MLB Player News

The Phillies announced Saturday that Wheeler (shoulder) will undergo season-ending thoracic outlet decompression surgery, Paul Casella of MLB.com reports. He's expected to face a recovery timeline of 6-to-8 months.

Wheeler was placed on the injured list a week ago after doctors discovered a blood clot in his throwing shoulder, which he had removed in a procedure Monday. Since then, he's been diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome, which will require a more significant surgery. Given the estimated 6-to-8-month recovery timeline, Wheeler's availability for Opening Day in 2026 now appears to be in doubt. Before being shut down last week, the 35-year-old righty had been a leading candidate for the 2025 NL Cy Young Award, posting a 10-5 record, 2.71 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 195:33 K:BB across 149.2 innings.

Moniak is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Pirates.

Moniak isn't part of the starting lineup against a right-handed pitcher for the first time since July 12. The outfielder will be on the bench for the second time in three games. With Moniak idle, the Rockies will deploy Tyler Freeman in right field.

Bernabel will bat second and play first base Saturday against the Pirates.

Bernabel was struck in the face by a baseball during pregame infield drills Thursday. He was scratched from Thursday's lineup and kept on the bench Friday. However, Bernabel has been given the green light to start Saturday's contest. He has eight hits in his last 22 at-bats (.364) with a 3:1 BB:K.

Perez isn't in the starting lineup Saturday against Kansas City, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Perez will have at least a partial off day after starting in seven straight games and going 8-for-26 with a home run, two RBI, four runs and a stolen base over that span. The Tigers' outfield from left to right will consist of Riley Greene, Javier Baez and Kerry Carpenter on Saturday.

Lauer is expected to start Wednesday's game against Minnesota in Toronto, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.

With Shane Bieber returning from the 60-day injured list to make his Toronto debut Friday, manager John Schneider indicated Lauer would be moving to a relief role. While Schneider told Mae that Lauer will still be available for a brief appearance out of the bullpen in Saturday's game in Miami, the Blue Jays still plan to have the lefty start at least one more time Wednesday in order to give Bieber extra rest between outings. It's not yet clear if Lauer will handle a full workload in his start next week, nor is it known whether Toronto will opt for a six-man rotation for any additional amount of time as Bieber gets back into a groove as he settles back in following his April 2024 Tommy John surgery.

Bieber is scheduled to make his next start next Friday against the Brewers, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.

Bieber was excellent in his Toronto debut Friday, allowing one run on two hits and no walks with nine strikeouts over six innings. Though his next turn would ordinarily come up Wednesday against Minnesota, he'll instead take the mound against Milwaukee after a team off day Thursday, as manager John Schneider wants to give the hurler extra rest, per Mae. Eric Lauer will start Wednesday in what could be his final turn in the rotation.

Messick is slated to make his next scheduled start Tuesday against the Rays at Progressive Field.

Messick will unsurprisingly receive a second straight turn through the Cleveland rotation after he excelled in a no-decision in his MLB debut this past Wednesday, when he limited the Diamondbacks to one run on seven hits and one walk over 6.2 innings while striking out six batters. The 25-year-old lefty may eventually cede his spot in the rotation to the rehabbing John Means (elbow), but Messick could make it tough for the Guardians to justify moving him to the bullpen or back to Triple-A Columbus if he comes through with another strong start Tuesday.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell confirmed that Horton (finger) will start Saturday's game against the Angels in Anaheim, MLB.com reports.

During his most recent start in Monday's loss to the Brewers, Horton was lifted in the third inning due to a minor blister on his pitching hand. Counsell acknowledged that the rookie had dealt with a blister in the same spot in the past, but the righty apparently checked out fine during his between-starts bullpen session and will take the hill Saturday for his 18th outing of the season. Horton has been the Cubs' top-performing starter since the All-Star break, going 4-1 with an 0.58 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 27:10 K:BB in 31 innings.

Finnegan (3-4) tossed two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win in Friday's 7-5 victory over the Royals. He walked one and struck out one.

Finnegan worked the seventh and eighth innings to earn the win out of the bullpen, with Will Vest covering the ninth. The former has two wins since joining Detroit at the trade deadline to go along with four saves and a hold. He's also sporting an impressive 0.00 ERA and 0.38 WHIP with 12 strikeouts across 10.2 innings with his new team. Both Finnegan and Vest are seeing ninth-inning work for the Tigers, giving both pitchers fantasy appeal but also capping their respective ceilings.

Cruz (concussion) is slated to begin a minor-league rehab assignment with Double-A Altoona on Saturday, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Cruz suffered a concussion in a collision with teammate Jack Suwinski on Aug. 12 versus Milwaukee.He was subsequently placed on the 7-day injured list, but Cruz is apparently no longer dealing with concussion symptoms now that he's been cleared for game action in the minors. It's not clear how long Cruz's rehab assignment will last, but enough time has passed that he's eligible to be activated by the big club at any point.