MLB Player News

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Sunday that Bazardo (lat) will be shut down for the next three weeks before resuming a throwing progression, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Bazardo is on the mend from a strained right lat, an injury he sustained during his appearance Tuesday at Triple-A Worcester. Since he'll still need time to build up once he's cleared to resume his throwing program, Bazardo is unlikely to return to action for Worcester until July at the earliest.

Bowlan was pulled from his start for Double-A Northwest Arkansas in the first inning due to an apparent injury, Northwest Arkansas play-by-play broadcaster Nicholas Badders reports.

Bowlan struck out both of the batters he faced in his start before calling for a trainer after throwing his 10th pitch of the afternoon. Northwest Arkansas has yet to provide an update on the nature or extent of the 24-year-old right-hander's injury. Bowlan has posted a 1.59 ERA and 25:3 K:BB in 17 innings through his first four outings of the season.

Double-A Frisco placed Speas on its 7-day injured list Sunday due to a sore right elbow, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Speas is scheduled to undergo further evaluation before the Rangers provide a timeline for his return to action, but the initial diagnosis of a sore elbow is concerning for a pitcher who required Tommy John surgery in June 2018. The 2016 second-round pick has been regularly hitting triple digits with his fastball thus far in the Double-A season, but control has been an issue (11 walks in 6.1 innings).

Rodriguez (shoulder) tossed a bullpen session Saturday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

The bullpen session was Rodriguez's second since he was placed on the injured list May 6 due to a right shoulder injury. He could take the next step forward in his throwing program by facing hitters in live batting practice at some point during the upcoming week.

Kittredge (5-0) pitched a scoreless seventh inning on one hit while striking two, earning the win over the Blue Jays on Saturday.

Kittredge surrendered a one-out double to Santiago Espinal but was able to retire the other three batters he faced. He has been stellar in the first two months this season, allowing a single run in only three of his 16 appearances. The 31-year-old leads the Rays with five wins. In addition, he has picked up a pair of saves, showing that he can perform in any relief role. He has a 1.23 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP in 22 innings.

The Mariners recalled Mills from Triple-A Tacoma on Sunday.

Seattle called up Mills for the second time in three days after the team moved another reliever (Kendall Graveman) to the 10-day injured list. After getting a promotion Friday, Mills was roughed up for four runs in his lone inning of relief in the Mariners' loss to the Padres before being optioned to Triple-A the following day.

The Mariners placed Graveman on the injured list Sunday without a designation.

Given that Seattle placed four relief pitchers on the COVID-19 injured list Friday, Graveman's lack of an injury designation likely indicates that his shutdown is also the result of a COVID-19-related concern, whether it be a positive test or a contact-tracing issue. More clarity on Graveman's situation could come within the next few days, but for the time being, the Mariners will have to turn to other options in save situations. Rafael Montero and Keynan Middleton probably represent the best bets to work as closers in the short term.

Puk (biceps) allowed three earned runs on four hits and a walk over two-thirds of an inning in a rehab appearance for Triple-A Las Vegas against Salt Lake on Saturday.

The left-hander gave up some hard contact to a couple of hitters with major-league experience in Luis Rengifo and Jo Adell, who tagged him for a double and a solo home run, respectively. Saturday's outing represented a test of sorts for Puk, as it came on the shortest amount of rest yet (two days) during his four-appearance rehab assignment. It remains to be seen if Puk's poor final line will play any role in the Athletics' decision on when to activate him, as he'd already put together three previous solid appearances for the Aviators.

Lakins was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday.

Lakins recorded a poor 7.36 ERA, 1.64 WHIP and 12:11 K:BB across 14.2 innings at the major-league level this season. He'll work on finding his game in the minors. Brandon Waddell was called up in a corresponding move.

Karinchak (2-0) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings and struck out two to earn the extra-inning win over Minnesota on Saturday.

The right-hander was called upon for the last out of the ninth inning in a tied game. Cleveland couldn't win it in the bottom of the ninth, but Karinchak stymied Minnesota in the 10th. Cesar Hernandez then launched a walkoff two-run home run to give Karinchak his second win of the season. The 25-year-old reliever has added five saves, five holds, a 0.44 ERA, 0.48 WHIP and 38:7 K:BB across 20.2 innings this season as a dominant option at the back of Cleveland's bullpen.