MLB Player News

Kelly has not allowed a run on four hits and a walk while striking out five over his last 5.2 innings, spanning six games.

Kelly's good fortunes coincide with a downturn in those of Matt Barnes and are shaking up manager John Farrell's late-inning relief pattern. Kelly worked in a traditional setup role in his last game, bridging the eighth inning to closer Craig Kimbrel. It's all about throwing strikes for Kelly. He's thrown strikes on 65 percent of his pitches during his recent run, up from 59 percent over his first 10 games when he walked eight batters in 13.1 innings. If he can sustain the command and limit the walks, Kelly has the stuff to be an effective setup guy.

Barnes, who has allowed four runs in 2.2 innings over his last five games, has been working on the side to fix his delivery, Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com reports.

Manager John Farrell said it looks like Barnes' delivery is out of sync, specifically his body is getting out ahead of him, resulting in faulty command. He had been elevated to the eighth-inning role early in the season after not allowing a run in his first seven outings, but has allowed eight runs on nine hits and five walks over eight innings since. This has Farrell looking at Joe Kelly as a possible setup guy.

Axford (shoulder) is scheduled to appear in two more minor-league rehab games before the Athletics consider activating him from the disabled list, Joe Stiglich of NBC Sports California reports.

Axford's Triple-A rehab appearances are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. If he's able to breeze through those with no setbacks, it's conceivable that the hurler will be able to rejoin the Athletics' bullpen as soon as this weekend.

Zych could see more save opportunities with Edwin Diaz removed from the closer's role Tuesday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Zych picked up the save Monday night, and it now seems that appearance was more than a change of pace. Marc Rzepczynski, Steve Cishek and Nick Vincent are also in the conversation for ninth-inning work, but Zych's 2.45 ERA and 85.7 percent strand rate could help him pick up his fair share of saves.

Diaz was removed from his position as the Mariners' closer Tuesday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Although he has seven saves, the 23-year-old has been anything but tidy in his appearances this season, posting a 5.28 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP in 15.1 innings pitched. After two straight messy outings, manager Scott Servais opted to give Diaz a break from the role in order to work on his mechanics in lower-leverage situations. No clear frontrunner for saves has been revealed at this time, although Nick Vincent, Steve Cishek, Marc Rzepczynski and Tony Zych seem like candidates to fill the void for the time being.

Shaw logged a pair of walks and strikeouts over an inning of work Monday en route to his seventh hold of the season.

Shaw is off to a fine start in 2017, appearing in a team-high 17 games while managing an admirable 2.00 ERA. He ranks second among Tribe relievers in innings (18), and the right-hander has stranded four of the five runners he's inherited during the campaign. Shaw's 1.6 K/BB is way outside the norm for the 28-year-old, but his 8.0 K/9 is on par with his career average. He's also picked up a save and one win thus far.

Armstrong was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday.

He has struggled in the majors (5.63 ERA) and has excelled at Triple-A (2.89) while missing a ton of bats at both levels. His shaky control (16.2 percent walk rate) has been his downfall in the big leagues through eight innings this year. Look for him to be used in low-leverage spots.

Zych was credited with his first save of the season in Monday's 6-5 win over the Athletics, firing a scoreless two-thirds of an inning while issuing a walk and recording a strikeout.

The young right-hander was rather unexpectedly called on to put out the fire started by closer Edwin Diaz, who unraveled by issuing four walks while getting just one out to open the ninth. Zych couldn't have walked into a more high-leverage scenario, as he faced Khris Davis with the bases loaded to open his appearance. He induced an RBI groundout from the slugger and then closed out the win by striking out Adam Rosales looking following an intentional walk of Yonder Alonso. Zych has bounced back nicely from offseason biceps tendon transfer surgery, compiling a 2.45 ERA, a pair of victories, a hold and Monday's save. The one blemish has been some spotty control, as he's issued six free passes over 11 innings.

Diaz allowed two runs on no hits while walking four to earn a hold in one-third of an inning in Monday's 6-5 win over the A's.

A day after giving up a walk-off homer to Kevin Pillar in the bottom of the ninth in a tie ballgame, Diaz was much sloppier in this one. The hard-throwing righty walked four of the five batters he faced to force in a run and was removed in favor of Tony Zych, who induced a run-scoring groundout from Khris Davis before striking out Adam Rosales looking to end it. Diaz's inexperience is showing through with his 5.28 ERA, although he's striking out a cool 11.7 per nine innings. While there's no indication yet that Diaz's job may be in jeopardy, the M's have more options now that Steve Cishek (hip) returned from the disabled list Monday.

Manaea (1-3) allowed four runs on only two hits (one home run) while walking five and striking out seven over five innings in Monday's 6-5 loss to the Mariners.

The young left-hander walked four in the first inning after a leadoff single by Jean Segura, ultimately requiring 38 pitches to complete the opening frame. The good news is that Manaea finished strong, retiring the final 10 batters he faced in his first start since April 26. The 25-year-old's ceiling remains high because of his strikeout stuff (10.4 K/9), but his lack of control (5.2 BB/9) makes him a risky mixed-league option for the time being.