MLB Player News

Strop pitched a scoreless inning Friday to earn his 17th hold of the season.

Strop walked one, but he still has a strong 47:12 K:BB over 36.2 innings this season. He has not given up a hit over his last five appearances.

Wagner struck out seven over five scoreless innings for Double-A Tennessee on Friday.

Wagner has pitched at four levels already this year, but he's spent most of the season struggling for Triple-A Iowa. The Cubs seem to just move him around to wherever they need a pitcher, which probably doesn't bode well for his long-term prospects. For the season, he has a 4.17 ERA and a 53:27 K:BB over 49.2 innings.

Maurer notched his fourth save with 1.1 innings of scoreless ball in Friday's 5-3 victory over the Nationals. He issued one walk and struck out two.

The 26-year-old reliever was called upon for the first time since Sunday and delivered with his sixth straight scoreless outing. Maurer has been excellent in a closing role in July, converting all four of his save opportunities and generating a 1.23 ERA over 7.1 innings.

Manager Walt Weiss said that Rusin (shoulder) is scheduled to make his final rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Albuquerque before joining the team next week for their series against the Orioles, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports.

Rusin has been on the disabled list since June 8 with a shoulder strain, but it seems like the left-hander will finally be ready to return to the Rockies after a month and a half on the shelf. The Colorado bullpen and rotation have become fairly crowded since he last pitched, so it's currently unclear whether he'll be a starter or a long reliever once he is activated. Things should become more clear following his rehab start Sunday, however.

Williams, 21, has a 3.67 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 54 strikeouts in 54 innings with Low-A Wisconsin.

These numbers are right in line with what Williams accomplished over 89 innings with Wisconsin last year. A shoulder injury kept him sidelined until May 12, and it could be a contributing factor in him only logging five-plus innings in four of his 13 appearances. Williams still has the repertoire of a future mid-rotation starter, with the upside to be a tad better than that, but given his age, it would be nice to see him get a taste of High-A before the end of the season.

Estevez worked his way out of a major jam to lock up his eight save of the year versus the Braves on Friday.

Estevez allowed a double to Adonis Garcia and walked Ender Inciarte to start the ninth. The runners advanced on a sacrifice and Erick Aybar walked to load the bases before Estevez recovered to get Chase d'Arnaud on a popup and strike out Peterson for his eighth save in 11 chances. Although it appears Estevez is the hands-down closer right now, the Rockies bullpen has options if the rookie wants to play with fire. He's now 8-for-9 in save chances this season.

Mayers might be an option to be called up from Triple-A to start Sunday's game against the Dodgers after Tyler Lyons was used out of the bullpen Friday.

The Cardinals need a spot starter Sunday after there was a doubleheader earlier in the week, and unless they opt to go with a bullpen game, Mayers seems like the most likely candidate to get the call. He is not on the 40-man roster, but he is pitching pretty well at Triple-A, and would be pitching on an extra day's rest Sunday. Alex Reyes, the Cardinals' top prospect, started Thursday's game for Memphis, so he is not an option, and other top pitching prospects, Tim Cooney and Marco Gonzales, are still on the minor league DL. Mayers, 24, has a 2.62 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 86:36 K:BB in 106.2 innings across Double-A and Triple-A this season.

Jansen blew his fifth save of the season Friday against the Cardinals. He surrendered a two-out solo shot that tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth.

Jedd Gyorko blasted the first pitch he saw from Jansen, handing the closer his second blown save in his last three tries. The ninth-inning man had only allowed one home run all season before Friday. Entering the game, Jansen had struck out Gyorko in four of the eight at-bats against him, making this pill a little harder to swallow. Expect to see Jansen back out there when the first chance at a rebound comes up over the weekend in St. Louis.

Nelson (6-8) allowed four runs, two of which were earned, on four hits and three walks while striking out three over five innings to take the loss Friday against the Cubs.

Nelson gave up all four of his runs in the first two innings before settling down until his exit in the fifth inning. He's now held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in five of his last six starts to lower his ERA to 3.40 on the year. He'll make his next start Wednesday against the Diamondbacks.

Estevez came in to clean up Jason Motte's mess in the ninth inning Thursday, inducing the final out of a 7-3 win over the Braves for his seventh save.

It didn't look like Estevez was headed for a save chance here until Motte imploded in the ninth, giving up three hits, a walk and two runs before the Rockies called in their closer. Estevez needed just two pitches to get Jace Peterson on a groundout and end the game. Since taking over, the rookie has been everything fantasy owners could ask for from a ninth-inning man who has to pitch in Colorado, and it doesn't seem as though anyone's going to take his job from him.