MLB Player News

Valdez is scheduled to start Friday's game against the Astros, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

Francisco Liriano was recently traded to Houston, providing an opportunity for Valdez to stick in the Blue Jays' starting rotation for the time being. He was lit up for seven runs (six earned) in two innings during his last outing, so it could be a good chance to stack Houston hitters against him.

Smith (elbow) will embark on a rehab assignment Saturday with Double-A Portland, Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald reports.

Smith has been out since the early stages of the 2016 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery for his right elbow. It's likely that Smith will need a decent amount of rehab outings, mainly because he hasn't faced live hitting since last spring. The Red Sox will continue to take it step-by-step with the 27-year-old, with a definitive timetable coming into view after a couple appearances.

Diekman (abdomen) threw live batting practice Wednesday, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Diekman said he felt good afterwards, so he'll toss another live session this Saturday before likely heading out on a minor-league rehab assignment. The 30-year-old remains without a firm timetable for his return from the 60-day disabled list, but mid-to-late August seems to be a reasonable estimate given his recent progress.

Martinez will make his next start Sunday against the Twins.

After he was blitzed for seven runs over 5.1 innings while replacing Yu Darvish in the rotation in Tuesday's loss to the Mariners, Martinez seemed bound to return to Triple-A Round Rock, but manager Jeff Banister determined the right-hander was worthy of a shot at redemption. With a 5.07 ERA and 4.5 K/9 rate over 76.1 innings this season, Martinez hasn't provided much evidence to suggest he's capable of turning things around, so it wouldn't be surprising if he was dropped from the rotation next week in the event Tyson Ross (finger) is cleared to return from the 10-day disabled list.

Zych notched his ninth hold in Tuesday's 8-7 win over the Rangers, allowing an earned run on one hit and a hit batsman over one-third of an inning.

Zych's outing was anything but smooth, yet he managed to still log his fifth hold over his last 10 appearances. The 26-year-old right-hander has given up an earned run in two of his last three outings, but his ERA remains a solid 2.36.

Lawrence (1-3) allowed three earned runs on four hits over 2.1 innings in Tuesday's 8-7 win over the Rangers. He struck out three.

Lawrence is now the Mariners' designated long reliever and he produced mixed results Tuesday. The right-hander cruised through his first five batters over the fourth and fifth innings before running into trouble in the sixth, yielding back-to-back singles and then surrendering a 409-foot three-run shot to Joey Gallo. The 29-year-old hasn't exactly displayed a penchant for consistency in his big-league stints this season, so it remains to be seen how long he might be able to hold down his current role.

Triple-A Pawtucket manager Kevin Boles said Johnson (shoulder) could be cleared to start for the club Saturday, Bill Koch of The Providence Journal reports.

Johnson hasn't pitched for Pawtucket since July 23 due to left shoulder inflammation, but the worst of the injury appears to be behind. The southpaw threw a bullpen session Wednesday, and assuming he feels fine a day later, he'll likely be added back to Pawtucket's starting schedule. Over 11 starts at the Triple-A level this season, Johnson has submitted a 2.84 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 63.1 innings.

Colome notched his 31st save in Tuesday's 6-4 win over the Astros, pitching a clean ninth inning.

After a trio of relievers before him kept the Astros at bay, Colome carried out his ninth-inning job to perfection, disposing of Carlos Beltran, Evan Gattis and Alex Bregman on 11 pitches. The hard-throwing closer has back-to-back saves after blowing an opportunity versus the Yankees last Thursday, but he's been more erratic over the last six weeks following a strong start to the campaign. Colome has generated a 6.61 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, .371 wOBA and 5.93 xFIP over 16.1 innings since June 20, a stretch during which he's also logged two of his five blown saves.

Martinez (3-4) was hammered for seven runs on eight hits and two walks over 5.1 innings in Tuesday's 8-7 loss to the Mariners. He failed to strike out a batter.

The right-hander dug a 5-0 hole by the third inning that Rangers hitters couldn't quite climb out of, as Martinez threw only 54 of 90 pitches for strikes and didn't seem to be fooling anyone with his stuff. His 5.07 ERA on the year looks fortunate compared to his 6.00 FIP, and with A.J. Griffin (oblique) and Tyson Ross (finger) both close to returning to action, Martinez will likely return to the bullpen or Triple-A in the near future.

Diaz struck out two in a perfect ninth inning Tuesday to pick up his 21st save of the season in an 8-7 win over the Rangers.

The 23-year-old has looked more like his dominant 2016 self since the All-Star break, posting a 1.80 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 16:4 K:BB in his last 10 innings. Diaz has the raw stuff to emerge as one of the league's elite closers if he can just add some consistency to his profile.