Underdog

The 32-year-old southpaw is scheduled to throw three innings in what will be his third minor league rehab start. After this outing the Dodgers plan to evaluate him to see where he’s at. The expectation is that they’ll want him to be fully stretched out before rejoining the Dodgers’ starting rotation, which would require another couple of rehab starts.

He’ll be followed in that start by Dustin May. That means that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start on Tuesday. With May set to follow Ohtani this time around, Ben Casparius is free to function in either a high-leverage or multi-inning role at any point that the Dodgers need him over the weekend.

The 32-year-old right-hander was released by the Pirates just before the All-Star break after posting a troublesome 10.57 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and a 9/6 K/BB ratio over 7 2/3 innings in 11 appearances at the big league level. He’ll give manager A.J. Hinch another weapon to deploy in the middle innings.

The 28-year-old slugger continues his slow progression in his return from a small fracture in his right hand. He is currently with the Astros in Seattle and will continue to work out there with an eye towards eventually heading out on a minor league rehab assignment at some point once he’s ready to do so.

Tigers’ skipper A.J. Hinch noted that while Carpenter is unlikely to begin a minor league rehab assignment over the weekend, there’s hope that he’ll be able to head out early next week. He should only need a couple of game’s worth of live at-bats before he’s cleared to return to the Tigers’ lineup.

The dynamic 30-year-old outfielder will be active and in uniform as the Astros kick off the second half of the season on Friday evening against the Mariners in Seattle. Kenedy Corona was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land in a corresponding move on Friday. McCormick has been shelved since May 30 due to a left oblique strain.