MLB Player News

Nelson (4-3) held the Padres to two runs on five hits and a walk over eight innings Thursday, striking out five in a 3-0 loss.

Other than Melvin Upton's big day, the Padres couldn't get to Nelson. Unfortunately, the righty got no support whatsoever from his offense while delivering his strongest outing of the season. He's been a bit less than consistent, but the sum of Nelson's contributions has been a solid fantasy line. As he approaches his 27th birthday, Nelson still hasn't lived up to the potential he's shown in the minors, but the overall trend line has been nothing but positive.

Smith will throw off a mound Friday for the first time since injuring his knee this spring, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Smith has been brought along slowly since tearing the LCL in his right knee this spring, but he will now get a chance to see how his knee feels while throwing from an elevated position. Smith is not entirely in the clear just yet in regards to surgery on his knee, but if all goes well Friday and in his next few sessions, there will be plenty of reason to believe he will avoid going under the knife and pitch for the Brewers at some point this summer.

Matzek (personal) walked the only batter he faced in an appearance with High-A Modesto on Wednesday.

Matzek was a bit wild, with four of his five pitches being balls, but it's noteworthy that the Rockies felt confident enough in Matzek to put him back in a game situation. He'll continue to get eased back into action over the coming weeks, and the left-hander should hopefully be able to enter the Triple-A rotation once he has stretched out his arm enough.

Gearrin surrendered two runs over his lone inning of work Wednesday, but still managed to record his fourth hold of season.

Gearrin wasn't himself Wednesday, surrendering five fly balls and no grounders after entering the game with a 1.71 GB/FB. Despite the rough outing, he technically held the lead and earned the hold. Gearrin continues to be used in high-pressure situations while Sergio Romo (forearm) and George Kontos (elbow) are on the disabled list.

Pivetta allowed one run on three hits over six innings Wednesday for Double-A Reading. He struck out seven and walked three.

Pivetta is now 3-2 with a 3.89 ERA and a 38:14 K:BB in 37 innings for Reading this season. He came over to the Phillies last year in the Jonathan Papelbon trade with the Nationals. He is a potential mid or back of the rotation starter if he can develop his offspeed stuff and harness his control.

Rodney recorded saves in both ends of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Cubs, pitching a scoreless inning each time and working around a hit in the latter outing.

There have been a lot of two-save days in MLB history, but they don't happen very often these days because there are no scheduled doubleheaders anymore, so this is a modern-day rarity for Rodney. Of course, that hasn't been the only rare thing about him this year, as the veteran closer has yet to give up an earned run in 14 innings and owns a sparkling 0.93 WHIP; that mark hasn't been lower than 1.34 in any of the past three seasons, but Rodney's generating a ton of soft contact and pop-ups at the tender age of 39.

Pomeranz (4-3) shut out the Cubs over six innings Wednesday, striking out 10 while allowing three hits and three walks.

Injuries and a move to the bullpen derailed the start of Pomeranz's career, but changing home venues to San Diego has proven to be a boon for the 27-year-old lefty, who now has two double-digit-strikeout games this year and a whopping 51 whiffs in 40 innings -- a top-10 total in the National League. His too-good BABIP and strand rate will see some regression, so Pomeranz won't be able to maintain his startlingly good 1.80 ERA, but he's clearly arrived as a more-than-legit MLB starter. The question now is whether he'll be able to avoid breaking down over the course of the season, as Pomeranz has never remotely approached 200 innings and tossed just 86 last year.

Melancon allowed a hit and a walk, but recorded a strikeout and put away the Reds with a scoreless ninth Wednesday for his 10th save of the year.

Melancon remains a steady closing option even though his WHIP remains a bit inflated from the norm -- not that anyone's complaining about a 1.14 mark, but that's still well higher than the 0.87-0.96 range he's been in for the past three seasons. The Pirates play plenty of close games and should win a lot of them, meaning Melancon should again rack up the saves after converting a whopping 51 of 53 last year. His underwhelming strikeout rate keeps him from being among the truly elite closers, though he's making up for that with volume.

Rodney stayed perfect, recording his ninth save in as many tries in the first game of a doubleheader against the Cubs on Wednesday.

He retired the side in order with two ground balls and a fly out. Rodney has yet to give up a run this season and has only yielded 12 base runners in 13 frames. After such a nightmarish start to the 2015 season, Rodney has been a pleasant surprise for owners this season, and he should continue recording saves for the time being.

Edwards was recalled to serve as the 26th man for Wednesday's doubleheader against the Padres.

The right-hander has a 2.38 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in 11 appearances for Triple-A Iowa while he hasn't conceded a run in his last four appearances. Last season, Edwards made five appearances for the Cubs, giving up two earned runs in 4.2 innings. Edwards should head back down to Iowa after Wednesday's doubleheader.