MLB Player News

Oviedo's (lat) minor-league rehab assignment was transferred from Low-A Bradenton to Double-A Altoona on Friday.

Oviedo got up to 2.2 innings in his most recent minor-league start -- his fourth of what's expected to be a lengthy rehab assignment. He hasn't pitched for the Pirates since 2023, as he missed the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery before sustaining a strained lat during spring training.

Blackburn (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment with the Mets' Florida Complex League affiliate Friday.

A previous report indicated Blackburn's rehab stint would begin at Single-A St. Lucie on Friday, but he'll get his start in the FCL instead. He's expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list in late July, and will likely fill a long relief role with the Mets' rotation nearly at full strength.

MLB has extended Ortiz's non-disciplinary paid leave until Aug. 31, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

Ortiz has been under investigation for a possible gambling-related offense since July 3, and he'll remain on leave as MLB continues its probe. Cleveland has filled Ortiz's vacated spot in the rotation with Joey Cantillo, and Shane Bieber (elbow) could be a few weeks away from his 2025 debut as well. Ortiz logged a 4.36 ERA over 88.2 innings before being placed on leave.

Fried (finger) isn't listed as one of the Yankees' scheduled starting pitchers in Atlanta this weekend, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.

Reliever Ian Hamilton is starting Friday for the Yankees, with Will Warren and Marcus Stroman set to take the ball Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Fried exited his final start before the All-Star break last Saturday due to a blister on his left index finger, and it appears the organization wants to give him some extra rest before making his first start of the second half. It's unclear when exactly the left-hander will next take the mound, but he lines up to pitch in Toronto early next week, assuming the blister doesn't cause further issues.

Manager Bruce Bochy said Thursday that Gray (forearm) will make another rehab start at Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday, Jeff Wilson of AllDLLS.com reports.

Saturday is expected to be Gray's final outing in the minors before returning from the injured list next week. The 33-year-old has made two appearances since starting up his rehab assignment, giving up two earned runs while striking out three batters over five frames. Because he has yet to last longer than three innings, he'll likely operate under a pitch count during his first few outings back with the Rangers. Otherwise, the team could use him as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen.

The Pirates are not expected to skip any of Skenes' starts in the second half but will likely have him throw a few more "low-volume outings" as a means to manage his workload, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The club is also expected to give Skenes extra rest in between starts a few times in the second half, when possible. Skenes threw 160.1 innings in 2024, and Hiles believes the Pirates' goal is to get the righty into the 190s in 2025, with 200 innings being the cap. It's relatively mild as far as workload limitations go, but it does dampen Skenes' outlook slightly. The right-hander began to see his workload curtailed a bit late in the first half, as he threw fewer than 80 pitches in three of his last four starts and fewer than 90 pitches in the other outing. Prior to that, Skenes had averaged 98.7 pitches per start in his first 16 outings of the season.

Lin was placed on the 7-day injured list at High-A Peoria on Thursday with an undisclosed injury.

It's not clear when Lin was hurt or what injury he's battling, but he had struggled in his last five starts with Peoria, posting a 7.27 ERA and 23:18 K:BB over 17.1 frames. The 6-foot-7 Lin is one of the Cardinals' better pitching prospects, but he's yet to advance past A-ball at 23 years old and is now injured.

Ober (hip) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul on Friday, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Ober landed on the 15-day injured list at the beginning of July with a left hip impingement. He was never shut down from throwing while on the IL, so the big right-hander might require just the one rehab start before potentially rejoining the Twins' rotation next week. Ober holds a disappointing 5.28 ERA in 17 starts for the Twins this season.

Melton, who earned a promotion to Triple-A Toledo in June, could be an option for the Tigers' bullpen down the stretch, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Melton has enjoyed success this season, posting a 3.23 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 10 starts for Double-A Erie, then lowering those figures to 3.06 and 1.12, respectively, through seven appearances (six starts) for Toledo. The 24-year-old righty has shown swing-and-miss stuff as well, recording 93 strikeouts in 71.1 innings across both levels. Detroit may not have a spot for Melton in the rotation this year, though he could be an effective bullpen weapon for the Tigers down the stretch as they make their postseason push, similar to what the team did with Jackson Jobe in 2024. For that to be an option, however, Melton would have to be added to the 40-man roster.

Schmidt shared on a personal social media account that the Tommy John surgery he underwent July 11 was successful, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.

Schmidt stated in his post that he plans to "focus on healing" as he works to return to competition. The righty hurler was in the midst of a standout campaign before getting hurt, posting a 3.32 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 73:30 K:BB over 78.2 innings spanning 14 games. Though Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he was unsure if Schmidt got the internal brace version of the surgery, per Phillips, the current expectation is that Schmidt probably won't be ready to pitch in a big-league contest again until the 2027 campaign.