MLB Player News

Kimbrel (3-0) gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in the ninth inning Tuesday to blow his fourth save of the year, but he was bailed out by Christian Vazquez's three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth during a 12-10 win over Cleveland.

On a terrible night for some excellent pitchers, both Kimbrel and his Cleveland counterpart Cody Allen blew save opportunities, but it was the Boston right-hander who came away victorious. It's a testament to Kimbrel's dominance this season that his current 1.61 ERA and 0.67 WHIP are the highest they've been since late April.

Manaea (8-6) pitched just three innings against the Giants on Tuesday, giving up six runs (two earned) on nine hits and a walk in a 10-4 loss.

Things went wrong for him from the very beginning, with Gorkys Hernandez's leadoff double and Yonder Alonso's error two batters later sparking a rally that saw the Giants bat around in the first inning. Of course, outings like this one have been preciously rare for Manaea, who's been turning in generally fantasy-relevant results in his sophomore campaign. He's had some jitters here and there, as all young pitchers do, but fantasy owners should expect the 25-year-old to get back on track soon, with Sunday's start against the Angels presenting a fine opportunity to do so.

Manaea, who has a career-high eight victories this season, has used his slider to dominate hitters of either handedness, Matt Kelly of MLB.com reports.

The young left-hander's considerably wide and low release point has made it difficult for hitters to discern between his fastball and changeup, but his slider has begun to draw plenty of attention in its own right. Manaea has grown increasingly comfortable throwing the pitch, utilizing it 17.5 percent of the time, per Statcast, after only deploying it at a 12.9 percent clip in 2016. Manaea has gotten swings and misses approximately 43 percent of the time and allowed just a .167 average over 86 at-bats when deploying the slider, typically locating it low and inside to right-handed hitters while placing it low and away to lefty bats.

Smith (elbow) could face hitters by Thursday and head out on a rehab assignment over the weekend, Tim Britton of The Providence Journal reports.

Smith was able to get through a simulated game Monday without any issues, bringing him one step closer to returning to game action. Given he's been sidelined for such an extended period of time, the 27-year-old will likely need a lengthy rehab assignment.

Norris (groin) played catch from 120 feet Tuesday, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

This is encouraging news, and if all goes well, Norris is hoping to toss a bullpen sometime during Detroit's current road trip. He'll still need to get a couple rehab appearances under his belt before returning to the rotation, so it doesn't look like he'll be ready to return until the second half of August.

Paredes was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on Tuesday.

Paredes will take the place of Brooks Pounders on the roster and in the bullpen. The 22-year-old has impressed at Triple-A (2.45 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 33 innings) and owns a 3.86 ERA and 2:2 K:BB in two appearances (4.2 innings) for the big club this season.

Jankowski was recalled from Triple-A Fresno on Tuesday.

Michael Feliz was forced onto the DL with shoulder discomfort, so Jankowski was summoned back to the big club to take his place in the bullpen. The 28-year-old has allowed six runs in 3.1 innings of work for the Astros this season, so he'll likely only see lower-leverage situations during his time up.

Armstrong was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday.

A spot on the active roster was needed for recently acquired Joe Smith and Armstrong was chosen as the roster casualty. He owns a 4.22 ERA and 1.36 WHIP through 21.1 innings with the Indians this year. Expect him to return to the big club sometime later in the year when another bullpen arm is needed.

Manager Terry Francona said the acquisition of Joe Smith will allow the skipper to take away some outings from Shaw in hopes of keeping the latter fresh, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Francona may be happy to lighten the load on Shaw, who's on pace to log a career high for innings pitched, but the news certainly isn't great for fantasy owners. The 29-year-old's high-leverage role has him in line to approach 20 holds while nabbing a handful of wins this year.

May (elbow) said he is scheduled to resume throwing on Thursday.

This will mark the first time May has thrown since undergoing Tommy John surgery back in March. The 27-year-old still has a long road of recovery ahead of him as he'll work to build up his arm strength, but he's hoping to be ready for the start of the 2018 season.