MLB Player News

Hill (0-2) took the loss Wednesday against Houston, surrendering two earned runs on five hits and two walks across six innings with zero strikeouts.

Hill gave up an RBI double to Jose Abreu in the third inning and a solo home run to Corey Julks in the fourth. While Wednesday's start was the best of the year for the 43-year-old lefty, a lack of run support from his offense caused Hill to take his second loss of the young season. Hill now sits on a 7.20 ERA in 2023 and has just one strikeout over his last two starts (10.0 IP), putting a severe cap on his fantasy value beyond the deepest of leagues.

Urquidy (1-0) threw six scoreless innings Wednesday against Pittsburgh, surrendering two hits and three walks while striking out two batters en route to collecting his first win of the season.

The 27-year-old righty got hit around a bit in his first start of the season but has since calmed down, allowing just one earned run in his last two starts (11.1 IP). Both of the hits against him were singles courtesy of Carlos Santana and Jack Suwinski, so while he didn't have his best strikeout stuff going Wednesday, he still did an excellent job limiting extra-base hits.

Painter (elbow) is scheduled to play catch out to 60 feet Friday, Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Painter will take another incremental step forward in his throwing program this weekend after he played catch from 45 feet Monday and Wednesday. He'll likely need to extend his throwing distance to 150-to-180 feet out before he's ready to resume throwing bullpen sessions. The Phillies plan to proceed cautiously with the prized 20-year-old right-hander, who already resides on the 60-day injured list at Double-A Reading and won't be eligible to debut with the affiliate until around late May or early June.

Megill (3-0) picked up the win in Wednesday's 5-2 victory over the Padres, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks over five innings. He struck out three.

Juan Soto clubbed a two-run homer off Megill in the top of the first inning, but the right-hander shut the door for the rest of his outing before handing things off to the Mets' equally stingy bullpen. Megill sports a 2.25 ERA through three starts and 16 innings with a 13:7 K:BB, but he lines up for a tough test in his next start early next week, on the road against the Dodgers.

Snell (0-2) took the loss Wednesday, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits and five walks over five-plus innings as the Padres fell 5-2 to the Mets. He struck out five.

The southpaw threw only 53 of 100 pitches for strikes, and after issuing free passes to Jeff McNeil and Tommy Pham to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, Snell got the hook. The 30-year-old has a 6.92 ERA and 16:10 K:BB through three starts and 13 innings to kick off the season, and he'll need to find the plate more often if he's going to trim down his ratios. Snell will try to get on track in his next outing, likely to come early next week at home against Atlanta.

Verlander (shoulder) is expected to begin throwing off a mound this weekend and is scheduled to make at least one minor-league rehab start before being activated from the 15-day injured list, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

Verlander won't travel with the Mets when the team begins a three-city, 10-day West Coast road trip this Friday and will instead fly to the organization's spring training facility in Florida to begin the next phase of his throwing program. The Mets haven't outlined what exact days he'll throw his side sessions, but Verlander is expected to complete at least two before he faces hitters and then makes a rehab start. Verlander had previously said he didn't want to pitch in a minor-league outing prior to being activated from the 15-day injured list, but he'll do so at the request of the Mets, per Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News. If Verlander experiences no setbacks in his ramp-up from a low-grade teres major muscle strain, he could make it back from the IL in the final week of April.

Lorenzen (groin) is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list and return to Detroit's rotation at some point during this weekend's series against the Giants, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Friday's series opener appears to be the tentative target, and Lorenzen's impending activation comes with good timing after Matt Manning landed on the injured list Wednesday due to a fractured right foot. Lorenzen has missed the first three weeks of the 2023 campaign while recovering from a left groin strain. He gave up four earned runs over just 2.1 innings in his lone rehab start last Saturday with Triple-A Toledo, so fantasy expectations should be tempered if he pitches this weekend.

Junk (0-1) took the loss Wednesday, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks over 4.2 innings during a 7-3 loss to Arizona. He struck out two.

Junk was just called up from Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday and filled in for Brandon Woodruff, who was recently moved to the 15-day injured list with a shoulder injury. The young right-hander struggled early and often, but his biggest blemish came on a three-run homer by Lourdes Gurriel in the third, which gave Arizona a 4-0 lead. Junk figures to remain in the rotation for another turn or two, but he's currently not an attractive streaming option.

Urena did not factor into the decision Wednesday, allowing three runs on five hits and one walk over five innings during a 7-4 loss to the Cardinals. He struck out six.

After failing to get through the third in each of his first two outings, Urena's performance Wednesday was certainly a step in the right direction. However, it was far from perfect, and he was in line for the loss until the Rockies tied the game at 4-4 in the seventh. All three of Urena's runs came via homers, and he's now given up five home runs over his first 10 innings this season.

Flaherty did not factor into the decision Wednesday, allowing one earned run on five hits and one walk over 5.1 innings during a 7-4 win over the Rockies. He struck out six.

Flaherty allowed a leadoff homer to Jurickson Profar in the first, but he was able to lock in after that and recorded nine consecutive outs at one point. The right-hander surrendered an unearned run in the fourth due to a passed ball by Willson Contreras, but he was still in line for the win after getting pulled in the sixth with one out and runners on second and third. Zack Thompson got out of the jam, so no more runs were charged to Flaherty, who's had mixed results to start the campaign. Through three outings (15.1 innings), Flaherty has given up just three earned runs on nine hits, but he's walked 14 compared to just 13 strikeouts.