MLB Player News

Lauer allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out four in six innings in Sunday's loss to the Padres. He didn't factor in the decision.

Lauer turned in a quality start after lasting just four innings in his last outing Tuesday. He left Sunday's game in line for the loss after a sloppy fifth inning, but the Brewers were able to force extra innings to get him off the hook. This was his sixth quality start of the year. Lauer has a 2.38 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 65:17 K:BB across 56.2 innings in 10 starts. He lines up for a road start versus the Nationals next weekend.

Clevinger (triceps) allowed a run on one hit and two walks with five strikeouts in three innings in a no-decision versus the Brewers on Sunday.

Clevinger was eased back into action, throwing 60 pitches (36 strikes) in his first start since May 17. He allowed a leadoff homer to Kolten Wong in the first inning and nothing more before Nick Martinez delivered four frames of relief pitching. Clevinger has managed a 3.18 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 20:7 K:BB in 17 innings across four starts this year after missing all of 2021 to Tommy John recovery. The right-hander should see a slightly lighter workload with the Padres likely to roll a six-man rotation after the breakout of MacKenzie Gore. Clevinger is expected to make his next start at home versus the Rockies next week.

Strasburg (neck) will throw a bullpen session Monday, which would likely put him in line to start Thursday against the Marlins, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Strasburg threw six scoreless innings during a rehab start at Triple-A Rochester on Friday and appears to be on track to rejoin the Nationals' rotation this week. Washington hasn't yet announced a starter for Thursday's matchup in Miami, but the right-hander will likely take the mound as long as he feels good following Monday's bullpen.

Valdez (6-2) earned the win Sunday over the Royals. He allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts in six innings.

Valdez didn't give up any runs until his last inning, yielding a two-run home run to Salvador Perez. This was Valdez's fifth straight win, and he's allowed multiple runs in only two of those outings. The southpaw has a 2.61 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 55:25 K:BB across 69 innings in 11 starts this year. He lines up for a home start versus the Marlins next weekend.

Garrett (0-1) took the loss Sunday against San Francisco, allowing four runs on five hits, two hit batsmen and a walk while striking out five in 3.1 innings.

The big blow against Garrett was Donovan Walton's one-out grand slam in the fourth inning. While the home run accounted for all the runs against the lefty, he was less than stellar in the other innings of his first start of the season. The 24-year-old has been effective at Triple-A Jacksonville, compiling a 3.71 ERA in 23 career starts, but has not been able to put it together at the big-league level with a 5.60 ERA and 45:26 K:BB in 45 innings since 2020.

Hendricks is getting some extra rest between starts, as he is not scheduled to pitch in the two-game series in Baltimore early next week, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

He would have lined up to make one of those starts, as he last pitched Wednesday, but it now seems like his next start will come next weekend against the Yankees. Hendricks has given up 14 earned runs with five strikeouts in 14 innings over his last three starts.

Megill (biceps) gave up two earned runs on three hits and zero walks while striking out five in 3.2 innings Sunday in a rehab start for Double-A Binghamton, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

He touched 98 mph with his fastball but will likely need one more rehab start to fully stretch out, according to DiComo. That would line him up to return in the middle of the month, potentially against the Brewers on June 15 or 16.

Kershaw (pelvis) could be ready to start next Sunday's game in San Francisco, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

The hope is that Kershaw will not need a second rehab start after this Sunday's game in Rancho Cucamonga. Per Hoornstra, the earliest Kershaw would return for the Dodgers would be June 12 on the road against the Giants.

Mace (calf) was activated from the minor-league injured list and will start for High-A Lake County on Sunday.

Mace missed three weeks with the calf injury. He'll work as the starter in a piggyback tandem Sunday -- he had covered only 20 innings in his first six starts prior to getting hurt.

Watkins (forearm) has thrown off a mound three times and expects to be activated from the injured list Tuesday when first eligible, Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Watkins' progress is encouraging, though it hasn't been determined if he'll need a a rehab assignment first. If he does, he'll likely be out a little beyond the 15-day minimum, but in any case, it seems the right-hander should be ready soon. It's also unclear if Watkins will return to a rotation spot -- most likely over Kyle Bradish -- or see some long-relief work initially after activation.