearance as a bulk reliever. While working behind Derek Law in an 8-2 loss to the Tigers in his return to action, Lively took a no-decision after giving up three earned runs on four hits and no walks while striking out four over 4.1 innings. Cruz is expected to work just an inning or two Tuesday before turning the game over to Lively, who is the Reds pitcher most likely to factor into the decision. Looking ahead, Lively could end up sticking as a pure reliever, as the Reds have three remaining off days that would allow the team to get by with a four-man rotation the rest of the way. After tossing seven innings of two-run ball in Monday's 7-3 win, Connor Phillips could be poised to remain in the rotation as the No. 4 pitcher rather than Lively.

McKenzie (elbow) is set to make the second start of his rehab assignment Tuesday at Triple-A Columbus, MLB.com reports.

After covering three innings and tossing 44 pitches in his first rehab outing last Wednesday with Double-A Akron, McKenzie will shift his rehab assignment to the Guardians' top affiliate this week for what will likely be his final start in the minors before he returns from the 60-day injured list. The Guardians are targeting McKenzie for around 65 pitches Tuesday, and if all goes well, he could slot back into the big-league rotation as soon as this Sunday versus the Orioles. McKenzie has been on the shelf since mid-June with a right UCL sprain.

Verlander did not factor into the decision Monday, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk over six innings against the Orioles. He struck out five.

Verlander has now gone six or more innings in each of his last four starts, though he's pitched to a 5.19 ERA in that span. Overall, the veteran right-hander is 11-8 with a 3.44 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 131:41 K:BB through 25 starts (149.1 innings) this season between the Astros and the Mets. Verlander's currently lined up for a favorable home matchup with the Royals in his next outing.