MLB Player News

West was released by the Astros on Tuesday, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

West has been with the Astros' organization since 2012 and held a 4.53 ERA over 43.2 innings with Triple-A Fresno this season before being cut from the roster. He'll look to pick up with another club.

McHugh (elbow) will start Saturday's game in Baltimore.

This will be his season debut. He has a 3.60 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 11:4 K:BB in 15 innings over three rehab starts with Double-A Corpus Christi. He logged six innings but only threw 69 pitches (48 strikes) in his final rehab start, so it would be surprising if he were able to throw 100 pitches in his first start off the DL. McHugh replaces Joe Musgrove in the rotation.

Diaz will be unavailable for Tuesday's game against the Astros after pitching in four consecutive games, Bob Dutton of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

Diaz's owners can hardly complain, as he has provided four saves and nine strikeouts without allowing a run in four days -- a truly rare feat for a closer in today's game. Nick Vincent is also unavailable. Tony Zych, Steve Cishek and James Pazos could all be options if a save situation arises.

Johnson was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket ahead of his scheduled start Tuesday against the Blue Jays, Evan Drellich of CSN New England reports.

Due to a scheduling quirk to open the second half along with a desire to build in some extra rest for ace Chris Sale, the Red Sox will have Johnson serve as one of their seven starting pitchers for seven games this week. It's assumed that manager John Farrell will scale back the rotation to its usual five-man setup the following week, so Johnson is fully expected to return to Triple-A after Tuesday's outing. In his other four starts this season with the Red Sox, Johnson has compiled a 4.29 ERA and 1.38 WHIP over 21 innings.

Diekman (abdomen) threw eight light tosses off a mound Monday, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Diekman is preparing to throw a second, more intense bullpen session Thursday, so Monday's workout was just a means of familiarizing himself with the slope of the mound after having not toed the rubber since October. The lefty, who underwent his third and final surgery June 9 to address ulcerative colitis, has been able to keep his arm conditioned by throwing off flat ground for the last month. Prior to doing the light tosses off the mound, Diekman stretched his flat-ground distance out to 170 feet Monday, according to Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. Diekman remains without an official timetable for a return from the 60-day disabled list, but mid-to-late August seems like a reasonable estimate.

Lopez allowed one run on two hits and two walks while striking out a season-high 12 over seven innings Sunday for Triple-A Charlotte, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Lopez hasn't allowed more than two runs in any of his last four starts and lowered his season ERA to 3.78. With the White Sox having traded Jose Quintana, they appear to be preparing for 2018. That means getting some of the young hurlers up to Chicago. Manager Rick Renteria acknowledged a "two-pronged test" for calling up a prospect, such as Lopez. Is there an opportunity to take the ball every fifth day? This appears to be the case after trading Quintana. And has the prospect done everything at the minor-league level to prepare for the transition to the majors? The organizational decision-makers are in the process evaluating Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Carson Fulmer for their readiness for the big leagues.

McHugh (elbow) is expected to rejoin Houston's rotation this weekend against the Orioles, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The final two pieces to drop before McHugh joins the rotation are the outcome of a bullpen session scheduled Tuesday and which day he'll start. Friday's series opener would represent normal rest and it's also the day the struggling Joe Musgrove lines up to start, so that seems to be the most logical deployment for McHugh. The right-hander got his pitch count up to 69 in his final rehabilitation start, then threw another 20 pitches in a subsequent bullpen session. He should be ready to go at least five innings.

Diaz sent the Astros down in order while notching a pair of strikeouts en route to his 17th save Monday.

Diaz was called upon in the bottom of the 10th inning for the second consecutive game and once again delivered a perfect frame. He has turned in five consecutive scoreless appearances while recording 11 of 15 outs in that stretch via strikeout.

Colome allowed a run on one hit but still picked up his 27th save of the season during Monday's 3-2 win over the Athletics.

Colome entered the ninth inning with a two-run cushion, but he quickly cut his team's lead in half after surrendering a leadoff double and then heaving a wild pitch to score the runner. He was able to settle down and get Ryon Healy to ground out to short for his 27th save of the campaign. The closer has now converted his last eight save opportunities.

Scott was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports.

Brian Johnson will be recalled from the minors ahead of his start Tuesday, so Scott was sent down to open up a roster spot. The 27-year-old has posted a 3.75 ERA (5.31 FIP) over 24 innings of relief with the big-league club this season.