MLB Player News

Angels head athletic trainer Mike Frostad said Thursday that Canning (back) has been shut down for the rest of the season, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

Canning missed the final seven weeks of 2021 with a stress fracture in his lower back, and he's been unable to resume throwing since early May while experiencing multiple setbacks in his recovery. The 26-year-old will have six-plus months to get healthy for the start of spring training.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Thursday that May (elbow) will require at least two more rehab starts in the minors before being reinstated from the 60-day injured list, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

May made his third rehab start at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday and tossed 62 pitches over four innings. The Dodgers will take a cautious approach to easing him back from the IL after May underwent Tommy John surgery last May. He's expected to work four-plus innings during his next rehab start before pitching five innings in the subsequent outing.

Wacha (shoulder) will make a rehab start with Triple-A Worcester on Thursday, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

The right-hander has been sidelined over a month with shoulder inflammation, but he's been cleared for game action this week. It's unclear if Wacha will require another rehab start after Thursday or if he'll be cleared to re-enter Boston's rotation.

May (elbow) made his third rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday, tossing 62 pitches over four innings. He allowed one run on two hits and one walk while striking out six batters.

May made 46 pitches in his previous rehab outing, so this was a significant increase in workload for him. The right-hander has allowed just two runs while posting a 15:4 K:BB over nine innings across three starts for OKC thus far. He's expected to make one more rehab appearance for the Triple-A club before joining the Dodgers, per Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register.

Gibson (personal) was activated from the bereavement list Thursday.

The veteran right-hander missed his scheduled turn through the rotation Tuesday while on the bereavement list due to a death in his family, but he's now rejoined the team ahead of Thursday's series opener versus the Nationals. Gibson is scheduled to take the mound Friday, while trade-acquisition Noah Syndergaard starts Thursday's contest.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said that Flaherty (shoulder) will throw a bullpen session in St. Louis this weekend and could be cleared to begin a minor-league rehab assignment as soon as next week, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Flaherty was shut down with the strained right shoulder June 27 and was transferred to the 60-day injured list a couple weeks later, but Marmol said Thursday that he remains hopeful the Cardinals ace can return when first eligible in the final week of August. Before the Cardinals map out a rehab assignment that will likely consist of at least two starts in the minors, Flaherty will first have to escape his upcoming bullpen session without any setbacks. Since Flaherty and Steven Matz (knee) are both weeks away from potential returns, the Cardinals made addressing their rotation depth a priority ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline and ultimately swung deals with the Pirates and Yankees to acquire Jose Quintana and Jordan Montgomery, respectively.

Whitley (arm) is scheduled to make an appearance Thursday for Triple-A Sugar Land, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Though Whitley was never placed on Sugar Land's injured list, he hadn't pitched for the affiliate since July 10 due to inflammation of his right biceps. The Astros were apparently satisfied with how Whitley checked out during his recent throwing sessions, so he'll be able to slot back into the Sugar Land rotation without the need of a rehab assignment at a lower-level affiliate. Expect Whitley to be capped at around two innings in his first outing in nearly a month.

Houser (elbow) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville this weekend, with his first start coming Saturday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

Per McCalvy, Houser is scheduled to pitch just two innings Saturday, so he'll likely require at least one or two additional rehab outings to get stretched back out to a normal starter's workload. With Freddy Peralta (lat) making his return from the 60-day injured list Wednesday, Milwaukee will have its Opening Day rotation back to full strength whenever Houser is deemed ready to go. Though Aaron Ashby (4.13 ERA, 1.45 WHIP in 80.2 innings) has performed marginally better than Houser (4.72 ERA, 1.48 WHIP in 76.1 innings) this season, the Brewers' desire to manage Ashby's workload should help Houser's case for reclaiming the No. 5 starter's role.

Bassitt (8-7) earned the win against the Nationals on Wednesday, allowing zero runs on six hits while striking out four and walking one over seven innings.

Bassitt was lights out Wednesday, throwing 70 of 94 pitches for strikes across seven frames. Despite allowing six hits and a walk, he was able to keep the Nats off the board. This was Bassitt's seventh quality start in his last eight appearances. Over that span, the righty has lowered his ERA from 4.01 to 3.61.

Strider does not have an innings cap this season, and Atlanta has no immediate plans to shift him back to the bullpen despite the addition of Jake Odorizzi at the trade deadline, Maria Torres and David O'Brien of The Athletic report.

Strider has been spectacular as a rookie this season, posting a 3.02 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 96:21 K:BB through only 62.2 innings since moving into the rotation in late May. The 23-year-old righty tossed 96.1 innings across all levels in 2021 and is quickly approaching that figure this season, causing concerns about his workload, but as yet he isn't showing any signs of fatigue and Atlanta has no intention of removing him from the rotation until it seems necessary. Odorizzi does give the club some insurance in case Strider or another young pitcher falters down the stretch, but for now the veteran hurler will work as a sixth starter and swing man.