Yahoo Sports

Whitlock (oblique) struck out five and allowed two hits and one walk over 4.2 scoreless innings Wednesday in his rehab start with Triple-A Worcester.

Advice: Whitlock pumped in 40 of his 61 pitches for strikes and induced 12 swings and misses, looking as strong as ever while pitching in a game for the first time since April 16. Even though he didn't get fully stretched out for a traditional starter's workload Wednesday, Whitlock could return from the 15-day injured list to make his next appearance out of the Red Sox rotation. If the Red Sox decide he won't require an additional rehab appearance, Whitlock would likely start with the big club either Monday or Tuesday at Tampa Bay. Rotowire.com Today, 10:44 am

Chourio will start in left field and bat eighth in Wednesday's game against the Pirates.

Advice: Chourio was on the bench for a stretch of four straight games from last Wednesday through Saturday, but he's now picked up starts in each of the subsequent four contests. Though he's reached base only twice over his last nine contests and carries a weak .579 OPS for the season into Wednesday's game, Chourio could nonetheless continue to see near-everyday playing time while Jake Bauers sees less time in the corner outfield and fills in at first base for the injured Rhys Hoskins (hamstring). Additionally, the struggling Blake Perkins -- who sat against right-handed starting pitchers both of the previous two days -- seems to have moved into more of a fourth-outfielder role of late. Rotowire.com Today, 8:50 am

Cease (5-3) took the loss Tuesday against the Rockies, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk while striking out eight over 5.2 innings.

Advice: Cease blanked the Rockies through three before Ryan McMahon took him deep to lead off the fourth. He then ran into some trouble in the sixth, allowing an additional run before being pulled with two outs in the inning and being charged with a third run before the frame concluded. It was just the second time this year Cease has failed to complete six innings and his first since his season debut. The strikeouts continue to pile up, as he's punched out at least eight in four of his last five starts and is second in the majors with 68 over 55 innings. He now owns a 2.45 ERA and 0.78 WHIP and lines up for a tough test on the road against Atlanta next week. Rotowire.com Today, 6:55 am

Kikuchi is slated to start Wednesday's game against the Orioles in Baltimore, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Advice: After Tuesday's game was postponed, the Blue Jays hadn't initially named a starter for Wednesday's series finale. Rather than pushing Chris Bassitt back a day in the pitching schedule after he had been in line to take the hill Tuesday, the Blue Jays will instead move up Kikuchi and have him take the hill Wednesday on his normal four days' rest. Kikuchi took a loss his last time out Friday against the Twins, but he worked a season-high eight innings and lowered his ERA to 2.64. Rotowire.com Today, 6:43 am

Parker (2-2) took the loss in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the White Sox, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks over five-plus innings. He struck out three.

Advice: The rookie southpaw got little support in a 4-0 loss, with all the damage off him coming on a three-run blast by Andrew Vaughn in the third inning. Parker exited after 82 pitches (50 strikes), and after not serving up a homer in his first four big-league starts, he's been taken deep three times in his last two. He'll carry a 3.09 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 25:7 K:BB through 32 innings into his next outing, which is scheduled to come at home early next week against the Twins. Rotowire.com Today, 12:13 am