MLB Player News

The Reds optioned Stephenson to Triple-A Louisville following Thursday's game.

Stephenson tossed five innings and picked up the win in his big league debut Thursday, but he was simply being used as a spot starter, and will head back to Louisville for more seasoning. He is one of the Reds' top pitching prospects, so chances are good he will be back with the big club at some point later this season.

De Leon is dealing with a minor ankle injury and won't join Triple-A Oklahoma City until later in April, the Dodgers' official site reports.

This looks very minor and could just be one way to keep De Leon's innings count down this year. He's a candidate to make his big league debut at some point in 2016.

Hernandez picked up a hold with a clean inning of work Wednesday against the Reds.

Manager Pete Mackanin sent Hernandez out to work the eighth inning for the second straight game Wednesday. He hit 94 mph with his fastball and eight of his 12 pitches were strikes. Hernandez could still work his way into closing duties for the Phillies and is worth stashing for those hunting for potential saves.

Melancon picked up an easy save Wednesday against the Cardinals, as he was asked to get just one out and he did so cleanly in four pitches.

It was one of those tying-run-on-deck saves, as the Pirates were leading 5-1 while the Cardinals had two on and two out in the ninth when Melancon was called upon to retire Kolten Wong. Of course, his fantasy owners certainly won't complain about Pirates manager Clint Hurdle playing to the save rule. Melancon's now appeared in all three games so far this year, a luxury permitted by the many off days in the first week of the season. It's nice to see him get off to a good start this time around after last year's early struggles, though he only has one strikeout to show for 2.1 innings so far.

Matzek (personal) has been throwing bullpen sessions but still has no timetable for a return to game action, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports.

Matzek has been dealing with some performance anxiety issues, which kept him out of the majority of spring training. It's a good sign that he's been able to get some pitching in, though, which should make his transition back into game action a bit easier. He should slot into the rotation with Triple-A Albuquerque once he does return.

Miller's average fastball velocity was down from 95.1 mph last year to 93.7 mph in his start Tuesday, the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro reports.

The dip in velocity was clearly a contributing factor in Miller's struggles Tuesday, as he only had one start last season with fewer swinging strikes than he had in his first start of the season against the Rockies. Sometimes pitchers take a couple starts to get their velocity up to where it usually sits, but this is certainly something to keep an eye on with Miller going forward.

Jansen earned his first save of the season Tuesday, allowing one hit while striking out two batters in a scoreless inning against the Padres.

Jon Jay reached on an infield single with two outs -- he was the last of three baserunners in the game for San Diego -- but Jansen got Cory Spangenberg swinging to nail down the win for starter Scott Kazmir. Jansen did not allow a hit over his final five appearance of spring training (5.1 innings), posting an 8:1 K:BB over that span. He's the premier closer in the National League.

Miller allowed six runs on eight hits and a walk over six innings in a no-decision Tuesday against the Rockies. He struck out two.

Miller served up three home runs and was only able to escape with a no-decision because his Diamondbacks put up 11 runs. Miller had nothing going, as he induced just four swinging strikes and managed just 13 first pitch strikes to 26 hitters. He did manage to induce 10 ground balls, but that won't help him if he's letting one out of every two fly balls go over the fence. Miller had allowed at least 1.0 HR/9 in two consecutive seasons before posting a 0.6 HR/9 last year with Atlanta, so his home run rate should be watched closely all year.

Nelson (0-1) took the loss despite a quality start Tuesday against the Giants, as he allowed two runs on five hits and a walk over 7.1 innings. He struck out three.

Nelson was super efficient, as he needed just 88 pitches to get 22 outs and threw 59 strikes against 29 balls. Nelson had a problem with walks last year, as he allowed 3.3 per nine innings, and if he can tighten up his control, it would be a huge step towards becoming the top-half-of-the-rotation pitcher the Brewers hope he can be. Nelson walked one batter or fewer in just nine of his 30 starts last year, and only four of those nine went longer than seven innings.

Bracho was optioned to Triple-A Reno on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old labored through 1.1 innings in Monday's season opener (40 pitches), and the team decided to swap him out with a fresh arm in Kyle Drabek. Bracho was gaining steam as a supersleeper for saves after posting a 15.4 percent swinging-strike rate and an eight percent walk rate in 13 appearances with the big club this year, but he may be on the shuttle regularly in the early going.