MLB Player News

The White Sox traded Speas to the Athletics on Saturday for cash considerations.

Speas was DFA'd by the White Sox on Friday after being optioned to Triple-A Charlotte in spring training. He's had a rough start in the minors, allowing four runs on two hits and two walks while striking out two over 2.1 innings in Triple-A. Speas will look to get a handle on his control issues with the Athletics after walking 41 over 57.2 innings last season across three levels.

Topa played catch from 75 feet Saturday and has been pain-free in his left knee, MLB.com reports.

Topa was placed on the 15-day injured list at the end of spring training with left patellar tendinitis. He'll start throwing more over the next week and then will get a timetable to begin a rehab stint in the minors.

Loaisiga said Saturday that he has a torn UCL in his right elbow and will need season-ending surgery, Jorge Castillo of ESPN.com reports.

Loaisiga's comments don't come as a major surprise after he was placed on the 60-day injured list Friday with what manager Aaron Boone said was a "significant" flexor strain. While Loaisiga will have to treat the injury with surgery, he said that he won't require Tommy John surgery and instead set to undergo a procedure that will carry a recovery timeline of 10-to-12 months. The loss of Loaisiga for the season is another blow to a Yankees bullpen that's already without Tommy Kahnle (shoulder), Lou Trivino (elbow) and Scott Effross (back) to begin the season.

Duran (oblique) threw on flat ground from 105 feet Saturday and said afterward that he no longer has pain in his oblique, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Duran said that it's been "a lot of days" since he's felt pain in his oblique, but he's still unsure of what his return timeline will look like. A better picture likely won't come into focus until he's further along in his throwing progression. Griffin Jax has the Twins' lone save so far this season in Duran's absence.

Thielbar (hamstring) threw a 20-pitch live session Saturday and is progressing towards a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Thielbar started the season on the 15-day injured list after missing spring training action due to a left hamstring strain. In 2023 with the Twins, Thielbar posted a 3.23 ERA, 0.95 ERA and 36:6 K:BB over 30.2 innings.

The Guardians recalled Strzelecki from Triple-A Columbus on Saturday, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

He was called up with the Guardians placing Shane Bieber (elbow) on the 15-day injured list, with the ace pitcher set to undergo Tommy John surgery. Cleveland acquired Strzelecki from Arizona on March 28 after the Diamondbacks designated the right-hander for assignment. Strzelecki split time between the Diamondbacks and Brewers last season and finished with a 4.38 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 37:12 K:BB over 37 innings.

Garcia (1-0) was credited with the win in Friday's victory over the Yankees, striking out one in two-thirds of a scoreless inning of relief.

He entered a 0-0 tie with one out in the sixth inning and needed only seven pitches to retire Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Garcia was then rewarded with the win when Ernie Clement put the game's first run on the board with a solo shot in the top of the seventh. The right-hander has been kept in a high-leverage setup role while Jordan Romano (elbow) has been sidelined, with Chad Green collecting the Blue Jays' first save of the season Friday, and Garcia has yet to allow a run in 2.1 innings with a 2:0 K:BB.

Smith was removed from a save situation Friday against the White Sox. He allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one batter in one-third of an inning.

Called upon to protect a one-run lead, Smith struck out Yoan Moncada but then allowed a double and a walk to the next two batters he faced. That was enough for manager Matt Quatraro, who replaced Smith with James McArthur. The right-handed McArthur came through with a double play to secure the save, and with that, we may have witnessed a changing of the guard in the ninth inning for Kansas City. There have been no formal announcements in that regard, but Smith already had two losses, one blown save and six earned runs allowed in 2.2 innings this season before Friday's messy outing.

Foley (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts to earn the win in Friday's 5-4 victory over the A's.

Foley now has two wins across five appearances after recording only three wins in 70 games last season. While he likely won't be able to sustain his current vulturing pace, the righty does seem to be Detroit's top option for saves at the moment, though the likes of Alex Lange, Andrew Chafin and Shelby Miller are also in the mix in a fluid Detroit bullpen. Foley leads the team with two saves so far, while Lange has one and no one else has any.

Chafin recorded two outs in the ninth inning of Friday's 5-4 win over the A's, but he also walked two batters and was pulled for Alex Lange, who recorded the save.

Chafin was close to recording his first save of the season, but the Tigers opted for the righty vs. righty matchup of Lange against Zack Gelof to close things out with two runners on base. Detroit has a fluid bullpen at the moment, with Chafin, Lange, Jason Foley and Shelby Miller all in the back-end mix. That could limit the value of all the pitchers, though Chafin should still have the opportunity to record holds and possibly a few saves moving forward.