MLB Player News

Melancon (elbow) has officially been activated off the disabled list in advance of Saturday's game against the Nationals, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

This move has been in the works since earlier in the week, but the Giants made it official shortly before first pitch Saturday. Melancon will work in low-leverage situations in his first few games back before presumably resuming his closer duties. Sam Dyson stands to remain as the Giants' closer in the interim.

Melancon (elbow) will be activated ahead of Saturday's game against the Nationals, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports.

According to Baggarly, either Miguel Gomez or Carlos Moncrief could be optioned to clear space for Melancon. The initial expectation is that Melancon won't immediately reclaim closing duties upon his return, but he'll likely be ready to reprise that role after he gets a few lower-leverage appearances under his belt. With that, Sam Dyson will likely serve as the Giants' closer for at least a few more games.

Grace has given up eight runs on 11 hits over his last 10 innings.

The up-and-down season continues for Grace, who has a 4.45 ERA and 1.39 WHIP across 32.1 innings. The 28-year-old has two saves on the season, but has little fantasy value with his 5.8 K/9 and is unlikely to see many high-leverage situations with the Nationals' improved bullpen.

Iglesias gave up one run on four hits and a walk over two innings while striking out four to pick up his 20th save of the season in Friday's 11-10 win over the Brewers.

On a night when neither team's pitching staff seemed capable of getting the job done, Iglesias acted as his own setup man and didn't flinch after a solo shot by Jonathan Villar in the ninth inning got Milwaukee within a run. The 27-year-old righty now has a 1.87 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 71:22 K:BB in 57.2 innings on the season while blowing only one save, and only the Reds' inability to consistently hand him leads has kept Iglesias out of the upper tier of fantasy closers.

Leiter will likely replace Vince Velasquez (finger) in the Phillies' rotation, Ben Harris of MLB.com reports.

Leiter tossed 4.1 scoreless innings of relief after Velasquez left his last start, so he lines up perfectly to take a spot in the rotation. He'll be facing the Padres and is a sneaky streaming option given how well he has pitched since his recall from the minors (3.48 ERA and 17:0 K:BB in 10.1 innings).

Hand converted a four-out save, his ninth, and struck out three in Friday's win over the Dodgers.

Hand bounced back strongly from Wednesday's blown save against the Reds, his first since assuming the closer's role in late July. Despite that three-run disaster, Hand owns a 2.23 ERA. Now at 8-for-9 in save opportunities since taking the job, Hand is making a strong case to become San Diego's closer of the future.

Bowman picked up his second save with a clean ninth inning Friday against Atlanta.

With Trevor Rosenthal unvailable after throwing consecutive days, including a four-out save Thursday night, Bowman took the ninth. Expect Rosenthal to slide right back into the closer's role for the next Cardinals save opportunity, but Bowman has apparently impressed Mike Matheny enough to get such a situation in Rosenthal's absence.

Pivetta (4-7) allowed six runs, five of which were earned, on seven hits and two walks while striking out four over 4.2 innings, but received no decision Friday against the Mets.

Pivetta was staked to a three-run lead in the first inning, but he gave up homers in the second and third inning that led to him having a rough outing. However, the offense scored runs late to take him off the hook for a potential loss. He's allowed 29 earned runs over his last six starts, and with a 6.09 ERA, he's very difficult to trust in fantasy lineups. He'll make his next start Wednesday against the Padres.

Banda is expected to start Tuesday's game against the Astros, Jack Magruder of FanRagSports.com reports.

The lefty lasted just four innings in his most recent outing, but the numbers through three big-league starts are pretty encouraging, especially considering he's had home matchups against the Dodgers and Nationals. Banda will make at least one more start in place of Robbie Ray (concussion) before possibly shifting to the bullpen over the season's final month.

Stewart was sent back to Triple-A Oklahoma City, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Stewart was only back with Los Angeles for a couple of days as Luis Avilon was on the paternity list, but did appear in one game, giving up a home run and striking out two in 1.1 innings. He'll return to Oklahoma City as a likely candidate to return come September.