MLB Player News

McHugh has added a slider to his repertoire since resuming throwing after being shut down with an elbow injury, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McHugh incorporated the slider to use against right-handed hitters, complementing the cutter he'll throw against lefties. The right-hander threw 20 sliders during his season debut Saturday against Baltimore, inducing five swing-and-misses with it. "It was pretty effective at times (Saturday), so hopefully we can continue to refine it moving forward and it can be a weapon for us," he said.

Wilson recorded three strikeouts over 1.1 innings to collect his 12th save of the season during Sunday's win over Minnesota.

Wilson did serve up a solo home run to Brian Dozier in the ninth frame, but he was still able to hold on to record the save. He's shown flashes of inconsistency, but for the most part, Wilson has got the job done closing out games. After all, the 29-year-old lefty now sports a 2.82 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 12.8 K/9 and has converted 12 of 14 save opportunities this season.

Chapman picked up his 11th save of the season Sunday against the Mariners with a scoreless ninth inning.

The outing certainly didn't lack drama, as he gave up hits to the first two hitters while catcher Gary Sanchez added a passed ball to make things even more interesting. However, Chapman settled down after all that and finished the game with a four-pitch strikeout of Ben Gamel. The left-hander's ERA still sits at a lofty 3.51 mark after the scoreless frame, but his FIP is much lower than that, suggesting that Chapman is more like his dominant self than the numbers suggest.

VerHagen was called up to the Tigers on Sunday, MLive.com reports.

The right-hander will provide support to the Tigers' bullpen, which was used heavily across a seven-game road trip. VerHagen, who battled thoracic outlet syndrome in his throwing arm for a good chunk of 2016, reportedly asked the team to work as a starter rather than a reliever heading into this season, and as such, he's made 19 starts with Triple-A Toledo. During that span, he's gone 7-7 with a pedestrian 4.90 ERA and 69:43 K:BB in just under 100 (97.1) innings. He has yet to appear in a game this year for the Tigers, however.

LeClerc worked around a pair of walks with two strikeouts in a scoreless inning to record his second save of the season Sunday against the Rays.

Staked to a one-run lead, LeClerc walked the tying run into scoring position with two outs but was able to fan Steven Souza to close out a series sweep for the Rangers. He endured a rocky stretch which extended into July, but the youngster has now rattled off four straight scoreless innings, posting a win, a hold and a save during that stretch. The Texas bullpen is still using a committee approach based on matchups and usage, meaning LeClerc could be deployed in some save situations moving forward if he continues to get the job done.

Norris was pulled from Sunday's rehab start with Triple-A Toledo after re-injuring his groin, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Norris was hooked from Sunday's contest after 32 pitches, and now it's clear why. The left-hander will stop his rehab assignment in order to return to Detroit for further medical treatment. It's unclear how severe this setback is, but more information on his status should become available once doctors have a chance to examine him.

Norris (groin) was pulled in the first inning of his rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Toledo due to an apparent injury, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Norris was targeting 90 pitches for his second rehab outing with Toledo, but that plan never came to fruition after he faced just six batters and tossed 32 pitches before a team trainer visited the lefty on the mound and the decision was made to remove him from the contest. It's unclear if Norris' setback has any relation to his existing groin injury, but the Tigers should provide more clarity on the situation in the coming days. While Norris has been sidelined since July 5, the Tigers have been using Matt Boyd as their fifth starter, and he's thus far pitched adequately enough to stake his claim to a rotation spot even after Norris is activated from the 10-day disabled list.

Diaz gave up a run on one hit and a walk Saturday against the Yankees, suffering his fourth blown save of the season.

This was on Diaz, as he had the advantage on Ronald Torreyes in a 1-2 count and got a lot of the plate on a pitch that ended up driving in Jacoby Ellsbury from second base. That said, prior to this blown save Diaz had been pitching at an elite level, giving up one run while striking out 17 over his last 9.2 innings, so the ninth-inning role should remain his going forward.

Manaea allowed four runs on 10 hits and a walk while striking out just two batters over 5.2 innings in a no-decision against the Mets on Saturday.

This wasn't Manaea's sharpest showing, and the two punchouts were his fewest in a start since returning from the disabled list May 15. It was a rare off outing, though. The lefty has been a decent fantasy asset this season with a 3.82 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 8.8 K/9 for the campaign, and his eight wins are a solid total considering he's pitching for a basement-dwelling club. Manaea projects to face Toronto at the Rogers Centre in his next start.

McHugh (0-0) allowed four runs on four hits and two walks while striking out four over 4.2 innings in a no-decision Saturday against the Orioles.

In his season debut after missing over three months of the year with an elbow injury, McHugh was far from sharp, but the Houston offense provided plenty of support, keeping him from picking up a loss. He'll likely need to string together a few good outings before he begins to regain the confidence of fantasy managers. He'll make his next start Friday against the Tigers.