MLB Player News

Both Matt Reynolds and David Hernandez ended Tuesday night as two of the five most-viewed players in CBSSports.com Fantasy leagues. That is because Diamondbacks' closer J.J. Putz's struggles to close out games continued yet again, as he blew his major-league leading fourth save of the season.

So far, it has been Reynolds -- not Hernandez -- who has gotten the excess save opportunities, however Hernandez is widely considered the closer of the future. He has huge potential as a shutdown closer, with 189 strikeouts in 150 1/3 innings since joining the Diamondbacks in 2011.

Hernandez has the greater upside as a Fantasy option, but whichever pitcher ends up getting consistent save opportunities will be the one to snag. The Diamondbacks have a lot of money tied up in Putz, but his struggles continue to make it hard for them to trust. Fantasy owners looking for saves on the wire will definitely want to keep an eye on the situation in Arizona. 

Reds manager Dusty Baker told MLB.com that a couple of his pitchers at the back end of the bullpen might not be available Tuesday against the Cardinals due to allergies.

One of them was Aroldis Chapman, who has worked two days in a row and earned back-to-back saves. Jonathan Broxton, Cincinnati's setup man, was another.

“Chapman looked like hell. I don’t think he’s available tonight,” Baker said. “I don’t know if [Jonathan] Broxton is available tonight. We may have to close with somebody else. He’s gone two days in a row and he threw 30 pitches the day before. I was a little apprehensive about using him last night. It’s not the innings sometimes, but the workload of that inning.”

The Marlins announced on Monday that Marcell Ozuna and Brad Hand will be recalled from Triple-A New Orleans. 

Reds closer Aroldis Chapman entered Monday's series opener against the Cardinals in the ninth inning with a one-run lead. The left-hander needed 13 pitches to retire the side in order and secure a 2-1 win.

Chapman lowered his ERA to 0.68 while collecting his sixth save.

Diamondbacks pitcher Daniel Hudson threw two innings of live batting practice on Monday as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery, MLB.com reports. Manager Kirk Gibson said the right-hander threw around 55 pitches and Gibson was impressed with what he saw.

"He looked good," Gibson said. "He was overthrowing in the first inning but he came back in the second and had much better location. Overall, it was good."

Hudson will begin throwing every fifth day with bullpen sessions scheduled in between.

"I think he's ready in his mind to progress into games and compete," Gibson said. "We'll see how it goes now that he's getting into more innings and competing in games; he might get sore. We'll try to get him into what he would be doing if he were with us."

Braves closer Craig Kimbrel entered Monday's series opener against the Nationals in the ninth inning with a one-run lead. The right-hander needed 10 pitches to retire the side in order and secure a 3-2 win.

Kimbrel also struck out one while collecting his ninth save.

Padres pitcher Anthony Bass entered Monday's series opener against the Cubs leading the majors in innings pitched by a reliever. The right-hander has thrown 18 innings over eight appearances and owns a 3.00 ERA.

"Obviously I've thrown a lot," Bass told MLB.com. "But I kinda like that. I've started and relieved. Most of my time in the minors, I've started. It's nothing new to me to kind of do something like that. But I think the team watches over how much I've thrown. Especially having two long guys in the bullpen now definitely helps, so my workload doesn't get to be too much."

Pirates pitcher Jeanmar Gomez will replace Jonathan Sanchez for Wednesday's start against the Brewers, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Sanchez will pitch out of the bullpen.

Gomez is 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA through five relief appearances.

Cardinals starter Shelby Miller turned in a decent outing but suffered his second loss of the season during Sunday's series finale against the Pirates.

Miller, who made his sixth start of the season, surrendered a solo home run to Russell Martin in the second and another solo shot to Jose Tabata in the fifth. The right-hander touched up for three runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings in a 9-0 defeat.

Miller has not allowed more than three runs in an outing. He has a 2.05 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. The 22-year-old is scheduled to start Friday at Milwaukee. He is 2-1 with a 2.00 ERA in three starts away from Busch Stadium.

Reds closer Aroldis Chapman finished off a 5-2 win Sunday against the Nationals for his fifth save. The left-hander issued a walk and struck out a batter in a scoreless ninth inning, lowering his ERA to 0.68.

Chapman has allowed one run in 12 1/3 innings, while striking out 21. He's issued just three walks.