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  • Sidelined by shoulder strain
    Church was placed on the 7-day injured list with a right shoulder strain Thursday, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.

    Advice: Church was in the running for a spot in the big-league bullpen during spring training, though he was ultimately optioned to the minors. Since, he's allowed two earned runs across 4.2 innings while posting a 5:3 K:BB with Triple-A Round Rock. It's unclear how long Church will be sidelined. Rotowire.com 12 minutes ago
     
  • Starting Friday
    Alexander will start Friday against the Yankees, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

    Advice: Alexander has shifted between a bulk relief and a traditional starting role. It appears he's in line for the latter Friday, and he should have no limitations after working six innings in his last appearance, which came against San Francisco on Sunday. Rotowire.com 22 minutes ago
     
  • Underwhelming rehab appearance
    Buehler (elbow) allowed two runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three across 2.2 innings in a rehab outing with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday, Eric Stephen of SBNation.com reports.

    Advice: Buehler was expected to throw between 80 and 90 pitches, though his struggles with control limited the length of his outing. He particularly struggled with his offspeed and breaking pitches, as he threw 15 combined curveballs and sliders -- only two of which went for strikes. Though the outing wasn't positive, it could come as some consolation that this was Buehler's first time pitching with an automated strike zone, per the Director of Communications Oklahoma City, Alex Freedman. It's possible that this was Buehler's final rehab outing before rejoining the big-league rotation, but the Dodgers are expected to assess the situation before making a final decision. Rotowire.com 33 minutes ago
     
  • Max Scherzer could make ’24 debut in early May
    The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports Max Scherzer (back) could return in early May.

    Advice: Scherzer is scheduled to face hitters again on Friday in a 40-pitch live batting practice session and could progress to a minor league rehab assignment shortly afterwards. The 39-year-old veteran righty has made a rapid recovery from offseason back surgery, which was originally expected to keep him on the shelf until late June. It might be too optimistic to expect him to make his season debut in early May, but it can’t be completely ruled out at this juncture. It certainly sounds like he’s going to return to the Rangers’ starting rotation at some point next month. Rotoworld 41 minutes ago
     
  • Launches homer in win
    Heim went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run in Thursday's 9-7 win over Detroit.

    Advice: Heim extended a hit streak to six games with a second-inning homer to put the Rangers up, 4-0. The catcher has launched three home runs with 15 RBI (third on team) over 17 games. Heim's batting .348 (8-for-23) with runners in scoring position. Rotowire.com 45 minutes ago
     
  • Heston Kjerstad connects for eighth homer at AAA
    Orioles OF prospect Heston Kjerstad went 3-for-3 with a solo homer on Thursday for Triple-A Norfolk.

    Advice: It’s early, but Kjerstad continues to tear the cover off the ball this season. The 25-year-old slugger is up to eight round-trippers through 18 games for Triple-A Norfolk and boasts a stratospheric 1.151 OPS to date. Rotoworld 47 minutes ago
     
  • Everson Pereira homers twice on Thursday at AAA
    Yankees OF prospect Everson Pereira went 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBI on Thursday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

    Advice: Pereira struggled last year in a brief 14-game cameo with the Yankees, but has always flashed some big-time power upside. The 23-year-old outfielder still needs to curb his propensity to swing an miss if he’s going to make an impact at the highest level. He certainly looks like a Quad-A masher at the moment, but could easily make the leap into a quality big-league contributor if his plate skills take a step forward. Rotoworld 48 minutes ago
     
  • Shuttled to Las Vegas
    Hernaiz was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

    Advice: Hernaiz had started seven of the last eight games for the Athletics, though he went just 3-for-20 with six strikeouts in that span. It's very likely that he'll be back in the majors at some point in 2024, though there's no indication of how long the team plans to keep him in the minors. The move should give Nick Allen the starting job at shortstop while creating a roster spot for Brent Rooker (ribs) to be activated off the injured list. Rotowire.com 52 minutes ago
     
  • Earns win in setup role
    Leclerc (1-2) picked up the win Thursday, allowing two walks and striking out two over one scoreless inning in a 9-7 victory over the Tigers.

    Advice: It was a wild affair in Detroit, as the Tigers came back from 4-0 and 7-4 deficits before the Rangers put it away in the final two innings. For Leclerc, it was his first time in what would be a considered a high-leverage spot since he was removed as the team's closer last weekend. He entered with two outs and two inherited runners in the seventh inning and escaped without damage. He became the pitcher of record an inning later when Texas broke a 7-7 tie. He worked around a pair of walks in the eighth before Kirby Yates came in for a four-out save. Since Leclerc lost the closer's job, the right-hander has not allowed a run and struck out six over four innings. Rotowire.com 54 minutes ago