MLB Player News

The Nationals recalled Willingham from Triple-A Rochester on Friday, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

Willingham hasn't fared well in the majors this season, surrendering 14 runs in 14 innings out of the bullpen. Nonetheless, he'll come up from Triple-A to give Washington extra bullpen depth to close out the season.

Fulmer (forearm) will play catch Friday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Fulmer is less than a week removed from landing on the injured list with a right forearm strain, but he's made a swift recovery and is ready to do some throwing. The reliever has a chance to return when first eligible Sept. 10.

The Cubs selected Greene's contract from Triple-A Iowa on Friday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

The team has not yet announced a starter for the second game of Friday's doubleheader versus the Reds but it could be Greene, whose five appearances with Iowa were starts. He reached five innings in just one of those outings however, so Greene likely wouldn't pitch deep into the game.

Lee (shoulder) was activated from the 60-day injured list Friday, Grant McAuley of 92.9 The Game reports.

Lee had been out since May with left shoulder inflammation but is finally ready to go following a long rehab. He will provide Atlanta manager Brian Snitker with another southpaw in the bullpen.

Iglesias notched a save against the Dodgers on Thursday, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out one batter over one scoreless inning.

Iglesias entered in the bottom of the ninth with the daunting task of facing the top of Los Angeles' order while trying to protect a one-run lead. He was able to get Mookie Betts -- who homered twice in the game -- to fly out to deep right field before walking Freddie Freeman and giving up a hit to Will Smith. With the winning runs on base, Iglesias bounced back to retire Max Muncy and Enrique Hernandez to finish off the victory. The veteran closer hasn't blow a save since June 12 against Detroit, and since that time he's gone 17-for-17 in save opportunities while posting a 1.86 ERA and 40:7 K:BB over 29 frames.

Avila (0-2) took the loss against San Francisco on Thursday, allowing six runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out five batters over three innings.

Avila got through two scoreless innings having yielded just one hit before things fell apart for him in the third. Of the first six batters he faced, one struck out, three singled and two reached on errors by first baseman Matthew Batten. Avila was unable to recover from the defensive miscues behind him and ended up surrendering two more hits as the Giants put up six runs in the frame. The right-hander has lost both of his starts since moving into the rotation Aug. 26 but may continue to work in that role with Yu Darvish (elbow) recently going on the IL and Joe Musgrove (shoulder) still working his way back to action.

Manaea (5-5) earned the win in bulk relief against San Diego on Thursday, allowing one run on three hits and five walks while striking out two batters over 3.1 innings.

Jakob Junis opened for San Francisco and put up four scoreless, no-hit frames but didn't qualify for the win. That benefitted Manaea, who was credited with the victory as a result of following Junis with 3.1 decent frames of his own. The southpaw got the job done despite struggling to find the strike zone -- he threw just 49 of 86 pitches for strikes and walked a season-high five batters. Manaea has settled into a multi-inning relief role, going at least 2.2 (and no more than four) innings over his past five outings and posting a 3.71 ERA and 2-2 recording during that span.

Beck will start Friday's game versus the Padres, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Beck will be getting his second start in a row after he gave up three runs over 4.1 innings versus Atlanta on Sunday. The right-hander has often been available out of the bullpen this season, but the Giants could be shifting the way they manage their pitchers, with Beck taking over a rotation spot. While he'll be starting Friday, Beck has gone more than five innings just twice in 29 appearances this season, so it's still likely he won't qualify for the win.

Hudson (knee) is a "longshot" to return this season, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

The Dodgers have tried to keep the door open for Hudson to return this season, though it seems as if that hope is fading. Manager Dave Roberts relayed that Hudson threw a bullpen session recently but was still dealing with soreness in his knee. It's unclear whether he could make a return for the postseason, or if a return to start 2024 is most realistic.

Padres manager Bob Melvin said Suarez has dropped the appeal of his 10-game suspension and will begin serving it Thursday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Major League Baseball handed Suarez the 10-game punishment last week for allegedly having a foreign substance on his arm as he prepared to make a relief appearance against the Marlins. He will be unavailable for a string of crucial series versus the Giants, Phillies and Astros.