MLB Player News

Cardinals manager Mike Shildt suggested that Woodford could replace Kwang Hyun Kim in the rotation when the latter's turn next comes up Thursday against the Dodgers in St. Louis, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports. "We'll see," Shildt said, regarding whether Woodford or Kim would receive the starting nod Thursday.

After being called up from Triple-A Memphis on Friday, Woodford was initially expected to fill a multi-inning relief role for St. Louis over the final month of the season. He may have earned himself a look in the rotation, however, after he successfully filled in for a struggling Kim in Saturday's loss to Milwaukee. After Kim served up four runs on seven hits and a walk while lasting just 1.2 innings in the outing, Woodford came on to strike out five over 5.1 innings of long relief. Considering the Cardinals initially wanted to move Kim to the bullpen before Jack Flaherty's (shoulder) move to the injured list in late August altered those plans, it wouldn't be surprising if the southpaw now shifted to a relief role after Woodford had the chance to get stretched out for starting duty in the loss to Milwaukee.

Flaherty (shoulder) resumed playing catch Sunday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Flaherty's first throwing session apparently went well, as he'll throw again from 90 feet Monday. The right-hander still has to ramp up his intensity before he's considered to return to game action, but he's made good progress in his recovery recently.

Manager Mike Shildt wouldn't commit to Kim making his next turn through the St. Louis rotation in Thursday's game against the Dodgers, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports. "We'll see," Shildt said, when asked if Kim or Jake Woodford would start Thursday.

According to Jones, the way in which Shildt spoke about the matter would seem to point to Woodford getting the starting nod Thursday. A rotation shakeup wouldn't be surprising, considering that Kim was expected to spend the final five weeks of the season in a relief role until Jack Flaherty's (shoulder) move back to the injured list forced the Cardinals to alter those plans. Though Kim turned in a decent showing Aug. 29 in Pittsburgh in his first start in place of Flaherty, the southpaw was lit up for four runs on seven hits and a walk over 1.2 innings in Saturday's loss to the Brewers. Meanwhile, Woodford shined in long relief behind Kim, striking out five over 5.1 shutout innings to potentially earn himself a look in the rotation in the process.

Morton signed a one-year, $20 million contract extension with Atlanta on Monday.

Morton is slated to spend at least one more season in Atlanta, and his deal includes a $20 million club option for the 2023 campaign. The 37-year-old sputtered to a 5.08 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in 39 innings across his first eight starts of the season, but he's turned things around recently with a 2.79 ERA and 40:7 K:BB in 29 innings across his last five appearances.

The Red Sox optioned Crawford to Triple-A Worcester on Monday.

Summoned from Triple-A to make an emergency spot start after Nick Pivetta was moved to the COVID-19 injured list, Crawford struggled in his MLB debut Sunday against Cleveland, lasting only two innings while surrendering five runs on five hits and two walks. The Red Sox won't require a fifth starter again until Sept. 14, at which point Pivetta or Martin Perez could be ready to return from the COVID-19 IL to step into the rotation. With that in mind, Crawford will most likely remain at Triple-A for the rest of the season.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Gil will likely be called from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to start Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays in New York, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

Nestor Cortes had been lined to start Wednesday's game, but Boone didn't suggest that Cortes nor any other member of the rotation would be replaced to make room for Gil. Instead, look for the Yankees to deploy a six-man rotation for at least this week, affording an additional day of rest for each member of the starting staff amid a heavy schedule of games. With another solid outing Wednesday, Gil could make a case for a more permanent stay with the big club, either as a starter or a high-leverage reliever. Over his first three big-league starts, Gil didn't allow a run over 15.2 innings while posting an 18:7 K:BB.

Castillo (7-15) was tagged with the loss Sunday against the Tigers after allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks while fanning seven across six innings.

Castillo tossed his fifth straight quality start but has been unable to deliver many wins in that span, going 1-4 with a 2.81 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP across 32 innings through that stretch. Castillo endured a slow start to the season but has picked things up of late and has allowed more than three earned runs just once since the beginning of June.

Urena (3-8) earned the win Sunday against Cincinnati after tossing 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out one.

Urena registered his third win of the season and while he piggybacked Casey Mize's start effectively, this wasn't a quiet outing as the boxscore suggested -- he routinely allowed baserunners and was far from dominant. Either way, this was a step in the right direction for Urena, who has been pitching poorly during most of the year. He has tossed three scoreless outings over his last four appearances, but he still owns a below-average 5.95 ERA across 87.2 innings through 20 appearances (18 starts).

Mize didn't factor into the decision Sunday against Cincinnati after tossing three scoreless innings, fanning two.

Mize hadn't tossed such a short outing since July 2, when he also hurled three innings against the White Sox -- though in that game he gave up two earned runs on four hits and a walk while fanning two. Mize has allowed two or fewer runs in three of his last four appearances and while he has struggled to pitch deep into games, at least he's limiting the damage. He owns a 3.95 ERA across six appearances (27.1 innings) since the beginning of August.

Crawford (0-1) was tagged with the loss Sunday against Cleveland after allowing five runs on five hits and two walks while fanning two across two innings.

Crawford only lasted two innings and looked overmatched in his big-league debut, though considering he had posted a 5.52 ERA and 39:8 K:BB in 29.1 innings (six games) for Triple-A Worcester this season, the struggles at the highest level aren't all that surprising. He's not expected to remain in the rotation for an extended period of time, especially considering how shaky he looked in his MLB debut.