MLB Player News

Gibson drew the starting assignment for the opening contest of Saturday’s twin bill at Truist Park and traded zeroes with Braves counterpart Charlie Morton into the middle innings as both teams kicked off the second half with a low-scoring pitcher’s duel. The 36-year-old journeyman carried a shutout into the seventh inning, but was ultimately charged with a run following his exit when lefty reliever Ryan Fernandez served up a game-tying two-run homer to Eddie Rosario. He finished with six strikeouts and only issued a pair of walks. He’ll bring a respectable 3.99 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 102/43 K/BB ratio across 108 1/3 innings (19 starts) into a home outing on Friday against the Nationals.

Mikolas gave up six hits, walked two and struck out four. He fell to 1-5 with the loss. Mikolas entered a scoreless game in the third inning as the bulk pitcher. The game remained scoreless until the fifth inning, when Mikolas allowed three home runs and the Marlins took a 4-0 lead. Mikolas has a 6.39 ERA. He’s lined up to pitch against the Giants on the road next week.

Bachar gave up no hits, walked one and struck out three. It was his first appearance as an opener. He still has a 0-0 record in 19 total appearances this year. Bachar had eight wins and three saves last year, but now the Marlins could see him as more of a multi-inning reliever going forward.

It’s an encouraging development that imaging didn’t reveal any structural damage in Crochet’s shoulder after he was shut down from throwing over the weekend due to lat tightness. The 26-year-old fantasy ace will remain without a definitive return timeline until he’s cleared to begin a throwing progression. It seems highly unlikely that he’ll make it back until after next month’s All-Star break given the nature of the injury and how much time he’ll need to build up his arm strength and pitch count from ground zero.

Greene’s home run was his sixth of the year. He hit a solo shot off Ian Seymour in the seventh inning. Greene is still hitting .308, though much of that is due to his .434 BABIP. Since May 14, he’s hitting .271 over his last 19 games. Greene has a career .354 BABIP, so his average should continue to come down. The likely trade-off will be that Greene falls back on his power hitting after hitting 36 home runs last season.

Lowder gave up six hits and didn’t hand out a free pass, throwing 70 pitches (50 strikes) over five frames. The 24-year-old averaged 94.1 mph on his sinker and 94.5 mph on his four-seam fastball, which is an extremely encouraging sign. He’s on track to return to Cincinnati’s rotation for a road start against the Cardinals on Sunday.

Verlander scattered four hits and averaged 93.5 mph on his fastball during his latest rehab outing. The really encouraging sign here is that he was able to sustain his velocity through the 64-pitch outing. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer figures to rejoin Detroit’s rotation this weekend to take the ball against the Mariners at Comerica Park. He’s been on the shelf recovering from a hip impingement since early April.

Torres’ home run was his third of the season. He hammered a 3-1 pitch deep into the left field seats off Steven Matz in the first at-bat of the game, which was his first at-bat since he suffered an oblique injury in early May. Torres was on pace for a career-low .069 ISO prior to his injury. Hopefully, his home run Tuesday is a sign that his power is back.

It was Whitlock’s first side session since hitting the injured list with knee inflammation last week. The 29-year-old isn’t expected to miss a ton of time and it’s possible he’s ready to rejoin Boston’s high-leverage mix by mid-June.

Matz gave up six hits, walked none and struck out two. He fell to 4-3 on the season with the loss. This is two very poor outings in a row for Matz as he’s now allowed 11 runs over 4 2/3 innings in his last two starts. He got off to a bad start Tuesday when Gleyber Torres hit a home run in the first at-bat of the game. He’s allowed nine home runs in 46 innings (1.76 HR/9). Matz will take a 5.48 ERA into his start against Red Sox next week.