MLB Player News

A source told the Washington Post’s Mark Zuckerman that the Nationals don’t believe it’s a major injury. Still, the team will surely be careful here. Sykora, one of the Nationals’ top prospects, already missed the first month of the year with a hip injury. He has a 1.79 ERA and a 79/17 K/BB over 45 1/3 innings between four levels.

We hope the best for Ashcraft and his family. He should be out for a few games and could return to the Reds’ bullpen this weekend.

McDougal is the 86th-ranked prospect in all of baseball, according to Baseball America, and a consensus Top 10 prospect in the White Sox’s system. He has a 3.13 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 26/13 K/BB ratio in 23 innings at Triple-A this season. The White Sox will hope that the forearm tightness is not a precursor to a more significant injury.

Hicks was a late scratch on Tuesday with an illness, but he will just miss one game and be back in the lineup. Agustin Ramirez is out of the lineup with Kyle Stowers at DH and Esteury Ruiz starting in left field and batting ninth.

Castro has missed the last four games with a knee injury, but he’ll be back in the lineup at second base and hitting fifth on Wednesday. Since a left-hander pitcher is on the mound, Edouard Julien will shift to the bench, as will Troy Johnston and Jake McCarthy, with Jordan Beck and Brenton Doyle in the lineup and batting first and second, respectively.

It’s a standard day off for a catcher with a day game after a night game. Dalton Rushing will start at catcher and bat sixth. After a homer barrage to start the season, Rushing has gone 3-for-21 with three runs and three RBI over his last six games.

Swanson should be considered day-to-day, but he was always likely to sit with a day game after a night game. Matt Shaw will start at second base and bat seventh with Nico Hoerner sliding over to shortstop. Seiya Suzuki will also get a day off, with Michael Conforto in right field and batting sixth.

Pasquantino left Tuesday’s game with lower back tightness, but it seems like the Royals are not concerned that he’ll need an extended absence. Picollo referred to Pasquantino as day-to-day for now, so he may miss a game or two this week.

The one hiccup could be weather, which may prevent Langford from getting the live at-bats on a rehab assignment that the Rangers are hoping for. MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry reports that “There are a number of options to work through for him to get live at-bats,” if the weather doesn’t comply, and “the weekend remains the target date.”

With Garrett Crochet (shoulder) headed to the injured list, it seems like Jake Bennett will be called up to take his spot and start on Friday against the Astros. Bennett was scratched from his start in Triple-A on Tuesday, and now we know why. The 6'6" left-hander has a 0.86 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, and 16/3 K/BB ratio in 21 innings at Triple-A this season. He could be an option in deeper formats, but should be treated as a one-off streamer with Sonny Gray (hamstring) figuring to come back and take his spot on in the rotation in the coming weeks.

It’s a bummer for Pereira, who was finally getting a chance to play regularly and was slashing .250/.310/.453 with three home runs and seven RBI in 71 plate appearances. He does have a nearly 30 percent strikeout rate, which is something that he needs to work to improve, but hopefully, this is not a long absence for the 25-year-old. Derek Hill is starting in right field and batting seventh in the first game without Pereira.