MLB Player News

Cleveland promoted Morgan from Triple-A Columbus ahead of his scheduled start Monday against the Blue Jays, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

Though Cleveland recalled another starting candidate in Sam Hentges from Triple-A Columbus when Morgan was optioned to the minors July 22, the former wasn't needed at any point over the last week and a half while the team got by with a four-man rotation. Hentges remains on the roster, but Cleveland will bring back Morgan to fill the opening in the rotation with the club requiring a fifth starter. Morgan has been roughed up to the tune of a 7.47 ERA and 1.37 WHIP over 31.1 innings with the big club, but a strong 20.4 K-BB% rate offers some hope of a turnaround for the right-hander once his sky-high 22.4 HR/FB% normalizes a bit.

Lopez allowed one hit and struck out four over three scoreless relief innings in Sunday's 2-1 win over Cleveland.

It was a modified bullpen day for the White Sox, who called up Jimmy Lambert to start and got by with a string of relievers after that. Lopez has been an innings eater for the pale hose since his call up from Triple-A, pitching more than an inning in five of seven appearances. He has a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings and should be a prime candidate for a spot start or as a piggy-back starter when manager Tony La Russa wants to give the established rotation members a break.

Staumont gave up a run on one hit and a walk with one strikeout in one inning versus Toronto on Sunday.

The 27-year-old was the first reliever in the game after Brad Keller (back) exited after three innings. Staumont wasn't great, giving up a solo home run to Santiago Espinal, which ended his three-inning scoreless streak. The right-hander has seen less high-leverage work lately, with two holds and a win in 10 appearances since the start of the July. He has a 3.54 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 45:20 K:BB in 40.2 innings overall.

Wittgren (2-4) allowed a run on one hit and struck out two in 1.1 innings, taking the loss versus the White Sox on Sunday.

The right-hander pitched a clean eighth inning in a tied game, but he allowed a walkoff solo home run to Brian Goodwin in the ninth. This was Wittgren's second loss in his last four outings. The 30-year-old now has a 5.55 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 43:8 K:BB through 35.2 innings, mainly working in a medium-leverage role that's seen him collect a save and seven holds.

Hand allowed one unearned run on two hits and no walks in one inning during Friday's win over the Royals.

Hand made his team debut with the Blue Jays holding a four-run lead Friday, and he gave up a pair of singles to lead off the eighth inning. However, a throwing error allowed Nicky Lopez to score with no outs in the inning before the southpaw retired the next three batters he faced. Although Hand was relatively effective against Kansas City, he currently appears to be the setup man behind right-hander Jordan Romano.

Pivetta (8-5) lost Sunday's 3-2 game at the hands of the Rays, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts in 4.2 innings.

Pivetta was rolling to open the game, retiring the first eight Rays he faced, but walked Mike Zunino and surrendered a Brandon Lowe two-run homer immediately after to fall behind for good. He allowed two more hits and a run in the fifth before being removed after 76 pitches. The 28-year-old has now failed to reach five innings in three of his last four starts, permitting at least three runs in all four. He lines up to face Toronto next weekend.

Kittredge, who now sports a 7-1 record after earning the win Saturday against the Red Sox, has generated six consecutive scoreless efforts and owns a 1.08 ERA and 9.7 K/9 in the 8.1 innings covering his seven post-All-Star-break appearances.

The veteran reliever's career-best season, which included his first All-Star nomination, continues rolling along without a hitch as the last two months-plus of the regular season begin. Kittredge's seven wins are already a personal best by a comfortable margin, as are his 1.40 ERA and 0.90 WHIP. The 31-year-old boasts a diverse fantasy profile that also includes five holds and two saves, and with Diego Castillo now in Seattle, it's conceivable Kittredge even sees some save opportunities down the stretch.

Blach (elbow) began a rehab assignment with the Orioles' rookie-level Florida Complex League affiliate and has made five appearances, tossing five innings and allowing an unearned run on one hit and no walks while striking out six.

Blach's 2020 season was wiped out after he underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-July, but he re-signed with the Orioles on a minor-league deal in March and has been rehabbing at the team's spring facility in Florida for the past few months. The southpaw was cleared for game action almost a year after his procedure, and the early returns have been encouraging. The Orioles assigned Blach to High-A Aberdeen coming out of the spring, so he'll presumably settle with that affiliate once he completes his FCL rehab assignment.

Hendriks (5-2) allowed a hit and struck out two batters in a scoreless ninth inning Sunday, earning a victory over Cleveland.

Hendriks came into a tied game and worked around a two-out single by Franmil Reyes to hold the game at 1-1. He picked up the win after Brian Goodwin's walkoff homer the next half-inning. The 32-year-old righty is 5-2 with 26 saves and a 2.47 ERA through 47.1 innings.

Akin came on in relief and retired one of the three batters he faced but wasn't charged with an earned run in Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Tigers.

Before landing on the COVID-19 injured list July 21, Akin had filled a spot in the Baltimore rotation, but he looks like he'll work out of the bullpen for the time being while Alexander Wells and Spenser Watkins are evaluated for starting duties. Akin entered Sunday with a 8.19 ERA and 1.80 WHIP on the season, and he didn't do anything in his relief appearance to make the Orioles eager to add him back into the rotation. He allowed both of his inherited runners to score on a pair of base hits, but Akin was spared of any damage to his ERA when Shaun Anderson came on to record the final out of the seventh inning while leaving the bases loaded.