MLB Player News

Beck (shoulder) is healthy and available for Friday's game against Texas, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

One day after a ball up the middle hit him in the shoulder and forced him to leave the game, Beck's bruising is down enough that it shouldn't cause him to miss any time. The bigger concern for Beck is his play of late, as he's given up 14 earned runs and four home runs over his last 9.0 innings.

Chapman (hamstring) is available for Friday's game against the Red Sox, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

Chapman is back in full health and will resume his role as the Yankees' closer. Chapman was last used Tuesday against the Mets and earned a save, despite giving up two runs in just an inning of work.

Diekman (abdomen) tossed a perfect inning and recorded two strikeouts in his first rehab outing for Double-A Frisco on Thursday.

Making his first appearance on a mound in 10 months following three surgeries to repair and rebuild his colon, Diekman was about as sharp as the Rangers could have hoped, as he pumped in eight of his 13 pitches for strikes to retire the side without having to deploy many of his secondary offerings. Following the outing, Diekman told Sam Butler of MLB.com that he would still like to pitch in a few more rehab games in the minors before coming off the 60-day disabled list, but an activation ahead of next weekend seems to be realistic.

Harvey will finish out the minor-league season with a planned eight starts at High-A Aberdeen before skipping the Arizona Fall League to rest, Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com reports.

Health has been the biggest concern surrounding the O's top pitching prospect. Harvey's been throwing since December after missing the better part of two seasons and undergoing Tommy John surgery last July. However, the organization is content with that progress and doesn't want to push the 22-year-old too much, thus electing to shut him down in the fall. There's an outside chance of seeing Harvey in MLB sometime in 2018, but dynasty owners shouldn't plan on the right-hander contributing much for another couple of years, at least.

Jimenez's velocity was down in his most recent outing Wednesday, when he allowed three runs (two earned) over a third of an inning, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports.

Jimenez has averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball this year, and he routinely dials it up to the high 90s. However, in his outing Wednesday, only one of his eight fastballs topped 94 mph, and most were clocked at 93 mph. Jimenez said he's healthy, and manager Brad Ausmus said he isn't concerned, though he added that he is "curious as to what the cause of the drop in velocity is." This was Jimenez's second appearance in as many days, and he's only pitched in back-to-back games three times this season, so perhaps fatigue is to blame. It will be interesting to see where his velocity is at next time out.

Covey struck out one over 1.1 scoreless innings of relief in Thursday's 9-8 loss to Texas.

Covey was making his first appearance since coming off the disabled list earlier this week. He had been a starter for the White Sox prior to going on the disabled list with an oblique injury, but appears to be a long reliever now. That could change after Thursday's starter, Reynaldo Lopez, left the game with an injury. Covey could return to the rotation, although the White Sox also have some young prospect arms that could benefit from some major-league innings over the final few weeks of the season.

Belisle struck out both batters he faced to earn his third save in the nightcap of Thursday's doubleheader against Cleveland.

Belisle helped his team salvage a split with a 4-2 win, finishing the job after Taylor Rogers got the first out of the ninth inning but brought the tying run to the plate with a walk. He rebounded flawlessly after blowing a save in his last appearance, and is now 3-for-4 in save opportunities since taking over for the traded Brandon Kintzler.

Merritt allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits with one walk and one strikeout over 3.2 innings in Thursday's no-decision against the Twins.

Merritt was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to start the second game of a doubleheader and will likely be sent right back down. He didn't allow a single extra-base hit, but was ineffective at missing Minnesota's bats. Merritt's only other start of the season also came against the Twins back on June 17 and he fared similarly with two earned runs allowed on seven hits in four innings.

Rowley allowed two runs on four hits and five walks while striking out three batters through five innings during Thursday's win over Tampa Bay. He didn't factor into the decision.

Rowley has now surrendered just three runs through 10.1 innings over his first two starts in the majors. His five walks were definitely concerning Thursday, and if he sticks in the rotation for another turn, he'll face the Rays again in his next start. Typically, that's not ideal for an inexperienced hurler. Additionally, Rowley's body of work is extremely limited after a 30-month stint in the U.S. Army interrupted his professional career. Outside of cavernous fantasy settings, it's probably wise to take a wait-and-see approach with Rowley.

Betances will not be available to pitch in Friday's game against the Red Sox, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

The Yankees had to turn to Betances in a save situation Thursday with Aroldis Chapman ailing, but the club is hoping to have Chapman back for Friday's series opener. Regardless, manager Joe Girardi will avoid using Betances to prevent having him take the mound two days in a row. Look for Betances to be available if needed as early as Saturday.