MLB Player News

Chafin pitched a scoreless inning of relief in Thursday's win over the Nationals to record his 10th hold of the season.

Chafin has been one of the Cubs' most dependable relievers so far. In addition to the team-leading 10 holds, the lefty has a solid 2.57 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 21 strikeouts across 21 innings. He should continue working in a high-leverage role for Chicago.

Kimbrel earned the save against the Nationals on Thursday by tossing a scoreless inning. He allowed one hit while striking out three.

The right-hander entered the ninth frame with a two-run lead and worked around a single by Starlin Castro to slam the door, earning all of his outs via strikeouts. It was the ninth save of the season for Kimbrel, who has blown two of his opportunities thus far while pitching to the tune of a 1.02 ERA and 0.85 WHIP across 17.2 innings.

Soriano (elbow) began a rehab assignment with Low-A Bradenton on Thursday, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

The Pirates grabbed Soriano in the Rule 5 draft despite the fact that he was still working his way back from Tommy John surgery. He's still on the 60-day injured list and may need a lengthy rehab assignment before he's ready to make his big-league debut, but the Pirates will have to keep him on the active roster once that's done or offer him back to the Angels.

Jansen struck out a pair of batters in a 1-2-3 ninth inning en route to earning his ninth save of the season Wednesday in the Dodgers' 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

Joe Kelly, Victor Gonzalez and Jansen put the clamps on Arizona after starter Clayton Kershaw exited following the sixth inning. The relievers allowed only one of the 10 batters they faced to reach base, guiding Los Angeles to its seventh win in eight games in the process. With four consecutive stress-free saves under his belt, Jansen looks to have settled in nicely after a somewhat rocky start to the season. The save he notched Wednesday was the 321st of his career, tying Jansen with Jose Mesa for 20th in MLB history.

Feyereisen allowed two earned runs in an inning of relief and took the loss Wednesday as the Brewers fell to the Royals.

Feyereisen did not give up an earned run over his first 17 appearances of the season, but he allowed at least one earned run -- and seven runs in all -- in three of his last four trips to the mound. He remains in the third spot in the Brewers' bullpen for the time being, but he's going to have to get back on track in order to hang onto it.

Reyes gave up a hit and struck out the side in the ninth inning Wednesday to record his 13th save of the season in an 8-5 win over the Pirates.

The right-hander flashed better control in this one, tossing 11 of 15 pitches for strikes and not issuing a free pass for the first time in six appearances. Walks are the only blemish on Reyes' line so far this season, however, as he's a perfect 13-for-13 on save chances with a 0.39 ERA and 31:20 K:BB through 23 innings.

Hand gave up a run on two hits while striking out three in the ninth inning Wednesday to record his fifth save of the season in a 4-3 win over the Cubs.

A solo shot by Javier Baez made things nervous for the Nats, but Hand eventually got the job done. The veteran closer has converted two straight save chances after blowing two straight earlier this month and he's been scored upon in four of six appearances in May, leading to an 8.44 ERA in his last 5.1 innings despite a strong 10:3 K:BB.

Melancon didn't allow a baserunner and had zero strikeouts during the ninth inning to earn the save during Wednesday's 3-0 win against Colorado.

The veteran right-hander was handed a three-run cushion and retired the side in order with little fanfare. Melancon has converted all 15 save opportunities with a 0.87 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 16:5 K:BB across 20.2 innings this season.

Smith (1-4) pitched a perfect ninth inning and struck out two to earn the win Wednesday versus the Mets.

Smith kept the game tied at 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning, and Ronald Acuna hit a walkoff home run in the bottom half of the frame. The 31-year-old Smith has now gone six outings without a save, although that's more from a lack of close games in Atlanta's favor recently. The closer has a 4.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 24:8 K:BB and seven saves in 18 innings this year.

Garcia picked up his eighth save of the season Wednesday against the Phillies after tossing 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and fanning two.

Garcia entered the game with one out to go in the eighth inning and got the job done before things got a bit complicated in the ninth. The right-hander had runners on the corners with one out, but he struck out Alec Bohm and induced Andrew Knapp into a flyout to close things out. He's gone 7-for-8 in save opportunities in 2021 and should remain the Marlins' closer moving forward -- he has given up just two runs across 13.2 innings of work since April 10, the day he compiled his first save.