MLB Player News

Vizcaino picked up his 12th save of the season Wednesday against the Mets, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out one across a scoreless ninth inning.

Vizcaino worked around a walk and a double for his fifth straight successful save conversion. The 27-year-old hasn't allowed a run in seven consecutive appearances dating back to May 15 and now owns a shiny 2.03 ERA through 26.2 innings this season.

Suarez didn't factor into the decision in Wednesday's loss to the Marlins, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three over five innings.

Suarez retired the first eight batters he faced, but he ran into trouble in the fourth inning after a walk and a trio of singles plated two. The lefty has worked to a 3.31 ERA in June, lowering his mark on the year to 4.92. He'll draw the Marlins again in a rematch Monday, this time in San Francisco.

Pivetta (4-6) took the loss Wednesday, allowing six runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out five over five innings against the Rockies.

The bulk of the damage was done in the fourth inning, as Pivetta was tagged with five runs in the frame after yielding four singles, a double and a home run. The 25-year-old has taken the loss in four straight outings and hasn't lasted longer than five innings in any of them. With 10.1 K/9, Pivetta is still a solid source of strikeouts, but Wednesday's outing pushed his ERA up nearly half a run to 4.25. He'll look to snap his slide and get back in the win column Monday against the Cardinals.

Howard was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday, The Denver Post reports.

Howard's stay with the Rockies lasted just four days, with his return to the minors coinciding with Harrison Musgrave's activation from the bereavement list. The 25-year-old made just one appearance during his brief stay with the Rockies, allowing one hit in a scoreless inning of work. He'll continue to work as a starter with the Isotopes.

Gott was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday, Jamal Collier of MLB.com reports.

Gott is the roster casualty to make room for Wednesday's starter, Erick Fedde. In 16.1 innings for the Nationals this year, Gott has a 4.96 ERA and 12:8 K:BB.

Beck was claimed off waivers by the Mets on Wednesday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Beck will fill a low-leverage role in the Mets' bullpen after being designated for assignment by the White Sox on Saturday. The 27-year-old's ERA sits at a respectable 4.18 after falling north of 6.00 in each of his first three big-league seasons, though his 6.02 FIP indicates that he isn't really pitching any better. His 14.7 percent career strikeout rate and 12.0 percent career walk rate don't give much reason for optimism. A corresponding move has not yet been announced.

Nelson remains limited to throwing off flat ground while he continues to recover from September shoulder surgery, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

With Nelson having yet to resume mound work approximately two and a half months into the season, it appears safe to conclude that he won't be an option for the Brewers until after the All-Star break. The Brewers haven't suggested that Nelson has endured any major hiccups in his rehab, but it appears the team is inclined to proceed cautiously with the prized right-hander, who emerged as the staff ace last season with a 3.49 ERA and 199 strikeouts in 175.1 innings.

Hicks, who fired two perfect innings in which he racked up four strikeouts during Tuesday's loss to the Padres, now sports a 19:3 K:BB over his last 10 appearances.

The 21-year-old phenom also sports an unblemished ERA through five June outings while recording multiple punchouts in four of them. The assumption that Hicks' triple-digit fastball and sinker would automatically lead to an eye-popping amount of missed bats remained largely unfounded until late May, when he began incorporating more offspeed stuff into his repertoire with the aid of pitching coach Mike Maddux. The returns on that experiment continue to be stellar, and with bullpen mate Luke Gregerson now expected to miss another 4-to-6 weeks following arthroscopic knee surgery, Hicks should continue seeing high-leverage work for the foreseeable future.

Smith struck out the side over a scoreless inning in Tuesday's 3-1 loss to Miami.

Outside of one bad outing against the Cubs on May 25, Smith has been untouchable since his return from Tommy John surgery this season. The 28-year-old now owns a 1.13 ERA with 19 strikeouts over 16 innings. The only downside with Smith from a fantasy perspective is the lack of holds (three) and saves (zero) while being slotted being Tony Watson and Hunter Strickland on the Giants' bullpen depth chart.

Cimber picked up the win after tossing three shutout innings while surrendering just one hit and striking out four in a 4-2 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday.

Cimber teamed up with starter Matt Strahm to combine for six shutout innings with seven strikeouts to no walks in a bullpen game. The former has been excellent in his rookie campaign with the Padres, posting a 2.60 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 7.0 K/BB over 34.2 innings. Cimber has managed to post those impressive ratios despite averaging 86.2 mph on his fastball. Brad Hand, Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen have a firm grip on the late-inning roles in the bullpen, so Cimber's value is capped in standard fantasy formats.