MLB Player News

Manager Pete Mackanin said Wednesday that he will stick with Gomez as the team's closer for now, the Delaware County Daily Times' Jack McCaffery reports.

Gomez has a 9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP and just seven strikeouts while blowing two saves and taking two losses over his last 14 appearances, so it's easy to see why there is speculation that he isn't long for the job. Meanwhile, Hector Neris has a 2.30 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 31.7 percent K-rate this season, looking much more the part of a traditional ninth inning arm. Still, at least for now, Gomez will continue to get save chances. Neris certainly looks like the arm to own in that bullpen heading into 2017, however.

Law (elbow) was activated from the 15-day DL on Wednesday.

This move was anticipated, as it was reported on Tuesday that Law was getting ready to come off the DL. He will be eased back into action, and has a chance to see some ninth-inning work before the end of the season, as the Giants are going with a closer-by-committee approach after removing Santiago Casilla from the role. Law has a 1.94 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 23.7 percent K-rate in 51 innings this season.

Okert blew his first save opportunity Tuesday, serving up a three-run homer to Ryan Schimpf in a 6-4 loss to the Padres.

Manager Bruce Bochy called upon the young lefty to get the final out in the ninth inning after Hunter Strickland struggled to get San Diego batters out. That turned out to be a poor decision as Schimpf smashed Okert's fourth pitch over Triple's Alley at AT&T Park. The Giants and their bullpen continue to struggle to close out games in the second half of the season. This is likely the last time we see Okert attempt to close a game in 2016 with Bochy having several other lefties at his disposal.

Melancon (2-2) took the loss in a non-save situation Tuesday against the Mets, giving up a run on two hits in the top of the 10th inning.

Melancon was called upon after Mets closer Jeurys Familia blew a save in the bottom of the ninth, but the Nationals closer wasn't much sharper. He failed to register a strikeout while giving up a homer to rookie T.J. Rivera. Melancon had started to regain momentum with three straight clean outings against Philadelphia after getting scored on twice by the Braves, but he's right back to square one again.

Gomez (3-4) was atrocious Tuesday against the Pirates, allowing three runs on two hits and a walk without getting a single out for his fifth blown save of the season.

Gomez allowed the first two Pirates hitters to reach before allowing a three-run homer to pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez, after which he was promptly pulled in favor of Luis Garcia. This debacle comes as a surprise after the closer hadn't allowed an earned run in any of his last five appearances.

Law (elbow) will be activated from the DL on Wednesday, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Law is ready to return after missing just over the minimum two weeks required by his DL stint, and it doesn't sound like manager Bruce Bochy has any intention of easing him back into the late innings. In fact, Bochy has already said Law will factor into the ninth-inning mix after Santiago Casilla's removal from the closer role over the weekend. Law has pitched to a 1.94 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 53 appearances with the Giants this season and the peripherals largely support the stellar ratios.

Hudson picked up his third save in Monday's win over the Rockies with a scoreless ninth.

Hudson has struck out eight and walked just one over five innings since picking up his second save of the season August 30 against the Giants. It's unclear if he has the stuff to hack it as a closer long-term, but if he keeps pitching like this, he might have the inside track at the role come next season in Arizona.

Miller allowed six runs on nine hits and a walk with five strikeouts over five innings in a no-decision Monday against the Rockies.

Miller has allowed fewer than five runs just once in his past seven starts. In his three starts since returning to Arizona's rotation, Miller has a sharp 10:2 K:BB but has surrendered an absurd 26 hits in just 15.1 innings. His ERA is up to 7.12 as his excellent 2015 season now seems like the distant past.

Chapman worked around a walk to record his 34th save Monday against the Cardinals.

Chapman is now up to 14 saves with the Cubs and has converted seven in a row. He has gone 9.2 innings since his last blown save and has allowed just one run with a ridiculous 17:6 K:BB in that stretch. He remains one of the nastiest relievers in baseball, and although he is walking a lot of batters of late, it doesn't matter if opposing batters can't make contact.

Iglesias came on with a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning Monday to nail down a two-inning save, striking out three Brewers.

The save was Iglesias's third of the year, having been transitioned from opening day starter to reliever and now closing games. Iglesias's numbers are terrific on the year, holding a 2.18 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over 70.1 innings, striking out more than a batter an inning. Iglesias blew his last save opportunity just a few days earlier, but it seems as though the Reds are going to stick with him as their season winds down with no hope of making the playoffs.