MLB Player News

Miller (finger) played catch Saturday without his cast, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Miller has been throwing bullpen sessions while wearing a cast on his non-throwing hand, though Saturday marks the first time he's done any sort of throwing without a cast. The 25-year-old is slated to pitch a simulated game Monday, which will help the A's determine how far away he is from returning to their bullpen.

Hendriks (elbow) was cleared to face live hitters Saturday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

After spending the past month throwing two bullpen sessions every week, Hendriks has finally received the green light to throw live batting practice. The plan is for him to throw his first session of live BP on Tuesday at Triple-A Worcester. Once he completes two additional sessions, the Red Sox will likely send him out on a rehab assignment.

Hernandez was added to the Mariners' major-league roster Saturday.

Hernandez was claimed off waivers by Seattle on Friday after he was designated for assignment by the Rangers earlier in the week. He will now join Seattle's bullpen ahead of the second game of their series at home against the Phillies. Hernandez has produced a 5.05 ERA and 1.59 WHIP with 36 strikeouts over 41 innings in 26 appearances with the Rangers this season.

The Mariners optioned Diaz to Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday.

Diaz gave up two earned runs in his two appearances after being promoted from Triple-A on Tuesday. He'll now lose his spot in Seattle's bullpen to make room for Jonathan Hernandez, who was claimed off waivers from Texas on Friday.

Holton will serve as the Tigers' opening pitcher in Saturday's game against the Royals, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Saturday will mark the fifth time this season that Holton has drawn the opener assignment. In his last appearance as an opener against the Guardians on Tuesday, Holton threw 2.2 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits while striking out one batter. Joey Wentz worked an inning of relief in Friday's contest against Kansas City, so Kenta Maeda appears most likely serve in bulk relief, as he did July 28 against the Twins, once Holton is done for the day.

The Astros outrighted Montero to Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday.

After he was designated for assignment Wednesday, Montero unsurprisingly went unclaimed off waivers, given that he's in the second season of a three-year, $34.5 million contract. Montero would have forfeited the money remaining on the contract had he elected free agency, so he'll stick around in the Houston organization and look to impress at Sugar Land with the hope of earning another look in the big-league bullpen. The 33-year-old had appeared in 41 games for the Astros this season, registering 10 holds with a 4.70 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 23:19 K:BB across 38.1 innings.

Smith (6-1) struck out three over 1.2 perfect innings to earn the win Friday over the Orioles.

Carlos Carrasco covered only 4.1 innings, and Smith was able to vulture a win with another strong performance. This outing extended Smith's scoreless streak to 16 innings over his last 13 appearances, and he's allowed just six hits and two walks while striking out 25 in that span. For the season, he's at a 1.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 74:11 K:BB, and he's backed up those stellar numbers with a 1.42 FIP and 2.34 xERA that suggest his results are mostly earned.

Little (1-1) picked up the win Friday over the Yankees, giving up a hit and striking out two in 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Entering the game in the sixth inning, Little wound up getting credited with his first career major-league win after Kevin Gausman failed to last the minimum five frames to qualify. The 27-year-old southpaw has been a reliable option in the Toronto bullpen over the last month-plus, posting a 2.45 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 9:5 K:BB in 11 innings since the beginning of July with five holds in 13 appearances.

Green struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning Friday to record his eighth save of the season in an 8-5 win over the Yankees.

Facing the top of New York's order, Green needed 16 pitches to sit down Alex Verdugo, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in a very impressive performance. The right-hander appears set as the Blue Jays' closer for the rest of the season unless Jordan Romano is able to make a late return from arthroscopic surgery on his elbow, and Green has earned the role by posting a 1.84 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 16:5 K:BB through 14.2 innings since the beginning of July while converting all six of his save chances.

Urena (3-6) took the loss Friday against the Red Sox, allowing seven runs on eight hits and no walks over four innings. He struck out two.

The veteran right-hander made his first start since June 5, firing 69 total pitches in this outing. Despite entering with an impressive 2.84 ERA over 31.2 innings across six starts this season, Urena was knocked around by the Red Sox, yielding three extra-base hits en route to a season-worst seven runs. With Max Scherzer (shoulder) hitting the injured list Friday, Urena likely sticks in the Texas rotation for the time being. He lines up to face the Yankees on the road in his next start.