The Tampa Bay Rays Jersey Astros have been using a six-man rotation for the last couple of weeks, in order to both ease s return from the 15-day injured list and to help manage the innings of and . With the team preparing to move back to the traditional five-man staff, GM Dana Brown said on his weekend radio show (hat tip to ) that Blanco will probably be the pitcher moved into relief work. The right-hander had a 4.98 ERA in his last seven starts and 34 1/3 prior to todays start, when he looked sharp in to sing five shutout innings in the Astros 7-2 win over the Royals. Blancos unexpected emergence has been a revelation for a Houston team hit hard by rotation injuries earlier this season. He threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays in his very first start of 2024, setting the tone for a year that has seen him post a 3.03 ERA over 148 1/3 innings. The concern is that Blanco has already topped his previous high of 125 1/3 innings acro s the majors and minors in 2023, and Houston naturally wants to keep him fresh for the playoffs. The Astros rotation has been so dominant in recent weeks that they can afford to lose Blancos production, and theres plenty of upside to using Blanco as a bullpen weapon down the stretch and into October. More items from around the AL West. It has been over a month since last pitched, as he was dealing with right shoulder fatigue and then had a Double-A rehab start on August 23 canceled for unspecified reasons. Scherzer discu sed the situation with and other reporters this weekend, saying he was hampered by a nerve problem in his triceps area, but it wasnt actual nerve damage, as tests revealed. A change to Scherzers throwing motion mightve solved this , as there was something mechanically going on with my elbow and elbow retraction that was making that radial nerve of my tricep get irritated , Scherzer said. Yesterday, I got on the mound to do a full bullpen and no i sue.Structurally, Im fine. Strength, Im fine. I dont have an injury here. This was just a nerve irritation . Scherzer is now hopeful that hell be able to properly resume his rehab program within the week, and he believes hell return to the Rangers rotation before the season is over. was placed on the 15-day injured list on August 17, but he wont be activated when first eligible. It isnt yet clear if Soriano will return at all in 2024, as Angels GM Perry Minasian told the media (including ) that the team is considering shutting Soriano down. The right-hander was sent to the IL due to arm fatigue, which isnt unexpected given that Soriano has thrown a career-high 113 innings this season. His previous high was 82 1/3 innings in the minors in 2019, before two separate Tommy John surgeries put Soriano on the shelf for almost three full years. He made his big league debut as a reliever in 2023 and moved into the rotation this season, posting a very respectable 3.42 ERA acro s his 113 frames. With some solid results already in the books, the Angels might opt to just let Soriano get a head start on his 2025 preparations rather than ramp him back up for another outing or two this season. Tampa Bay Rays Jersey