MLB Player News

The Cardinals have a flexible cap on Leahy's innings this season as he transitions from reliever to starter, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The team will alter their rotation coming out of the All-Star break in order to bake in extra rest for Leahy. Additional measures will be taken during the second half to manage the righty's workload, though what exactly that will look like hasn't been decided upon. Leahy has logged 81.1 innings this season, which is just 6.2 frames shy of last year's total. The 29-year-old accumulated 144.2 innings in 2022, which was the last year he was used as a full-time starting pitcher, so the curtailing of his workload shouldn't be too dramatic. Leahy's next start is scheduled to come Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Cavalli will appeal the seven-game suspension he received Thursday, Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports.

MLB issued bans for Cavalli and teammate Miles Mikolas (five games) along with Boston's Willson Contreras (seven games) and Nate Eaton (three games) for their roles in a benches-clearing incident Tuesday. Cavalli's suspension was set to begin Friday, but the 27-year-old's decision to appeal the ban will allow him to make his next turn through the rotation, which is expected to come Monday against the Astros. One or both Nationals pitchers could end up dropping their appeals at a more convenient time as the team figures out how to juggle the two looming absences from its rotation.

Lopez went 3-for-5 with a double, a triple and two runs scored in Thursday's loss to the Rockies.

The breakout shortstop wraps up an impressive trip to Coors Field having gone 6-for-14 over three games at altitude with four extra-base hits (two double, a triple and a homer). Lopez continues to lead the majors in batting average at .336, 10 points up on Luis Arraez and Yandy Diaz, and he's been even more productive since the beginning of June, delivering a .348/.383/.563 slash line with three home runs, six steals, 12 RBI and 23 RBI in 27 contests.

Gordon is slated to start Sunday's game against the Giants at Coors Field, Kevin Henry of The Denver Gazette reports.

After being touched up by the Marlins for five runs in five innings during his return from the injured list Tuesday, Gordon carries a 6.69 ERA and 1.59 WHIP over 40.1 innings across 10 appearances (three starts) this season. Despite that rough outing, the right-hander will be awarded a second turn through the rotation, but his grip on a starting role is tenuous. The Rockies called up one of their top pitching prospects, Gabriel Hughes, from Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday, and while he's slated to work out of the bullpen initially, he could get a look as the club's No. 5 starter later this summer.

Arquette was placed on the 7-day injured list at Double-A Pensacola on Tuesday due to a thumb injury, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

The 22-year-old prospect hasn't played since June 26, and Arquette is expected to miss around six weeks with the injury. The seventh overall pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft had just begun to find his footing after a late-May promotion from High-A, homering five times in his last 12 games for Pensacola while producing a .250/.291/.558 slash line with a 14.5 percent strikeout rate.

Sugano (finger) is listed as the Rockies' starting pitcher for Saturday's game against the Giants at Coors Field, Kevin Henry of The Denver Gazette reports.

Sugano developed a finger injury during his most recent start this past Friday in Minnesota, resulting in the Rockies pushing him back a few days in their pitching schedule. The right-hander got through a bullpen session earlier this week unscathed, so he's not expected to be operating with any restrictions Saturday. Sugano is tied for the team lead with eight wins on the season, but his poor ratios (4.80 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 7.0 K-BB%) have made it difficult to depend on him as anything more than a streaming option in deeper leagues.

Asigen (hamstring) was cleared to make his season debut with the Mets' Dominican Summer League affiliate Monday and has gone 0-for-3 with two walks through his first two games.

The 16-year-old shortstop was viewed as one of the top prospects in the international signing class this past January and received a $3.9 million signing bonus. Asigen missed the first month of the DSL campaign while recovering from a hamstring strain but should get plenty of at-bats under his belt before the season wraps up in mid-August.

Cairone (undisclosed) made his professional debut Thursday, tossing an inning for the Brewers' rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate while allowing one earned run on one hit.

Selected out of high school with the No. 68 overall pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft, Cairone was involved in a serious car accident near his home in New Jersey on Jan 2. Per JR Radcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the 18-year-old left-hander was hospitalized for nearly a month and required an arduous rehab in which he had to relearn everyday tasks, but he began working out at the Brewers' facility in Arizona just over two months ago. Cairone is expected to stick around in rookie ball until the Complex League season ends in late July.

Triple-A Oklahoma City placed Eder on its 7-day injured list Wednesday due to an unspecified injury.

Eder hasn't made an appearance at the big-league level since May 2. The left-hander has spent most of the campaign at Oklahoma City, turning in a 4.29 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 20:11 K:BB over 21 innings.

Smith went 1-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBI in Thursday's loss to the Cardinals.

The 31-year-old journeyman came to the plate with the bases loaded in the first inning and cleared them with a comebacker that deflected off Dustin May's ankle and went into shallow right field. Smith continues to see consistent playing time at DH against right-handed pitchers, but he's gone 19 straight games without a home run, managing just a .196/.259/.235 slash line over that stretch with two doubles and seven RBI. His declining production could prompt Atlanta to look for a more reliable left-handed power source at the trade deadline.