MLB Player News

Martin is slated to start Friday's game against the Twins, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

He'll be making his second straight turn through the rotation as a replacement for Michael Kopech (knee), who remains on the 15-day injured list. In his last outing Aug. 27 against the Diamondbacks, Martin was lit up for five runs (three earned) on four hits and four walks while recording two strikeouts in three innings. He'll take a 4.62 ERA and 1.31 WHIP into Friday's start, his sixth of the season with the White Sox.

Anderson remains on track to start Sunday's game against the Rockies in Cincinnati, despite being used in relief Wednesday, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Cincinnati added Anderson to the roster Monday and had him start that day's series opener with the Cardinals, but he was chased midway through the second inning after allowing five earned runs while recording just five outs. The Reds likely didn't plan on having Anderson work out of the bullpen Wednesday, but with the game going into the 13th inning and the only other available reliever (Joel Kuhnel) having worked each of the previous two days, manager David Bell turned to the veteran right-hander. Anderson ended up surrendering three runs (two earned) to take his second loss in three days, but since he tossed only 36 pitches Monday and 19 on Wednesday, he shouldn't face any significant workload restrictions when he returns to the mound Sunday.

Houser struck out two and allowed one hit and no walks over two scoreless relief innings in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Pirates.

In his return from the injured list Aug. 24, Houser started and was blasted by the Dodgers for five runs on five hits and four walks en route to his ninth loss of the season. After that outing, manager Craig Counsell didn't specify what Houser's role would be moving forward, but the right-hander's usage out of the bullpen Wednesday would seemingly imply that he no longer has a hold on a rotation spot. Jason Alexander stepped in as the Brewers' new No. 5 starter Tuesday and will be rewarded with a second turn through the rotation Sunday in Arizona after he limited the Pirates to one run while allowing five baserunners over five frames in a no-decision.

Woodruff (9-4) took the loss against Arizona on Thursday, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out four batters over 5.2 innings.

Woodruff fell behind early, allowing two runs on a Christian Walker homer in the first inning. He yielded another run in the second and two more in the sixth to finish with his worst outing since early May. Woodruff has been stuck on nine wins since the end of July, though this was his first loss following five straight no-decisions. His numbers are down overall compared to last season, but he's still pitched relatively well with a 3.54 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 136:34 K:BB over 114.1 innings.

Kelly (12-5) earned the win over Milwaukee on Thursday, pitching seven scoreless innings during which he allowed four hits and no walks while striking out seven batters.

Kelly received some early run support and capitalized with a dominant start. He didn't allow any extra-base hits and racked up 14 swinging strikes among his 91 pitches. Kelly extended his streak of appearances without a loss to 12, dating back to the start of July. Over that stretch, he's posted a 2.01 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 71:18 K:BB over 80.2 innings while picking up six wins. Though the Diamondbacks are likely out of playoff contention, this season has at least seen the emergence of two potential rotation anchors in Kelly and Zac Gallen.

Strider (9-4) earned the win over Colorado on Thursday, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out 16 batters over eight scoreless innings.

Strider overpowered the Rockies in his most impressive performance as a big leaguer, racking up 22 swinging strikes among his 106 pitches. The strikeout total established a new franchise record in a nine-inning game, surpassing the 15 K's recorded by John Smoltz in both 1992 and 2005 and Warren Spahn in 1960. Strider has posted five double-digit strikeout performances across 17 starts this season and ranks ninth in the league with 176 punchouts despite hurling only 114.2 innings. As icing on the cake, he appears to be getting stronger as the season winds down -- over his past four starts, the rookie right-hander has gone 3-0 while registering a 1.08 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and 36:4 K:BB over 25 frames.

Hill pitched four-plus innings in a no-decision against Texas on Thursday. He allowed four runs on five hits and four walks while striking out two batters.

Hill pitched his best game of the season his previous time out, striking out 11 batters over seven scoreless innings against Tampa Bay. He couldn't carry over that momentum, however, as he tied a season high with four walks and was lifted after allowing the first three batters he faced in the fifth frame to reach base. Hill hasn't had many big blowups this season, but he's allowed at least four runs in six of his 20 outings, leading to a mediocre 4.52 ERA for the year. He no longer strikes out batters on a consistent basis, further dampening his value in fantasy.

Waldichuk allowed one earned run on five hits and four walks while striking out six across 4.2 innings Thursday against the Nationals. He did not factor into the decision.

Waldichuk showed promise in his big-league debut, racking up six strikeouts on the strength of 15 swinging strikes across 93 total pitches. He also showed some struggles with control, which isn't particularly surprising given he had a 3.4 BB/9 across 95 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this season. Overall, it was an encouraging outing for Waldichuk, and he should have the chance to stick in the rotation for the remainder of the campaign.

Cueto (7-6) allowed one earned run on six hits and no walks while striking out five across 5.1 innings to earn the win Thursday against the Royals.

Cueto held the Royals in check, and his only earned run came in the third inning, when he allowed consecutive singles to open the frame. It was a bounceback effort for Cueto -- he allowed seven earned runs his last time out -- and he has now allowed two or fewer earned runs in eight of his last 11 starts. Cueto has turned in a vintage season, maintaining a 2.93 ERA with an 82:27 K:BB across 129 frames.

Rodriguez (3-4) allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out five across four innings to take the loss Thursday against Seattle.

Rodriguez allowed at least one earned run in three of his four innings. He served up back-to-back homers to begin the second frame and then proceeded to allow four hits -- leading to three more runs -- in the fourth inning. Entering Thursday's start, Rodriguez had allowed only one earned run across 11 innings since rejoining the active roster Aug. 21. For the season, he owns a 4.17 ERA with a 46:25 K:BB across 54 innings.