Player News
Cardinals’ manager Oli Marmol told reporters on Friday that the team plans to shift to a six-man starting rotation beginning on April 16.
That’s when 33-year-old southpaw Steven Matz will be added to the rotation. Matz has pitched well out of the bullpen this season, posting a 1.93 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and a 5/1 K/BB ratio over 9 1/3 innings of work. Marmol also noted that Roddery Munoz is being moved to the bullpen at Triple-A Memphis with the intention that he’ll help to absorb the loss of Matz in the team’s bullpen when this change is made.
Luis Torrens (forearm) returned to the Mets’ lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Athletics.
The 28-year-old backstop had been shelved since last Friday due to a bruised forearm. He’ll do the catching for Griffin Canning on Friday night and will bat eighth against Athletics’ left-hander JP Sears.
Spencer Strider (elbow) is tentatively expected to make his season debut with the Braves on Wednesday against the Blue Jays.
Strider will throw a side session in Tampa on Sunday before accompanying the Braves to Toronto. After thoroughly dominating in each of his minor league rehab starts, there’s zero reason to expect the star right-hander to do anything less when he takes on the Jays on Wednesday. It sounds like fantasy managers that called his name on draft day will be getting him back even earlier than originally anticipated.
Padres transferred RHP Matt Waldron to the 60-day injured list.
The Padres needed to free up a spot on their 40-man roster to promote Tyler Wade on Friday which forced them to move Waldron to the 60-day IL. The expectation had originally been that the knuckleballer could be ready to return from his oblique injury before the end of April, but now he won’t be eligible to return until the end of May at the earliest.
Padres selected the contract of INF/OF Tyler Wade from Triple-A El Paso.
The versatile 30-year-old will add some depth to the Padres’ bench with Jake Cronenworth (rib) landing on the injured list on Friday. Wade was hitting .321/.406/.321 with one RBI and a pair of stolen bases through his first six games at Triple-A El Paso.
Padres placed INF Jake Cronenworth on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 9, with a non-displaced right rib fracture.
Cronenworth missed the last couple of games due to what they thought was cramping after being hit by a pitch during Sunday’s game, but it turns out that he was dealing with a small fracture. No word yet on how long he’s expected to be shelved for. Tyler Wade was promoted from Triple-A to take his place on the Padres’ active roster.