MLB Player News

Sims was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a sprained right elbow.

Elbow issues are always worrisome for any pitcher, and they're especially worrisome for Sims, as he dealt with elbow troubles throughout the offseason and most of spring training. After a slow start to the season, he'd begun to settle down, allowing just one run over a stretch of 11 appearances while posting an 18:4 K:BB, but he was lit up for three runs while failing to record a single out Tuesday against the Twins. He leads the Reds in saves with seven, though the team has stuck with a committee approach, so fellow committee members Tejay Antone and Amir Garrett should pick up most of the slack going forward.

Diaz walked one and struck out two over 1.2 scoreless innings to record his 16th save of the season in Wednesday's 7-3 win over Atlanta.

He entered the game in the eighth inning to protect a 6-3 lead with runners on first and second and one out, but Diaz had little trouble converting his second five-out save of the year. The right-hander has reeled off seven straight conversions, posting a 1.08 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and 12:2 K:BB through 8.1 innings over that stretch.

Martin will start Friday's series opener against the Padres in San Diego, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo confirmed the assignment for Martin, who has not gotten off to a good start with the team. The 25-year-old right-hander has an 8.62 ERA and 2.04 WHIP over four outings (two starts). Martin believes he's trying to be too fine with his pitches, particularly with two strikes. "I think I'm picking the zone a little bit too much," he said. "I would say that at some point I try to be too perfect with two strikes and that's when I'm losing guys." Opposing batters are hitting .281/.395/.563 off Martin with two strikes, while the league average in those situations is .161/.237/.259.

Treinen (1-3) took the loss in a 5-3 defeat at the hands of San Diego, allowing two runs on two hits with a strikeout in one inning Wednesday.

Treinen took over for starter Trevor Bauer in the seventh and retired three straight Padres but encountered trouble when he came back out for the eighth and allowed two hits before being removed. Victor Gonzalez entered and allowed both inherited runners to score, which gave Treinen the loss. The earned runs snapped a five-inning scoreless stretch for Treinen that included five strikeouts with only two baserunners allowed. The veteran righty carries a 3.41 ERA and 1.21 WHIP for the season.

Melancon secured the save in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Dodgers, allowing a hit and walk in the ninth.

After San Diego took a two-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, Melancon was called on to close out the game for the fourth time in five days. It wasn't the best performance as Los Angeles had runners on first and second with one out, but Melancon got Albert Pujols to line into a double play to close out the victory. The 36-year-old righty added save number 23 to his league-leading total, though a 3.67 FIP compared to a 1.91 ERA suggests Melancon may not be able to sustain this level of performance.

Leone (1-0) allowed an unearned run on two hits and struck out one in one inning in Wednesday's extra-innings win over the Angels.

Leone yielded a game-tying RBI single to Juan Lagares in the bottom of the 12th inning. The right-hander became the pitcher of record when San Francisco's offense exploded for seven runs in the 13th. The win was Leone's first of the year in 11 appearances, and he's collected three holds. He's added a 1.54 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 14:3 K:BB across 11.2 innings. Leone could see some high-leverage work, but Jake McGee and Tyler Rogers have handled virtually all of the save chances this year.

Bard walked one and struck out one to record the save Wednesday against the Mariners.

Bard was called upon to record the final out of the game with the Rockies up by three. He walked the first batter he faced to bring the tying run to the plate, but struck out Jake Bauers to end the contest and record his 10th save of the season. It was a nice bounceback effort for Bard, as he had blown a save and taken a loss in his last two outings, respectively. Overall, he has a 4.15 ERA with a 38:13 K:BB across 30.1 innings.

Hader pitched a perfect inning and struck out two to earn the save in Wednesday's 3-2 win over Arizona.

Hader needed 17 pitches to complete the inning, but he got the job done cleanly. The closer is now 19-for-19 in save opportunities this year. He's pitched to a minuscule 0.59 ERA and 0.72 WHIP with a 52:11 K:BB across 30.2 innings.

Rainey (1-2) allowed two hits and a walk while striking out one in two-thirds of an inning, earning the win in Wednesday's 13-12 win over the Phillies.

The righty also had a blown save by letting both inherited runners score in the eighth inning. With the two outs, Rainey lowered his ERA to a still-alarming 7.54, though seven of his last eight appearances have been scoreless and he remains the second most-trusted option in the Nationals' bullpen while Daniel Hudson (elbow) is out.

Neris (1-4) took the loss after giving up two runs on three hits during the ninth inning to blow the save Wednesday against the Nationals. Manager Joe Girardi said after the game he'll take Thursday's scheduled off day to "think about" making a change at closer, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

The right-hander threw eight of 10 pitches for strikes, but he caught too much of the plate as Washington tallied two runs on three singles and a sacrifice bunt. Neris now has three blown saves in his past five appearances with six runs allowed over 4.1 innings during that stretch. He had a 1.90 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 29:8 K:BB while going 9-for-11 in save opportunities before his current struggles. Jose Alvarado and Sam Coonrod are likely to be in the mix for saves if Girardi opts to remove Neris from the closer's role.