MLB Player News

You may recall White Sox manager Robin Ventura had this to say after Zach Putnam bailed out Jake Petricka with two outs in the ninth inning Saturday for his second save in as many days:

"Unfortunately, I don't have a guy that you're just going to leave out there, saying that's your closer," Ventura said.

But the second half of that quote may actually say more:

"I like Put's swing-and-miss ability with some lefties, and that's the reason."

"Put," of course, is Putnam, who struck out left-handed hitter Jason Castro with two runners on to secure the save Saturday. But looking back on it, the most interesting part of Putnam bailing out Petricka is that it happened immediately after the second out, not after the second runner reached base. If a right-handed hitter was due up instead of Castro, Ventura may have just let Petricka finish out the inning.

Which explains why Ventura went back to Petricka in the ninth inning Monday. Two right-handed hitters were due up.

After weeks of trying to discern what's happening at the back end of the White Sox bullpen, we may finally have an answer: It's a lefty-righty platoon. Considering they're not so great individually anyway, perhaps you should leave both Putnam and Petricka for the deepest of Rotisserie leagues.

The Rangers activated Nick Martinez from the disabled list as expected Tuesday, ahead of his start against the Yankees that evening.

Martinez has been out with an injury in his left side since early July. He has a 5.10 ERA and 1-6 record in 67 innings heading into Tuesday's action.   

The Blue Jays purchased the contract of pitcher Esmil Rogers from Triple-A Buffalo Tuesday, two months after he was designated for assignment.

Rogers had a 6.97 ERA in 20 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays earlier in the season, befre he was taken off the 40-man roster.  

Mariners pitcher Danny Farquhar gave up one unearned run on one hit and struck out two while finishing off his team's 5-2 win over the Mets.

Farquhar was in line to pitch the ninth inning whether a save opportunity was on the line or not, as closer Fernando Rodney was unavailable. Farquhar was unavailable Sunday due to arm tenderness but threw 26 pitches Monday. He owns a 2.68 ERA and 50:14 K:BB ratio in 43 2/3 innings.

The Twins cleared a roster spot after Monday's game and announced that pitcher Yohan Pino would be recalled before Tuesday's game, which he is scheduled to start.

Pino has made five starts for the Twins, going 1-2 with a 4.39 ERA and 9:7 K:BB ratio in 26 2/3 innings. He gave up five runs on three hits and seven walks in five innings with Triple-A Rochester on July 17.

Indians pitcher Bryan Shaw was stuck with a loss Monday after giving up a tiebreaking solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning of his team's 4-3 defeat against the Twins.

Shaw (4-2) was pitching for the third time in four nights Monday and wound up serving up his third home run of the season to bring home the decisive run of the game. He owns a 2.76 ERA and 40:13 K:BB ratio in 45 2/3 innings.

Maybe it's because the Red Sox wouldn't commit to either him and Brandon Workman for their final rotation spot in the weeks leading up to the All-Star break, but for some reason, Rubby De La Rosa is owned in 38 percent of Fantasy leagues. On talent alone, he deserves better than that.

And now that he's likely secured his rotation spot with seven strong innings against the Royals Saturday, he deserves better on merit as well.

In seven major-league starts this season, he has a 2.64 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 7.1 strikeouts per nine innings. What more do you need to know than that? True, the strikeout rate could be higher for a player with his skill set, but simply knowing he has that skill set should only accentuate his performance so far.

Not every start has been a gem, but he's pitched seven innings or more in four of them and has mostly avoided the control problems that popped up from time to time in the minors. Plus, he's eligible at relief pitcher if that matters in your format.

Jeff Locke, Tom Koehler, Francisco Liriano and Chris Young are just a few of the starting pitchers owned in more leagues than De La Rosa who aren't as valuable as him in my eyes.

White Sox reliever Zach Putnam recorded two saves this weekend, but only the first was conventional. He struck out two in a perfect ninth inning against the Astros Friday. 

Manager Robin Ventura handed the ball to Jake Petricka in the ninth inning of a one-run game Saturday, but after he put two on, Ventura turned to Putnam, who struck out Jason Castro to end the game.

Ventura wouldn't commit to a single closer after the game, but Saturday wasn't the first time Petricka faltered in a high-leverage situation this month. His poor outing July 9 contributed to a come-from-behind win for the Red Sox. Ventura did say he prefers Putnam against left-handed batters, which would support a platoon, but I get the sense Putnam is beginning to distinguish himself.

As I wrote in my latest post to the Fantasy Baseball Today blog breaking down the more questionable closer situations in baseball, he's the reliever to own for the White Sox right now.

Mariners closer Fernando Rodney suffered a blown save and loss Sunday afternoon against the Angels in Anaheim.

Rodney (1-4) blew a one-run lead and allowed a run-scoring double to Albert Pujols and a run-scoring single to Grant Green in the ninth. He was charged with two run on three hits and three walks while striking out one over 1 1/3 innings of relief. He owns a 2.33 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP over 38 2/3 innings of relief.

Rays pitcher Kirby Yates came in for Grant Balfour and converted a two-out save Sunday afternoon against the Twins in Minnesota. It was his first career save.

After Balfour walked the first two batters in the ninth, Yates entered the game and forced Brian Dozier to ground out into a fielder's choice and got Eduardo Nunez to foul out to end the game. Yates owns a 2.35 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP over 15 1/3 innings of relief.