MLB Player News

Castro tossed a scoreless inning in the Rockies' loss to Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon.

After spending a month at Triple-A, Castro has come back to fire a pair of scoreless frames for the Rockies. With a 9:2 K:BB over eight innings, he's quickly becoming one of the more reliable options in the Colorado bullpen. As a result, it would hardly be surprising to see him used in higher-leverage situations in the coming weeks.

Melancon recorded the final two outs of Monday's win over Colorado to earn his 15th save of the season.

Jared Hughes started the inning, but he allowed a run on two hits before exiting. Melancon allowed one hit before closing the door, but the appearance lowered his season ERA to 2.33. He's now 15-for-16 in save chances this season.

Boscan earned his first career win Monday after tossing four innings out of the bullpen against the Rockies.

Making his second MLB appearance, Boscan took over in the third inning after Ryan Vogelsong was hit in the face by a pitch during his at-bat in the bottom of the second inning. Boscan struck out two and walked one, while holding the Colorado offense to two runs in his four frames. He also chipped in his first hit with a two-out RBI single. Boscan will continue to work in long relief for the Bucs as Juan Nicasio will take the ball for Saturday's game at Texas since Vogelsong's start was only spot duty to rest Nicasio for a few extra days.

Maurer allowed a run on a solo homer to Howie Kendrick in the Padres' win over the Dodgers on Sunday.

He was working the eighth inning with a one-run lead at the time of the long ball, as Maurer appears to be the preferred setup option (along with Ryan Buchter) to San Diego closer Fernando Rodney right now. Despite having 29 strikeouts in 22 innings, Maurer has struggled at times this season thanks to inconsistent control (12 walks) and a pair of homers allowed in his last two outings, which have pushed his season ERA from 3.60 to 4.50.

Estevez possesses a 4.05 ERA and 9.5 K/9 through 13.1 innings with the Rockies this season.

Although the ERA is nothing to call home about, Estevez hasn't allowed a run in his past four appearances. He also only walked one batter and gave up one hit while amassing seven strikeouts over that 4.1 inning span. The 23-year-old's success is hardly sustainable considering his gaudy .229 BABIP he's allowing in addition to his rough 5.4 BB/9, but he could be in line for more work in the short term if he continues to success against major league hitters.

Rusin will have his turn in the Rockies rotation skipped Tuesday, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports.

Outside of a rough start earlier in May where he allowed seven runs on 13 hits in only 4.1 innings pitched, Rusin filled in the rotation admirably while Jorge De La Rosa (groin) was on the disabled list. However, it seems that the Rockies saw enough out of De La Rosa during his rehab assignment that they wanted to place him back in the rotation upon activation. This seemingly will bump Rusin back into the long relief role that he filled to begin the season, which naturally reduces his value in the short term. That being said, the 29-year-old will likely be the first one back in the rotation if someone gets hurt or is sent down, especially now that Christian Bergman (oblique), the Rockies other long reliever, is on the disabled list, so he could be worth a stash for patient owners in NL-only leagues.

Jansen was pegged with his second consecutive blown save Sunday versus the Padres, allowing an inherited runner to score on the lone hit he allowed in 1.1 innings.

Jansen came on with a one-run lead in the eighth inning and two outs, but a Melvin Upton triple brought Wil Myers around to tie the score. Jansen proceeded to retire the next three hitters he faced, but the game lasted eight extra innings before the Dodgers finally prevailed. His two blown saves have come on the heels of 13 consecutive conversions, and his 1.50 ERA and 0.61 WHIP suggest this is but a small blip on the radar.

Reyes fanned eight batters and limited Fresno to two hits, three walks and no runs over four innings in his debut with Triple-A Memphis on Sunday.

The 21-year-old had been unavailable for the preceding 39 games of the season while finishing out a 50-game suspension levied in November for a positive drug test. While he wasn't given the opportunity to work deep into the game Sunday, Reyes showcased plenty of blow-away strikes and certainly looked every bit of one of the top pitching prospects in the minors. The Cardinals boast solid depth in their rotation and don't have any immediate openings, but Reyes could be near the top of the list for a promotion if another starter were forced to miss a turn due to injury.

Belisle (calf) will begin a rehab assignment with High-A Potomac on Monday, The Washington Post reports.

He might only need a couple of rehab appearances before being ready to rejoin the Nationals' bullpen. Belisle had a 1.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 3:1 K:BB with one hold in seven appearances (six innings) when he went down, and will rejoin the middle relief corps when he returns.

Smith (knee) will begin a rehab assignment with High-A Brevard County on Tuesday, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Smith hasn't encountered any setbacks while recovering from a torn LCL in his right knee, and he's been cleared for game action after throwing a batting practice session Saturday without issue. Sidelined since late March, he'll likely throw several times in the minors before rejoining the Brewers at some point in June. He was set to share closer duties with Jeremy Jeffress prior to his injury, but Jeffress has thrown the ball well as the primary closer, so Smith will likely open in a setup/situational role when he's back on the big league roster.