MLB Player News

Cubs manager David Ross said Farrell is expected to receive a call-up from Triple-A Iowa to start Wednesday's game against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Ross said he wanted to wait until Tuesday's doubleheader with St. Louis concludes before locking Farrell in for Wednesday's start, but the Cubs look to be leaning toward bringing up the 31-year-old lefty journeyman to fill the opening in the rotation rather than calling up one of their top two pitching prospects -- Caleb Kilian or Hayden Wesneski -- from Triple-A. Farrell, who made 20 appearances in the majors with the Twins in 2021, has pitched exclusively at Iowa this season, compiling a 5.03 ERA and 1.46 WHIP across 59 innings.

The Cardinals recalled Liberatore from Triple-A Memphis and will designate him as the 27th man for Tuesday's doubleheader with the Cubs.

The rookie southpaw will technically be available for both ends of the twin bill, but the Cardinals will presumably save him for the second game, when Jake Woodford is scheduled to start. Since Woodford covered 1.1 innings in relief just two days ago, he'll presumably be on a limited pitch count in the spot start, potentially setting the stage for Liberatore to piggyback him as a multi-inning reliever. In seven appearances (six starts) for the big club this season, Liberatore has provided a 5.33 ERA, 1.74 WHIP and 22:14 K:BB over 27 innings.

Miley played catch Monday but still isn't rebounding from his left shoulder injury as well as the Cubs had hoped, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Miley looked as though he might have been a candidate to return from the 15-day injured list this week after he allowed one unearned run over five innings in his most recent rehab start at Triple-A Iowa on Aug. 16, but the veteran southpaw experienced renewed discomfort in his strained shoulder in that outing and is without a clear timeline to return to game action. The Cubs may have Miley rest for the next few days before determining his next steps, but in any case, he'll likely have to throw at least one more rehab start or simulated game before he's activated from the IL.

Gray has already set a new career high in innings pitched this season, and the Nationals are keeping a close eye on his workload and in-game mechanics, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports. "We're looking at kind of the wear and tear, how he reacts in-game, a lot of mechanics -- is he using his lower half ... is he flying open?" manager Dave Martinez said Saturday night. "We'll keep an eye on a lot of stuff."

The right-hander is fourth in the league in innings pitched by a second-year starter behind Alek Manoah, Shane McClanahan and Logan Gilbert, but Gray also tossed far fewer innings in 2021 than any of that trio. With Erick Fedde (shoulder) expected to return from the IL this week and the Nats having a few scheduled off days over the next couple weeks, they will have opportunities to skip Gray in the rotation if they feel he needs extra rest. The 24-year-old has a 4.67 ERA and 1.31 WHIP through 123.1 innings on the season, with a strong 10.2 K/9 balanced by a rough 2.3 HR/9.

Houser (elbow) joined the Brewers' taxi squad in Los Angeles on Monday and could be activated from the 15-day injured list to start Wednesday's series finale against the Dodgers, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

Houser has been on the shelf since July 2 with a right flexor strain, but he looks to be healthy again after making three rehab starts at Triple-A Nashville earlier this month. The 29-year-old had been scheduled to make another start for Nashville this past Sunday, but he was scratched in a decision that was apparently not injury-related. The Brewers will have an opening in the rotation for Houser after Aaron Ashby (shoulder) was placed on the IL on Monday, but expectations should be tempered for the right-hander if he does in fact get the starting nod Wednesday. Prior to landing on the IL, Houser submitted a 4.72 ERA and 7.7 K-BB% across 15 starts, and his results during the rehab assignment weren't overly impressive (3.24 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 10:7 K:BB in 8.1 innings).

Urias (13-7) took the loss against Milwaukee on Monday, pitching six innings and allowing one run on two hits and one walk while striking out seven batters.

Urias came into the contest having won each of his past six starts and having thrown 11 outings without taking a loss. Both of those streaks came to an end Monday, though Urias can hardly be blamed. The left-hander gave up just two hits, but one was a fourth-inning homer off the bat of Luis Urias that accounted for the only run against him. Despite the loss, the Los Angeles hurler lowered his season ERA to 2.36, good for sixth-best in the majors among qualified pitchers.

Lauer (9-5) earned the win over the Dodgers on Monday, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out two batters over five innings.

The Dodgers made Lauer work in the contest -- they fouled off 24 of his pitches, and the left-hander had to depart after five innings as a result of throwing 98 pitches. However, Lauer came out on top, as he didn't allow any extra-base hits and kept Los Angeles off the scoreboard for five frames. Though his streak of three straight quality starts came to an end, the veteran hurler ended a two-game losing streak and tossed his first scoreless outing since May 20. Lauer has already established a career high with nine wins on the campaign, and he has a very good chance of surpassing the career-high mark of 149.2 innings he set in 2019 with San Diego.

Cabrera (4-1) earned the win over Oakland on Monday, allowing two hits and issuing three walks while striking out seven batters over eight scoreless innings.

Cabrera was dominant in the victory, breezing through a career-high eight frames on only 101 pitches. He racked up 15 swinging strikes and punched out seven batters while retiring the final 14 hitters he faced. Since returning from the injured list Aug. 5, Cabrera has made five starts and hasn't given up any runs while notching a 28:10 K:BB over 22.2 innings. Aside from a blowup June 12 when he gave up five runs over 3.2 frames against the Astros, Cabrera has been almost impossible to score upon this season. He carries a tidy 1.41 ERA through 38.1 innings on the campaign.

Gray (7-4) took the loss Monday, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk over six innings against the Rangers. He struck out six.

The veteran was effective Monday but could not earn the win as the Twins only mustered one run behind him on the night. Gray has now thrown five or more innings with two or fewer runs allowed in five of his last six starts and owns a strong 3.10 ERA and 1.12 WHIP on the season, both his best since 2019. He will look to get back in the win column in his next scheduled start, which is lined up to be against the White Sox this weekend.

Ragans did not factor into the decision Monday, allowing one run on five hits and two walks over four innings against the Twins. He struck out two.

The Rangers' rookie made it through four innings with only one run allowed despite failing to record a clean inning. His seven combined hits and walks allowed increased his WHIP to 1.53 over four starts this season, which is out of step with his 1.07 WHIP in 43.1 innings at Triple-A. Ragans will be hard to trust until he can start missing bats more often. He will take a 4.42 ERA into his next start.