MLB Player News

The Rays are planning to have Andriese start Sunday's game against the White Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

After bringing Andriese back from the 60-day disabled list Monday, the Rays elected to ease the right-hander back into action as a high-leverage, multi-inning reliever, and he quickly aced his first test in that role. Andriese came on Monday to toss three scoreless innings of one-hit ball in the series opener against the Royals, notching his fourth career save. That impressive outing was apparently all manager Kevin Cash needed to see from Andriese to return him to his normal spot in the rotation. Andriese is expected to replace Austin Pruitt, who should move to the bullpen after compiling a 4.50 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in his seven starts.

Armstrong will be recalled from Triple-A Columbus to serve as the 26th man for Wednesday's doubleheader against the Yankees, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Armstrong will join the Indians ahead of Wednesday's twin bill to offer an extra bullpen arm. The 26-year-old owns a 4.76 ERA through 22.2 innings this season. While he's expected to return to the minors following the doubleheader, Armstrong will likely see another shot with the Indians after rosters expand in September.

Merritt will be recalled from Triple-A Columbus to start Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Yankees, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Tuesday's game was postponed due to rain, creating a need for Merritt to join the Indians' rotation for a spot start. He'll start the second game of the twin bill, with Trevor Bauer starting Game 1 and Josh Tomlin (hamstring) pushing his return to the rotation back to Sunday in order to accommodate the new schedule. Merritt held his own in his spot start earlier in the month, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings while striking out three batters. Since he's slated to serve as the 26th man for the twin bill, Merritt will likely be returned to Columbus following the start, but he will be back soon enough when rosters expand in September.

Flynn was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday with a left groin strain.

Flynn was lifted from Monday's game after 2.1 innings with a groin injury, and further tests confirmed the issue would indeed require some time on the shelf to recover from. Flynn has apparently been dealing with the injury for a couple weeks; the fact that he's been able to pitch through it could indicate the issue isn't anything overly serious. Still, he remains without a timetable to return. Eric Skoglund was recalled from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move.

Pagan (1-3) gave up an earned run on three hits over 2.2 innings in Monday's 7-6 loss to the Orioles. He struck out three.

Pagan pitched well overall, but the seventh-inning go-ahead two-bagger he surrendered to Chris Davis ultimately proved to be the difference in the contest. The 26-year-old reliever has now allowed four earned runs in three of his last four outings, but he retains a consistent bullpen role, along with a solid 2.77 ERA and 0.90 WHIP.

Andriese (hip) picked up a three-inning save in his return from the disabled list Monday against Kansas City.

Expect Andriese to serve in this kind of multi-inning relief role for at least a couple weeks, as he managed just one appearance between May 30 and Monday night's outing due to a hip injury. Andriese owned a solid 3.54 ERA and 55:21 K:BB over his 61 innings in the Rays' rotation, so expect them to get him back into a starting role as soon as he's ready.

Pruitt (7-4) earned the victory behind six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out six Monday against Kansas City.

Pruit rebounded fantastically from serving up 11 runs over his past two starts, including a four-homer disaster last time out against Toronto. This marks just the fifth time Pruitt has completed six innings in nine starts, and it's his fourth quality start of the season. Pruitt has a strong 55:16 K:BB; the question is whether he can keep the ball in the yard consistently -- as he did Monday.

Kimbrel picked up his 30th save despite allowing two runs on a hit and two walks Monday against Toronto.

This was Kimbrel's first time allowing a run in 10 appearances dating back to Aug. 1. His wildness almost cost him, as he walked a batter before a Justin Smoak homer and then put the tying run on base with another walk, but he managed to escape without any further damage. Despite the rare long ball, Kimbrel still has a 1.61 ERA on the season.

Pomeranz (14-4) allowed three runs on seven hits and five walks with four strikeouts over seven innings to earn the victory Monday against Toronto.

Pomeranz was wild once again, as he's now walked at least four batters in consecutive games; he's issued five bases on balls on three occasions this season. However, he was able to use a pair of double plays to avoid huge innings, and as such, Pomeranz was able to extend his streak of allowing three runs or fewer to nine starts, a stretch in which he owns a clean 5-0 record.

Flynn was removed after 2.1 innings with a groin injury Monday against the Rays, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

Flynn had been on a roll in the minors, but he told reporters he has been dealing with a groin injury for about two weeks. This was Flynn's first MLB appearance of the season, as he was just called up before Monday's game. It's unclear yet whether this injury will send Flynn to the disabled list; with roster expansion coming up, such a move may be unnecessary if the injury proves to be minor.