MLB Player News

Strahm, who was demoted to Triple-A Omaha due to early-season struggles, is eligible to return to the Royals on Friday, and may be recalled after the team's bullpen was taxed during Thursday's 13-inning contest, Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star reports.

Although the southpaw was expected to spend a bit longer refining his game in the minors, the Royals may be forced to take him back prematurely. Left-handers Mike Minor (38 pitches over three innings) and Travis Wood (31 pitches in 1.1 innings) were spent in Thursday's extra-inning affair, and with the bullpen already down to seven pitchers, the need for another arm -- especially a lefty -- seems to be a necessary move.

Valdez didn't factor into the decision Thursday against the Mariners, giving up three earned runs on five hits and two walks over four innings. He struck out four.

Considering he'd last taken a big-league mound in 2010, Valdez acquitted himself reasonably well against an improving Mariners offense. He labored some, firing 76 pitches over his four frames. However, he notched nine swinging strikes and did enough to bridge the gap to the Oakland bullpen. With Kendall Graveman (shoulder) still slated to return in time for his next start, Valdez is likely headed back to Triple-A Nashville.

Shaw faced just two batters, walking one and striking out the other, en route to his third hold of the season Thursday in Minnesota.

Albeit early in the campaign, Shaw hasn't been overly impressive through his first eight games. His 6.1 percent strikeout rate and 63.6 percent strand rate are well off the marks he's posted in previous campaigns. However, Shaw's .338 BABIP is a stroke of bad luck, and owners can expect the numbers to even themselves out in due time.

Duffey gave up two runs while retiring one batter in Thursday's loss to Cleveland. He had thrown 8.2 scoreless innings to begin the season.

Duffey gave up an infield hit and another soft single, so his outing wasn't necessarily the end to his initial successful conversion to the bullpen. Duffey has a decent 8.0 K/9 and has walked just one batter, so he could see his role grow in a bullpen that has struggled in the past week.

Jimenez will be promoted from Triple-A Toledo on Friday, the Detroit News' Lynn Henning reports.

The Tigers' top relief pitching prospect is back with the big club in a corresponding move to Jose Iglesias being placed on the 7-day DL on Friday. He tossed a scoreless inning with the Tigers earlier this month, but has otherwise spent the year with Toledo. Even though Jimenez seems to be a good candidate to be the Tigers' closer of the future, he may return to Triple-A once again when a roster spot needs to be opened up.

Kahnle has 12 strikeouts and one walk in 5.2 innings since being called up to Chicago two weeks ago.

Kahnle's performance shouldn't come as a shock. After the right-hander walked 14 batters in first 11.1 innings with the White Sox in 2016, Kahnle's been outstanding. Since Aug. 11 of 2016, he's struck out 30 and walked just seven over 21.2 innings with a 0.83 ERA.

Putnam has not allowed a run while striking out nine over eight innings spanning six appearances to start the 2017 season.

Putnam is part of a bullpen that ranks first in left-on-base percentage (89.1 percent) and third in ERA (1.41). The right-hander, who was shelved by an elbow injury in 2016, has allowed just two hits and has not walked a batter.

Devenski earned his first save of the season, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four over 2.1 innings in Thursday's 2-1 win over the Angels.

Ken Giles remains the Astros' main closer, but in having Devenski close out Thursday's game, manager A.J. Hinch continues to show a free-minded approach to the deployment of relievers. And no reliever illustrates the manager's unconventional approach more than Devenski. He's reminiscent of a fireman reliever straight out of the 70s. This was the fourth time in five appearances he's pitched at least two innings. The right-hander has struck out 25 over 13.1 innings to give him an unsustainable 16.9 K/9 ratio.

Norris (1-1) allowed five runs -- four earned -- on eight hits and two walks while striking out four batters over 4.2 innings during Thursday's loss to Tampa Bay.

This was the first rough outing of the season for Norris, and it upped his ERA to a 3.71 mark. He has a four-pitch arsenal with plus velocity, so everything is in place for him to turn in a solid fantasy campaign. While there are likely to be more peaks and valleys as he fine-tunes his craft at the highest level, there's also plenty of upside.

Palumbo was diagnosed with a torn UCL on Thursday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

This is an awful turn of events for one of the most promising pitching prospects in the Rangers' organization. Palumbo was electric to start the season at High-A Down East, racking up 22 strikeouts against just four walks in 13.2 innings. With Thursday's diagnosis, Grant reports that Tommy John surgery could very well be the next course of action for the young left-hander. Palumbo and the organization figure to make a decision on the next step in the coming days.