MLB Player News

McHugh (3-3) gave up four runs on five hits with one walk while striking out two through six innings in a loss against the Twins on Wednesday.

McHugh was sluggish through six innings, and the big problem area was the third inning, when he allowed five baserunners and three runs to score. After beginning the season with a 1.96 ERA in his first four starts, the 31-year-old has struggled in his last three outings. He has a 3-3 record with a 4.97 ERA and 39:11 K:BB through seven starts this season. McHugh will make his next start Tuesday against the Royals.

Miller (1-2) allowed four runs on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks across 3.1 innings during a loss to the Pirates on Wednesday.

Pirates rookie outfielder Bryan Reynolds knocked Miller out of the game with a bases-clearing double in the fourth. The hit gave the Pirates a three-run lead. It's been a difficult five weeks to begin his Rangers tenure this year, as Miller has pitched into the sixth inning just once and has yielded at least four runs in five straight outings. He is 1-2 with a 7.99 ERA, 2.03 WHIP, .295 batting average against and 13 strikeouts in 23.2 innings over six starts. Miller will get another crack at the Pirates in his next start Wednesday.

Junis (3-2) allowed two runs on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks across 6.1 innings in a victory against the Rays on Wednesday.

The Rays had baserunners in five of the seven innings in which Junis took the mound, but the right-hander limited the Rays to only two runs from a double in the second. Junis had a tough start to the year, but he's yielded only three runs in his last 11.1 innings (2.38 ERA) over his most recent two starts. Overall, he is 3-2 with a 5.12 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and 34 strikeouts in 38.2 innings this year. His next outing is scheduled for Sunday at the Tigers.

Stanek (0-1) allowed three runs on three hits with one walk and no strikeouts in one inning during a loss to the Royals in the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday.

This was definitely the 27-year-old's worst outing this season. He came into the afternoon having only allowed two runs in 12 appearances, but with the rough inning Tuesday, his ERA jumped more than a run and a half. He also took his first loss of the year. Stanek is 0-1 with a 2.81 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 16 innings. He should be able to put this rough outing behind him quickly, but Stanek's fantasy value is limited because of his role.

Garcia struck out 11 over four innings but was charged with four runs on three hits and five walks Wednesday in Double-A Trenton's 4-1 loss to New Hampshire.

Garcia earned the call to the Eastern League after racking up 33 strikeouts in 17.2 innings over his four starts with High-A Tampa this season. The right-hander continued to display premium swing-and-miss skills in his debut for Trenton, but his control left much to be desired. In addition to the five free passes, Garcia also hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and was charged with a balk. The 20-year-old right-hander should get plenty of time to iron things out at Double-A, as the Yankees are likely earmarking him for a 2020 debut in the big leagues.

Martin could be a candidate to pick up saves after manager Chris Woodward confirmed Wednesday that the Rangers would deploy Jose Leclerc in lower-leverage spots for the time being, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

In addition to Martin, Shawn Kelley is also expected to have a role in the Rangers' upcoming save situations while Leclerc works through the command and control issues that have limited his effectiveness in the early portion of the season. Given that the Rangers signed Leclerc to a four-year extension in spring training, the team has incentive to eventually get him back into the closer's role, so any spike in fantasy value Kelley and Martin gain could be more of the short-term variety. Kelley has more prior closing experience at the MLB level and boasts better numbers (1.50 ERA, 11:0 K:BB in 12 innings) than Martin (3.97 ERA, 10:3 K:BB in 11.1 innings) this season, which may be enough to make Kelley the more attractive waiver-wire pickup of the two.

Manager Chris Woodward told MLB Network Radio that the Rangers will use Leclerc in lower-leverage situations to "get him back on track" before returning him to the closer's role.

Woodward clearly still views Leclerc as the team's closer of the future, though the manager doesn't want the right-hander to lose confidence amidst his early season struggles (8.44 ERA, 2.16 WHIP and 14:9 K:BB through 10.2 innings). As such, it sounds like Shawn Kelley and Chris Martin are the leading candidates to temporarily see late-inning opportunities while Leclerc works through some kinks.

Junis will start the first game of the Royals' doubleheader Wednesday with the Rays.

Junis had been scheduled to take the hill Tuesday, but a postponement due to inclement weather nixed those plans. He'll simply be moved back a day in the schedule to start the split doubleheader, with the Royals set to call up Glenn Sparkman from Triple-A Omaha to serve as the starter in Game 2. Since Sparkman will be tasked with opposing reigning AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell, Junis could have an easier path to claiming his third win of 2019 while squaring off against Rays opener Ryne Stanek.

Manager Chris Woodward acknowledged that it's time to consider alternatives to Leclerc as closer, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Woodward has been supportive of Leclerc through his early-season stumbles, but his thinking changed following Tuesday's blown save. "We are going to discuss it," Woodward said. "I don't want to say that just yet. Obviously with a young guy, you don't want to kill the kid's confidence. I would love to keep giving him the ball, but I have to be mindful of where his mental state is. He wants the ball, but he doesn't want to feel he's letting his teammates down. It's a tough situation for him." One of the alternatives is Shawn Kelley, who has a 1.50 ERA this season and 16 career saves. Chris Martin, who served as a closer for a year in Japan, is another.

Robles walked one and struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning Tuesday to record his second save of the season in a 4-3 win over the Blue Jays.

Ty Buttrey tossed a scoreless eighth inning in front of him, but it remains to be seen whether that will be the usual arrangement for the Angels' high-leverage duo moving forward. Robles, who had only three career saves coming into the year, now sports a 3.21 ERA and 17:5 K:BB through 14 innings.