MLB Player News

Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Thursday that Malone's placement on Single-A Bradenton's 7-day injured list June 17 was due to shoulder soreness, Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The 2022 season is shaping up to be a lost one for Malone, who was held back at extended spring training for the start of the minor-league campaign after an offseason illness set him back in his throwing progression. He was finally cleared to debut for Bradenton on June 12, only to land on the shelf following his start that day. Malone will continue to conduct his rehab program at the Pirates' spring facility in Florida and is without a clear timeline for a return.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Thursday that Wacha (shoulder) is scheduled to throw a three-inning simulated game this weekend, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Rather than sending Wacha out on a minor-league rehab assignment, the Red Sox will have him throw a simulated game for the second time this week. Before activating Wacha from the injured list, Boston will likely want him to build up to around four or five innings through simulated games or rehab starts, so he may not be a candidate to rejoin the rotation until at least the second week of August.

Hill (knee) is scheduled to make a rehab start Thursday for Double-A Portland, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Hill is expected to throw around four innings in the rehab outing, and the Red Sox will likely see how his knee is feeling after a bullpen session over the weekend before deciding on his next steps. Depending on how he fares in the rehab start, Hill could be activated from the 15-day injured list and slot back into the rotation as soon as next Tuesday's game in Houston. However, if he's activated for that series with the Astros, Hill would likely be on a limited pitch count.

Wentz (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment at High-A West Michigan on Friday.

Wentz will be cleared to move on to the final phase of his recovery program from a left shoulder injury after he faced hitters in live batting practice Tuesday. He's scheduled to work two innings for West Michigan on Friday and could make an additional appearance or two in the lower ranks of the minors before being reinstated from Triple-A Toledo's 7-day injured list.

Kikuchi (neck) was reinstated from the 15-day injured list prior to Thursday's start against the Tigers.

Kikuchi missed three weeks due to his neck strain, but he made a rehab start at Triple-A Buffalo last week and struck out four in five scoreless innings. The left-hander wasn't particularly sharp ahead of his IL stint, posting a 6.82 ERA and 1.85 WHIP in 33 innings over the nine starts preceding his absence.

Luzardo (forearm) struck out six and allowed two earned runs on three hits and four walks Wednesday in his rehab start with Triple-A Jacksonville.

While making the third start of his rehab assignment and his second in a row at Jacksonville, He tossed 75 pitches (45 strikes) and faced 22 batters. That sort of workload suggests Luzardo is stretched out enough to make his next start in the big leagues, assuming the Marlins are comfortable with how the southpaw checked out physically following Wednesday's outing. Luzardo turned in a 4.03 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 41:16 K:BB over 29 innings in his first six starts of the season with the Marlins before he landed on the injured list in mid-May with a left forearm strain.

Ober (groin) will play catch this week and hopes to throw off a mound "soon," manager Rocco Baldelli told the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

It doesn't sound like Ober has made much progress in the past month as there was a similar report in late June that indicated he was close to a bullpen session. He's been out eight weeks with an aponeurotic plate injury, which he described as a tendon pulling on his pelvic bone. There seems a decent chance he could be shut down for the season if he's not soon cleared to throw off a mound.

Bello is slated to start Friday's series opener with the Brewers in Boston, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Bello will be getting his second straight turn through the rotation and his fourth start of the season overall with the big club not on the basis of merit, but because Boston has four other starting pitchers on the injured list. Though the 23-year-old right-hander is one of the Red Sox's most highly regarded prospects, he hasn't found much success in his initial three outings in the big leagues. He's covered exactly four innings each time out, allowing no fewer than four earned runs in any of those contests while walking nearly as many batters (eight) as he's struck out (nine).

Wentz (shoulder) threw a live batting practice session Tuesday at the Tigers' spring training complex in Florida, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Wentz has been sidelined since May 31, when he suffered a shoulder injury while making a spot start for the Tigers. Since he was optioned to Triple-A Toledo following that outing, Wentz currently resides on the affiliate's 7-day injured list rather than the Tigers' 10-day IL. Now that he's facing hitters again, Wentz could soon be cleared to head out on a rehab assignment at one of the Tigers' lower-level affiliates before he rejoins the Triple-A rotation.

Meyer (elbow) underwent an MRI on Monday that revealed a tear in his UCL which will require Tommy John surgery, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Meyer exited his second major-league start Saturday due to right elbow discomfort, and the issue will ultimately force him to miss the rest of the 2022 season and most or all of next year. It's a significant blow for the highly-regarded prospect, who posted a 3.72 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 58 innings over 12 starts at Triple-A Jacksonville this year prior to making his big-league debut in mid-July.