MLB Player News

Giles pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Angels.

Manager A.J. Hinch has been unconventional with his bullpen this season. This was the second time he's brought his closer out for the eighth inning. Hinch's consistently maintained Giles will close most of the games, but the manager also has pointed out he reserves the right to deploy the back end of the bullpen in a manner he best sees fit for a given game. In Wednesday's game, with the score 3-1 and the Angels' three best hitters due up in the eighth inning, Hinch had Giles warming in the seventh, which at the time appeared to be a high-leverage situation. Ultimately, Josh Reddick's two-run home run in the seventh upped Houston's lead to four runs before Giles entered. But if the Angels were to mount a comeback, it most likely would have started with Yunel Escobar, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. With Giles already loose, Hinch had the fire-balling right-hander quash any potential rally.

Pruitt gave up just one hit while striking out five over 3.1 scoreless innings of relief Wednesday to pick up the win in an 8-7 victory over the Tigers.

The 27-year-old has had a brutal start to his major-league career -- the outing lowered his ERA to 10.00 through nine innings -- but Pruitt rewarded the Rays' faith in him Wednesday. He'll need a few more appearances like this one before he's worth a spot on any fantasy rosters, though.

Wilson struck out all three hitters he faced and earned his fourth hold of the season in Wednesday's loss to the Rays.

Wilson still has not given up an earned run this season, and he's got eight strikeouts across 6.1 innings. With Francisco Rodriguez blowing his second save of the season Wednesday, Wilson could be next in line if the Tigers decide to make a closer change at any point.

Covey (0-1) was torched for eight runs on 10 hits -- including three homers -- and a pair of walks over five innings against the Yankees on Wednesday.

Making your second career start at Yankee Stadium isn't an easy spot, and the Yanks greeted him rudely, scoring two runs in both the first and second innings before adding another four in the fifth. Between Covey's modest pedigree, unimpressive minor-league stats, and fill-in status in Chicago's rotation, there's not a lot of fantasy intrigue here.

Borucki (0-1) owns a 6.46 ERA and 1.50 WHIP through his first three starts in 2017 with High-A Dunedin.

The left-hander, who cracked the 40-man roster in November, is arguably among the top-five pitching prospects in the Jays' organization. While the surface stats don't look pretty, Borucki continues to be a strikeout machine -- he has 18 through 15.1 innings this year -- and the 23-year-old has proven he can pump a mid-90s fastball deep into pitch counts. Borucki is obviously not hitting the MLB stage anytime soon, but he's worth following in dynasty formats.

Lee made it through just 2.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out three in Wednesday's outing for Triple-A Norfolk.

The organization's No. 4 pitching prospect has looked far from MLB-ready through three minor-league starts this year. Aside from a horrendous 9.28 ERA, Lee has been madly inefficient while issuing eight walks over 10.2 innings.

Harvey (elbow) threw off flat ground Wednesday, the Baltimore Sun's Eduardo Encina reports.

Harvey's rehab from the Tommy John surgery he underwent last July has been going according to plan, and this is just the next step for the former top prospect. Prior to the procedure, Harvey yielded 39 runs over 125.2 innings in the minors, but even then fought a slew of arm issues. The 22-year-old still has time on his side, and there's a possibility he can pitch in a game by late summer.

Honeywell allowed three runs on six hits and one walk over six innings with one strikeout Wednesday in his debut for Triple-A Durham.

All three runs scored against Honeywell came via the long ball. As Tampa Bay's top pitching prospect, there's a chance the right-hander is called up at some point this season, especially if he starts to record more strikeouts against top-level minor league competition. The 22-year-old allowed three runs over 13 innings and posted a 0.62 WHIP at Double-A before the promotion.

Zych, who pitched a clean eighth inning in Tuesday's 5-0 loss to the Marlins and recorded a strikeout, has now fired 1.1 scoreless frames over his first two appearances following his return from biceps tendon transfer surgery.

The 26-year-old righty gave up one hit over one-third of an inning against the Rangers on Sunday, an outing in which he threw only four pitches. He stretched out a bit Tuesday with a solid 11-pitch frame in which he impressively set down Giancarlo Stanton -- Zych's first strikeout of the season -- along with Justin Bour and Marcell Ozuna. Zych has been impressive in a pair of brief stints with the Mariners over the last two seasons, generating a 45:13 K:BB over just 32 innings.

Johnson was sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports.

Johnson managed to pick up a W in his spot start Tuesday, but with Eduardo Rodriguez returning to the team Wednesday, Johnson will head back to the minors. The 26-year-old lefty's solid season debut could put him in a good place to pick up more spot starts down the line, although he'll continue developing against advanced hitters until the opportunity arises.