MLB Player News

One day after being named to the American League All-Star team, Yankees pitcher Dellin Betances pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his first career save in Monday's 5-3 win over the Indians.

Betances needed just 15 pitches to rack up six outs, giving up one hit in his two innings of action and striking out one. He's been one of the best relievers in baseball this season, posting a 1.55 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 79:16 K:BB ratio in 52 1/3 innings.

If not for a dominant start June 25 against the Braves in which he recorded nine strikeouts in seven innings, Collin McHugh probably wouldn't be owned in 54 percent of leagues. While his overall numbers still look good, he hasn't had anything else to hang his hat on since early June. Over his last six starts, he has a 4.45 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and -- here's the killer -- 5.3 walks per nine innings.

Still more than a strikeout per inning, but the Braves are partially to credit for that. They strike out against everybody. Plus, the strikeouts work with the walks to drive up McHugh's pitch count, limiting his quality starts and leaving the bullpen to pick up his victories -- that is, when he pitches well enough to put it in position to do so.

Of course, a six-start trend doesn't condemn a pitcher to being a certain way forever and ever, but for a pitcher who came out of nowhere like McHugh did this year, it's reason for suspicion.

The odds are against him making a significant Fantasy impact pitching for the Astros anyway, so you might want to look into other options.

Red Sox pitcher Rubby De La Rosa is a candidate to make Wednesday's start against the White Sox after being pulled from his last start after just one inning, MLB.com reports.

"We took him out so he would be a candidate for sure," manager John Farrell said Monday. "He and [Anthony] Ranaudo have been throwing the ball well there. But Rubby was shortened for the specific purpose of being a candidate for Wednesday."

De La Rosa did an admirable job while plugging a hole in the rotation in late May and early June, posting a 2.51 ERA and 30:8 K:BB ratio in 32 1/3 innings. He could fill a regular role in the major-league rotation in the near future.

Athletics pitcher Drew Pomeranz will attempt to play catch Monday after receiving good news from an MRI earlier in the day, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Pomeranz's broken hand is healing, so he'll look to take the next step in his recovery. Pomeranz suffered the injury in mid-June while taking out some frustrations on a clubhouse chair. The team has added two arms to the rotation via a trade with the Cubs since the injury.

After using him much like a team would use its closer in a tie game Wednesday, the White Sox brought in Zach Putnam to pitch the ninth inning of a one-run game Saturday against the Mariners only to watch him blow it. They'd go on to lose in the 14th inning.

So when they had another save opportunity Sunday against those same Mariners, they instead turned to Jake Petricka ... in the eighth inning, that is.

Because Putnam's blown save wasn't the most epic of meltdowns, especially when you consider one of those runs was charged to Eric Surkamp, and because Petricka wasn't used like a traditional closer Sunday, I'm not sure either is a clear front-runner right now. But I do believe one of the two will get the White Sox's next save.

My guess is Putnam so that the White Sox can keep Petricka available for multiple innings, but both deserve to be owned in leagues where saves are scarce.

With pitcher Nick Martinez feeling discomfort in his left side, the Rangers scratched him from Tuesday's start, reports Fox Sports. The team will call up Phil Irwin from Triple-A Round Rock to make the start against Houston, the report said.

Irwin went 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA in seven appearances, six starts, at Round Rock.

On Sunday, Major League Baseball revealed the American League starting lineup for the 2014 All-Star Game, which will be held on July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Orioles catcher Matt Wieters was voted as a starter, but Royals catcher Salvador Perez will take his place behind the plate for the game. Other injured players will likely be replaced on the roster moving forward.

The following players were selected as starters by the fans:

OF Jose Bautista, Blue Jays (leading vote-getter)
OF Mike Trout, Angels
OF Adam Jones, Orioles
1B Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
2B Robinson Cano, Mariners
SS Derek Jeter, Yankees
3B Josh Donaldson, Athletics
C Matt Wieters, Orioles
DH Nelson Cruz, Orioles

RHP Yu Darvish, Rangers
RHP Max Scherzer, Tigers
RHP Felix Hernandez, Mariners
RHP Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees
LHP Jon Lester, Red Sox
LHP David Price, Rays
LHP Scott Kazmir, Athletics
LHP Mark Buehrle, Blue Jays
LHP Sean Doolittle, Athletics
RHP Greg Holland, Royals
LHP Glen Perkins, Twins
RHP Dellin Betances, Yankees

Yankees pitcher David Robertson escaped a shaky outing for the save Sunday afternoon against the Twins in Minnesota.

Robertson permitted a run-scoring single to Oswaldo Arcia in the ninth before closing out the game. He was charged with one run on three hits and no walks while striking out two over an inning of work in a 9-7 defeat. He is 21 of 23 in save chances, with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP over 30 2/3 innings of relief.

Astros starter Collin McHugh left Sunday's game against the Angels after four innings due to a finger injury. The team said McHugh suffered a "right middle fingernail avulsion," adding the fingernail was "pulled away from the skin."

McHugh allowed four hits and three runs, two earned, as his ERA rose to 3.28. He struck out four and walked two.

Rangers pitcher Nick Martinez tweaked a muscle in his upper back and is not certain to make his scheduled Tuesday start against the Astros, reports the Dallas Morning News. Martinez suffered the injury taking batting practice for a start against the Mets he didn't end up making.

He's 1-6 with a 5.10 ERA in 16 appearances, including 11 starts.