MLB Player News

Fairbanks (lat) was reinstated from the 60-day injured list Sunday.

Fairbanks will return to the Rays after missing the entirety of the season to this point after tearing his lat in late March. The reliever will provide a boost to the team's bullpen after Jalen Beeks (leg) was placed on the 15-day IL Sunday. Fairbanks produced a 3.59 ERA and 1.43 WHIP with 56 strikeouts over 42.2 innings in 47 appearances last season.

Beeks was placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday with right lower leg tightness.

Beeks last pitched Thursday, earning his first save of the season, but he appears to have tweaked something in his lower right leg. The move to the IL was retroactive to July 15, making him first eligible to return July 30. Pete Fairbanks (lat) was reinstated from the 60-day IL on Sunday and will replace Beeks on the active roster.

Bautista disclosed Sunday that he wasn't available for Saturday's 6-4 extra-inning win over the Rays due to a sore right hand, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Bautista said he picked up the injury after a mishap with an exercise band. The right-hander isn't certain if he'll be available for Sunday's series finale, but he expects to be ready to go out of the bullpen coming out of the All-Star break.

Martin (0-5) allowed one unearned run on three hits while striking out one over two innings, taking an extra-inning loss to the Mariners on Saturday.

Martin, who has recently filled in as the closer after Joe Barlow (blister) was removed from the role before hitting the injured list, entered a tied contest in the ninth inning. After getting the game into extras, he allowed a pair of hits and the automatic runner to score in the 10th. The left-hander remains an option to close games going forward, though manager Chris Woodward could look elsewhere now that right-handed bullpen stalwart Jonathan Hernandez was activated off the injured list Saturday.

Oller was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas and will start Sunday's contest against the Astros, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Oller will return to the big leagues after being optioned to Las Vegas on June 30, returning to start the Athletics' final game before the All-Star break. The 27-year-old owns a 9.00 ERA and 2.04 WHIP over 23 innings this season, but in the month of June he was able to compile a 3.24 ERA and 1.80 WHIP over 8.1 frames in five appearances. Jared Koenig was optioned to Triple-A on Sunday to open a roster spot for Oller.

Howard gave up two earned runs on five hits and five walks while striking out three in a 3-2 extra-inning loss to the Mariners on Saturday. He did not factor into the decision.

Howard was somewhat effective in his third start since being recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on July 5. The 25-year-old right-hander managed to eat five innings while giving up only two earned runs on a home run to Carlos Santana. The five free passes are concerning, but the positives to take away are two consecutive outings of five innings and a career-high-tying 91 pitches Sunday. Howard's 7.70 FIP suggests that his bloated 6.97 ERA may not be due for improvement unless he can make a significant adjustment, but the right-hander has been better during his current stint in the majors (4.50 ERA, 14 IP) than he was during a three-game April stretch (12.15 ERA, 6.2 IP, 8.1 HR/9), which resulted in a demotion to the minors. Another silver lining is that he is slated to start in a favorable matchup against the Athletics his next time out after the All-Star break.

Smeltzer was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on Sunday.

Smeltzer will return to Triple-A after serving as the Twins' fifth starter since late May. The 26-year-old owns a 4.02 ERA and 1.21 WHIP on the season over 12 starts, but over his last three outings he's produced a far less ideal 8.76 ERA and 2.03 WHIP. Smeltzer was moved in order to open a roster spot for Chris Archer (hip), who was activated from the 15-day injured list Sunday. Minnesota won't need a fifth starter again until the first week of August, at which point Smeltzer will likely be called up from St. Paul.

The Royals recalled Speier from Triple-A Omaha on Sunday.

Speier will be joining the Royals' 26-man active roster as a replacement for starting pitcher Brady Singer (personal), who was one of 10 Royals placed on the restricted list Thursday ahead of the team's four-game series in Toronto due to his vaccination status. Because Singer started Wednesday's contest, the Royals weren't able to immediately replace him on the roster until three days later. Speier will give the Royals a fresh left-handed arm out of the bullpen Sunday in the team's final game before the All-Star break.

Hernandez allowed one hit and struck out one over a scoreless inning in Saturday's 3-2 extra-inning loss to Seattle.

Hernandez was activated off the 60-day injured list and put to work immediately in an important spot with the Rangers trailing by one in the seventh inning. This was the first time he's thrown in a regular-season game since 2020, a year in which he had a 2.90 ERA and was an anchor at the back end of the bullpen. He was slated for a similar role prior to undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in April of 2021 and could resume his role as a key component late in games in 2022.

Romano (3-2) gave up two runs -- one of them earned -- while striking out one over an inning of work in a 6-5 extra-inning victory against the Royals on Saturday. Romano was assigned the win.

Romano was called in to a tie game in the 10th inning and got two outs before giving up a two-run home run off the bat of Vinnie Pasquantino. Only one of the runs scored was earned due to the automatic runner on second base. Romano got out of the inning and tallied his third win of the season thanks to a Blue Jays offensive barrage that plated three runs in the bottom half. Romano should continue to see high-leverage usage, leading to the occasional win in addition to frequent save chances as the team's closer.