MLB Player News

MLB announced Monday that Abreu's two-game suspension for throwing at the Rangers' Adolis Garcia in last Friday's Game 5 of the ALCS was upheld following an appeal, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Abreu will serve the suspension for the first two games of the 2024 regular season.

The ruling comes as good news for the Astros, as Abreu won't have to miss Monday's Game 7 and will remain eligible to pitch should Houston earn its way to the World Series. Abreu has been the top setup option in front of closer Ryan Pressly in 2023, finishing the regular season with 24 holds and five saves to go with a 1.75 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 100:31 K:BB across 72 innings.

Abreu (suspension) is appealing his two-game suspension, and he's eligible to pitch in Sunday's contest with the Rangers.

Abreu will have his appeal hearing Monday, so he will technically be available to pitch if needed in Game 6 of the ALCS. The right-hander was suspended for two games after he hit Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia in Game 5.

Abreu was suspended two games and fined an undisclosed amount of money for throwing at Adolis Garcia in Game 5 of the ALCS, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Abreu's suspension will begin immediately, which will keep him out for the remainder of the ALCS. However, Abreu will likely appeal the decision, which would allow the 26-year-old reliever to continue pitching until his hearing. Abreu has been a crucial part of Houston's bullpen during its postseason run, surrendering just one run over 6.1 innings while racking up 11 strikeouts.

The Twins sent De Leon (elbow) outright to Triple-A St. Paul on Friday.

De Leon posted a 4.67 ERA and 1.21 WHIP through 17.1 innings in the majors before undergoing Tommy John surgery in July. De Leon is expected to miss most, if not all, of next season.

Stanek earned the win in Thursday's 10-3 victory over the Rangers in Game 3 of the ALCS, throwing two-thirds of an inning.

Stanek required minimal effort to secure a win, throwing a single pitch to induce a double play to end the inning. The team would then go on to stack up four runs to break the tie in the following inning, leaving Stanek with the decision. Stanek is now up to three wins for his career in the postseason, during which he has pitched to a robust 2.00 ERA and 0.72 WHIP with 20 strikeouts across 18 innings.

Zimmermann underwent core muscle surgery Thursday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

He is expected to be ready for the start of spring training. Zimmermann, 28, spent the majority of the 2023 season with the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, posting a 4.42 ERA across 21 starts. He held a 4.73 ERA in seven major-league relief appearances.

Diaz cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

The Angels are doing some 40-man roster housecleaning and Diaz is one of the guys to lose his spot. He will remain in the organization.

Leclerc tossed a perfect inning to earn the save in Sunday's 2-0 victory over the Astros in Game 1 of the ALCS. He struck out one.

Leclerc's string of dominance continued Sunday, as he pitched a perfect inning for the second appearance in a row. While Leclerc was not typically featured as a closer in the regular season, earning only four saves in 57 innings of work, he has now successfully converted both of the team's' saves in the postseason, which may signal more opportunities down the road. In October, Leclerc has pitched to a mint 1.54 ERA and 0.83 WHIP with seven strikeouts across six innings.

Blanco is on the Astros' roster for the ALCS against the Rangers, which begins Sunday night in Houston, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

The right-hander was absent for the ALDS but will be available for the championship series with Jake Meyers off the roster. Blanco made seven starts in 17 appearances and had a 4.50 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 52:28 K:BB across 52 innings this season, and he's likely to be a long-relief option for Houston.

Burke wasn't included on the Rangers' roster for the ALCS against the Astros, which starts Sunday night in Houston, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Burke made just one appearance between the ALDS and wild-card series, allowing two runs on a hit and a walk over one-third of an inning against the Orioles. The left-hander was a key reliever for Texas during the first four months of the season with a 2.72 ERA and nine holds, but he's surrendered 18 earned runs in 19 appearances since Aug. 1, including the postseason.