MLB Player News

Maurer, who has been sidelined since late April after undergoing knee surgery, made a rehab appearance for short-season West Virginia on Tuesday. He struck out a batter as part of a perfect nine-pitch frame.

Maurer was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis at the conclusion of spring training after failing to crack the Pirates' Opening Day roster. The historically brittle reliever only made six appearances for Indianapolis before succumbing to another setback on the health front, but he looks to be on the mend now. Expect him to make another appearance or two with the Pirates' lower-level affiliates before reporting back to Indianapolis.

Manager Gabe Kapler ruled out Medina as a candidate to join the big-league rotation when a fifth starter is required again Saturday versus the Marlins, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

With Jerad Eickhoff's homer-prone ways resulting in him losing his rotation spot before he was moved to the injured list Monday with biceps tendinitis, the Phillies are short on appealing alternatives. Though he's regarded as the Phillies' top pitching prospect in the upper rungs of the minors, Medina apparently isn't viewed as a potential solution at the big-league level just yet. Even if his MLB debut isn't imminent, Medina could at least make the jump to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the near future after going 6-0 with a 1.03 ERA and 0.91 WHIP over his last six starts with Double-A Reading.

The Phillies list Pivetta as their probable starter for Thursday's series finale against the Nationals.

Initially lined up to start Wednesday, Pivetta was bumped back a day in the schedule on account of postponements Monday and Tuesday. Though Aaron Nola would have been available to face Washington on Thursday on his normal four days' rest, his recent struggles might have prompted manager Gabe Kapler to keep Pivetta ahead of the ace in the pitching order. Pivetta has been mostly stellar in his four starts since returning from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, posting a 2.70 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 27:4 K:BB in 26.2 innings.

Iglesias once again pitched in the eighth inning Tuesday, giving way to Michael Lorenzen for the save chance in the ninth, but manager David Bell said afterward that there has been no role change at the back of the bullpen, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

The skipper has made it clear that he will use Iglesias in the highest-leverage spot, regardless of inning, and for the second consecutive day, there was an urgency to get outs in the eighth. "If [Yuli] Gurriel came up in that inning, that's where the game was going to be. We wanted Iggy. That was the game. So he pitched," Bell said. Iglesias currently has a career-worst 1.39 WHIP through 31 innings -- his previous career high was 1.14 -- but he's improved his strikeout and home-run rates from last year and in turn has shaved his FIP down to 3.49 (from 4.23).

The Nationals recalled Voth from Triple-A Fresno to serve as the 26th man for Wednesday's doubleheader with the Phillies, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

Voth will be available for both halves of the twin bill, but there's a good chance the Nationals reserve him for the second half of the doubleheader. Max Scherzer is listed as the scheduled starter for the second game, but his status has yet to be determined while he continues to recover from the broken nose he suffered in a bunting drill Tuesday. If Scherzer can't go, either Voth or Erick Fedde would likely receive the starting nod.

Yates gave up a hit and struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning to record his 26th save of the season in Tuesday's 4-1 win over the Brewers.

The 32-year-old just keeps motoring along. Yates has yet to blow a save this season and has only been scored upon once in his last 14 appearances, leading to an elite 1.13 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 54:8 K:BB through 32 innings.

Yamamoto (2-0) picked up the win Tuesday, scattering two hits and two walks over seven scoreless innings while striking out seven in a 6-0 victory over the Cardinals.

St. Louis hitters had even less success against Yamamoto in their second look at him than they did in his debut -- a ground-rule double by opposing pitcher Jack Flaherty marked the only time the Cards even got a runner into scoring position against the 23-year-old. Yamamoto is quickly locking down a permanent rotation spot for Miami, but he'll face a tough test in his next start Sunday in Philadelphia.

Garcia has been promoted to Triple-A Albuquerque, William Boor of MLB.com reports.

Garcia was dominating for Double-A Hartford, so the Rockies will bump him up a level and see what he can do in the Pacific Coast League. The 25-year-old went 8-2 with a sparkling 1.85 ERA and an 87:23 K:BB in 13 starts for the YardGoats.

Strop (1-3) took the loss after allowing a go-ahead, two-run home run in the ninth inning of Tuesday's 3-1 defeat to the White Sox.

It was a rough ninth inning for Strop, who started the frame by allowing a single to James McCann and then the big home run to Eloy Jimenez before departing with one out. The righty's ERA climbed to 5.52 after the subpar outing, and he will get bumped down in the bullpen pecking order soon, once Craig Kimbrel is ready to join the MLB roster.

Reyes (1-3) recorded nine strikeouts but also allowed six earned runs on 10 hits, three walks and a wild pitch over five innings in Triple-A Memphis' loss to Las Vegas on Tuesday.

The haphazard final line was representative of all that comes with the Reyes package. The promising right-hander displayed his ability to miss plenty of bats while also exhibiting wildness and location issues. Reyes had originally been a candidate to make a spot start with the Cardinals on Wednesday, a turn that will instead by taken by Daniel Ponce de Leon. Reyes clearly still needs some seasoning at the Triple-A level after allowing 10 earned runs across eight innings over his last two starts for the Redbirds.