MLB Player News

Gray will be traded from the Dodgers to the Nationals on Thursday along with Keibert Ruiz, Gerardo Carrillo and Donovan Casey in exchange for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner (COVID-19), Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

Gray was widely considered the top prospect in the Dodgers' system and recently made his major-league debut. He should slot right into the Nationals rotation, which is now missing both Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg (neck). Prior to getting the call to the majors, Gray posted a 2.87 ERA and 0.66 WHIP across 15.2 frames with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Mize (6-5) allowed one unearned run on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts over seven innings in Thursday's win over the Orioles.

The rookie righty turned in his longest outing in nearly two months, holding the Orioles off the board until the seventh inning when a throwing error by Akil Baddoo allowed Baltimore's lone run to score. It was Mize's first quality start in five July appearances and the first during that stretch in which he was able to complete five-plus innings. The strikeout numbers are underwhelming -- just 87 in 111 innings -- but Mize owns a rock-solid 3.41 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in his 20 starts this season. He's tentatively scheduled to face the Red Sox at home in his next start.

Bundy will only throw 50-to-60 pitches in Thursday's start against the Athletics, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

This doesn't come as much surprise given that Bundy hasn't tossed more than 50 pitches in an outing since June 20. Bundy has most recently worked out of the bullpen after struggling as a starter earlier in the season, though that hasn't helped his results as he's allowed three earned runs across three innings as a reliever. Manager Joe Maddon said that a bulk reliever will follow after Bundy, but he declined to name that pitcher in advance.

Cueto (7-5) picked up the win Thursday after holding the Dodgers scoreless across 5.2 innings. He allowed four hits and a pair of walks while striking out five.

Cueto turned in one of his best starts of the year against a volatile Dodgers lineup. After coughing up 11 home runs in his last eight starts, the right-hander turned things around by blanking his opponent for just the third time this year while running his fastball up to 95 mph. With the successful outing, Cueto improves to a 3.84 ERA and 1.25 WHIP on the season. He's tentatively slated to take the mound again in a favorable matchup on the road at Arizona on Tuesday.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Severino (elbow/groin) will begin a minor-league rehab assignment Tuesday, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

After completing a simulated game Thursday without issue, Severino received the green light to move on the final phase of his rehab from Tommy John surgery and a Grade 2 groin strain, the latter of which resulted in him being pulled off his initial rehab assignment in mid-June. The Yankees haven't announced which affiliate Severino will join or what kind of workload he'll handle Tuesday, but he'll most likely be eased in with a light pitch count as he begins the ramp-up process. Severino is expected to stretch out for starting duty, and he could be ready to return from the 60-day injured list to make his 2021 debut for the Yankees in mid-August.

Hancock (shoulder) rejoined the High-A Everett rotation Wednesday, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings in a 2-0 loss to Eugene. He gave up one hit and issued one walk while striking out two in the 35-pitch outing.

Making his first appearance for Everett since June 25 after having been shut down with a sore right shoulder, Hancock was eased back into action with a light workload. Hancock should ramp up his pitch count a bit in his subsequent starts, but the Mariners aren't likely to allow the 22-year-old to work deep into games the rest of the season, given his long-term importance to the organization.

Manager Alex Cora said that Houck -- who was optioned to Triple-A Worcester on Thursday -- will be recalled next week to start one game of an Aug. 7 doubleheader in Toronto, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Cora acknowledged that the decision to demote Houck was strictly for the purposes of roster flexibility, as an upcoming off day will allow Boston to get by with a five-man rotation until the doubleheader contest. Houck made his fourth start of the season with the big club Wednesday, which also came during a doubleheader game with the Blue Jays. He limited Toronto to one run over four frames in a no-decision, lowering his ERA to 2.45 over 22 innings on the campaign.

Strasburg's thoracic outlet surgery went well Wednesday, Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington reports.

Persistent health problems have limited Strasburg to just seven starts over the last two seasons. The latest issue, neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, is one of the more worrisome issues a pitcher can go through. It's good news that the procedure went well, and the Nationals remain hopeful that the righty will be ready for the start of spring training, but his health history makes it tough to be optimistic about his outlook.

Lorenzen (hamstring) could return to the active roster during the Reds' weekend series against the Mets, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Lorenzen has made just a single big-league appearance this season, as he returned from a shoulder injury in mid-July only to exit his first appearance with a hamstring injury. The hamstring issue doesn't appear to be a significant one, however, as it looks set to cost him approximately two weeks.

The Red Sox optioned Houck to Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Following Wednesday's doubleheader, Boston needed to reduce its roster from 27 to 26 men for Thursday's series finale with Toronto, and Houck was the surprising casualty. After starting the second game of the twin bill and striking out seven over four innings of one-run ball, Houck's ERA now sits at 2.45 over 22 frames on the season. Since he's seemingly established himself as one of Boston's most-trusted staters, his demotion may have been strictly for roster-management purposes. Due to an off day Aug. 2, the Red Sox can get by with a four-man rotation until Aug. 7 in Toronto, when Houck will presumably be called up from Worcester to start one of the two doubleheader games scheduled for that day.