MLB Player News

Ottavino was handed a blown save in Sunday's 6-3 loss to the Yankees after allowing all three batters he faced to reach base. He hit a batter and surrendered a two-run double to Aaron Judge and a two-run home run to Giancarlo Stanton.

Ottavino was summoned from the bullpen in the top of the eighth inning with two outs and runners on the corners with Boston clinging to a 3-2 lead. The right-hander looked like he might get out of the jam unscathed after inducing a pair of fouled balls off the bat of Judge, but neither first baseman Bobby Dalbec nor catcher Christian Vazquez could secure the catch. Judge made the Red Sox pay for giving him a third chance, as he lined Ottavino's four-seam fastball to left-center field on the eighth pitch of the at-bat to score the go-ahead run. Neither of those runs were charged to Ottavino, but his ERA still took a hit when he served up the long ball to Stanton one batter later. Even though his last save came Sept. 1 and he's blown two saves since that span, Ottavino could still be Boston's preferred closing option. Ottavino has at least delivered value for fantasy managers during his save drought by scooping up four wins in relief.

Abreu was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday.

Abreu will make way for Jameson Taillon, who returned from an ankle injury ahead of his scheduled start against the Blue Jays. Abreu hasn't been particularly good in 36 innings of relief at the major-league level this season, struggling to a 5.25 ERA.

Jimenez retired all four batters he faced in a 14-pitch relief appearance in Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Royals.

Since being reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list Wednesday, Jimenez has come on to deliver two perfect outings out of the bullpen. He'll remain part of the bridge to closer Michael Fulmer during the final week of the regular season.

Chapman secured the save Sunday against Boston after tossing a scoreless ninth inning, allowing one walk and one strikeout.

Chapman has nailed down each of his last 14 save chances and while he's not been as unhittable as he's been in the past, it's worth noting that he's been dominant when it comes to closing games out. He owns a 2.38 ERA through 12 appearances this month (11.1 innings) and has not given up a run in seven of his last eight trips to the mound.

Green (10-7) earned the win Sunday against the Red Sox after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two.

Green has now tossed four straight scoreless outings, and that stretch of four straight appearances giving up at least one run between Sept. 8 and Sept. 15 seems to be a distant memory now. The consistency has been the biggest issue with Green this year, but he seems to be gearing up for a strong end of the regular season -- he hadn't recorded this many scoreless outings in a row since early July.

Jax (3-5) allowed four runs on six hits while striking out two over five innings as he took the loss against the Blue Jays on Sunday.

Jax was punished by the long ball Sunday. He allowed two runners on in the second before serving up a three-run blast to Danny Jansen to give the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead. George Springer later added a home run of his own after hitting a solo shot against Jax in the fifth. Jax would end up finishing the frame before calling it a day at 83 pitches. He was finding the strike zone a lot, as he threw 61 strikes and didn't walk anybody but was hurt by a few big mistakes. The 26-year-old hasn't won a game since Aug. 10 and sports an ugly 6.78 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 62:27 K:BB over 77 innings this season. He's projected to take the hill one more time in Kansas City next weekend.

Romano struck out three batters during a perfect four-out save in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Twins.

Romano entered in the eighth with two men on and two outs and got Miguel Sano to go down swinging to end the inning. He came back out for the ninth and recorded two more punchouts, including a game-ending strikeout against Luis Arraez to shut the door on the Twins. Romano has emerged as one of the top-tier closes in major league baseball this season, as he's 21-for-22 in save chances and owns a sparkling 2.24 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 81:24 K:BB over 60.1 innings.

Garza allowed one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts in two innings during Sunday's 5-2 loss to the White Sox.

The right-hander has covered more than one inning in just two of his seven September appearances. Garza has logged a 4.23 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 28:17 K:BB across 27.2 innings to begin his big-league career. The 27-year-old will likely remain in a low-leverage role to finish the season, although he's made noticeable improvements after a few rough patches in July and August.

Barlow recorded the final out of Sunday's 7-4 win over Baltimore via strikeout to earn the save.

Pedro Severino's two-run home run off Kolby Allard made it a three-run game, and Barlow entered the contest after Jahmai Jones drew a walk. Barlow was able to strike out Ryan McKenna to end the threat. The right-hander is up to nine saves this year, all earned within his last 15 appearances. He's pitched to a 1.67 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 26:12 K:BB across 27 innings overall while taking on the closer role in Texas in his first big-league season.

Kittredge (neck) threw a bullpen session Saturday and manager Kevin Cash noted afterwards that the reliever's stiffness was "pretty much gone," the team's official site reports.

The right-hander was put on the injured list retroactive to Sept. 18 as a largely precautionary measure, as the Rays were intent on not having him pitch through any discomfort and worsen a relatively minor issue. That strategy seems to be paying off as the season enters its final week, and it appears Kittredge, who's posted an excellent 1.55 ERA over 54 appearances, will be at full health for the postseason. Expect Tampa Bay to activate Kittredge from the injured list within the next couple of days.