Major League Baseball

Armed & ready: Wainwright ready for Saturday start

Published Jun. 19, 2014 6:35 a.m. ET

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John Halpin

Cardinals' ace Adam Wainwright, who missed his Monday start due to elbow tendinitis, threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and says he'll be ready to start against the Phillies on Saturday. Manager Mike Matheny was a bit more cautious, saying, "If we need to take more time, we take more time. That's all there is to it." However, unless there's a setback, you should expect to see Wainwright on the hill this weekend.

Wednesday's studs and duds

Stud: Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw threw a no-hitter that was blemished only by a Hanley Ramirez error, struck out 15 Rockies, and recorded the second-highest game score (102) of all time behind Kerry Wood's 20-K game in 1998. Not bad.

Stud: On most other days, Cubs SP Jake Arrieta's seven-inning, one-run, 11-K performance would be the headliner here. Did you know that Arrieta (owned in 18.1 percent of FOXSports.com leagues) has a 1.98 ERA through nine starts, with 55 strikeouts in 50 innings?

Stud: Brian McCann finally showed a pulse, with two hits, a homer and five RBI. Let's see it again!

Dud: Yikes, Edinson Volquez. Eight runs in two-and-one-third innings? Really?

News & notes

Marlins OF Giancarlo Stanton left Wednesday's game due to a bruised wrist, but expects to play today. So does C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who has been out since June 1 with a concussion.

Indians OF Michael Brantley (concussion) will be out "until Saturday at the earliest," according to cleveland.com. Depending on how Brantley's recovery goes, the seven-day concussion DL remains a possibility.

Giants OF Angel Pagan missed his third straight game on Wednesday due to a stiff back. Pagan flew to Arizona ahead of the team to get tests on his back, and is listed as day to day. The Giants are off today.

Phillies 3B Cody Asche could be activated as soon as today; I feel like I'm the only one even mildly excited about this. Teammate Ben Revere didn't start Wednesday due to a knee injury, but he did make a pinch-hitting appearance.

Another good start for Orioles SP Kevin Gausman, who's owned in just 6.7 percent of FOXSports.com leagues. You might want to jump on board and grab him before your fellow owners do. Baseball America had Gausman as it's 20th-ranked prospect coming into the season, ahead of Yordano Ventura. That doesn't mean Gausman is better than Ventura, but it should tell you how highly regarded he is.

Royals OF Norichika Aoki (groin) took Wednesday off, but expects to play today.

The Angels are hoping that SP Tyler Skaggs (hamstring) will come off the DL sometime next week.

Cubs C Welington Castillo (rib cage) will begin a rehab assignment today. In other Cubs' news, 3B prospect Kris Bryant has been promoted to Triple A after bludgeoning Double-A pitchers for a .355 BA, 22 home runs and a 1.160 OPS in 68 games. Bryant is one of baseball's five best hitting prospects, should be on his way to a fine career ... and is just five months younger than Mike Trout.

Streaming starters

The aforementioned Mr. Volquez dropped our record to 44-33 for the season; my apologies to anyone who listened to me and streamed Volquez on Wednesday. Today's pick is Marlins' rookie Andrew Heaney (up to 25.3 percent owned) versus the Mets, while Friday's selection is Pirates' ground-ball machine Charlie Morton (14.8 percent owned) at Wrigley against the Cubs.

Finishing up

Colleague Ryan Fowler checks in with this update on Bartolo Colon, who's owned in 24.4 percent of FOXSports.com leagues:

Bartolo Colon won his seventh game of the season on Wednesday. Colon has shaved ~1.50 off his ERA over the last month and picked up a quality start in five out of his last six trips to the bump. Over the past three calendar years (6/18/11 - 6/17/14), Colon ranks 25th in wins with 37 and, coincidentally, in ERA at 3.49. His 1.53 BB/9 rate is second-best in MLB, trailing only Cliff Lee during that same stretch.

See you back here tomorrow morning.

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