MLB Player News

Things almost spun out of control quickly for Chandler here. He let the first three batters he faced reach base via two walks and a single and then Ian Happ got him for a two-run knock. A timely double play on Chandler’s 32nd pitch of the inning stopped the bleeding there. He never particularly settled in, giving up a run each in the second and fourth innings, but it was at least nice to see him get through five when it felt like he could’ve been pulled before the first was over. Different from some of his other poor starts, Chandler had no issues throwing strikes. Instead, he continued to have another problem that’s stuck with him and could not put hitters away. The Cubs hit seven foul balls in two strike counts off Chandler and his only pitch that induced a two strike whiff was a fastball. He needs to find more breaking ball consistency to reach the level we thought was possible heading into this season. Overall, it’s a shame he could not build on the momentum of his fantastic last start and he’ll take a 4.85 ERA into a two-start week against the Astros and Braves with both outings set to come on the road.

Joyce had shoulder surgery last year and seemed on track to return to the Angels’ bullpen in May, but he suffered a setback in the middle of that month. He began throwing again at the end of June and has now begun his rehab assignment in earnest. We don’t know much about how he looked on Thursday, but he did hit 102.3 mph on the radar gun, which seems to suggest that his arm is feeling good. He will head out to an affiliate soon, and we can get more information on his rehab performances.

Bummer had allowed four runs on six hits in four innings at Triple-A Iowa with a 3/2 K/BB ratio. He also had a 7.63 ERA in 15 1/3 innings with the Braves earlier this season. He will try to find a minor league contract on a less competitive team and see if he can break back into the big leagues.

Misiorowski had his final start before the All-Star break skipped due to fatigue, and then was not in the rotation announced this weekend. The Brewers have said they will get creative with Misiorowski’s usage down the stretch because he is already at 111 innings this season. He did throw 129 innings between the Majors and minors last year, so we’d expect the Brewers to be comfortable with him getting to at least 140 during the regular season, if not more, so that’s plenty of time for him to positively impact fantasy teams. He may just have a start pushed back here and there to make sure he’s fresh for the postseason.

There was some concern that Caminero might need to take a couple of games off after getting hit in the left hand by a pitch during the All-Star Game on Tuesday. However, the 23-year-old had his X-rays come back clean, and he’s right back in the lineup with the second half underway.

This will be the fifth and final game that Willson Contreras is suspended for. When Contreras returns, Gonzalez will likely play more DH at second base, but he should remain in the lineup. He’s hitting .231/.302/.385 in 11 games since returning from offseason shoulder surgery.

Englert is being called up as the 27th man on Friday. He could be used in a bulk role, but Englert threw 5 2/3 innings in his last outing so he will be used for length, regardless of whether or not he makes a traditional start.

Crochet has been sidelined since late April with a shoulder injury and then a subsequent lat strain. He admitted that he needed to dial down what he was doing while recovering and stopped doing plyometric work in recent weeks. Since then, he feels “like [he’s] seen drastic gains.” The Red Sox are now firmly in the playoff race and would love to have their ace back, but until he is cleared to pick up a baseball, it’s hard to know when that will happen, even if he feels he’s moving in the right direction.

Fried has been sidelined with a bone bruise on the back of his elbow since the middle of May. We know he threw 35 pitches in his last bullpen session, so he may be on a pitch count of around 40-50 pitches in this first outing. There’s a chance that he may only need two or three starts before returning to the Yankees, which means he could be back in New York before the end of July.

Díaz made two rehab appearances in the Arizona Complex League during the All-Star break. He will now begin pitching at the affiliates. We would expect him to need a couple of appearances next week as well, and the Dodgers may want to see him pitch on back-to-back nights before activating him. He’s getting close, but we may still be a week or two away from Díaz being back in the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said that Lawlar is “in a good spot,” but there is no timeline for his return as of yet. He will get more imaging done over the weekend to verify the progress of his healing and determine the next steps.