MLB Player News

Beeter walked one and struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning Thursday during a 2-1 loss to the Mets.

The right-hander was activated off the IL earlier in the day and was immediately thrust into a high-leverage spot, taking over from Cade Cavalli in a one-run game. Beeter has been sidelined since April 21 due to forearm soreness, but in his absence no one staked a strong claim to the Nationals' closer job -- Gus Varland leads the team with four saves to Beeter's two. Control remains the biggest obstacle between Beeter and the gig, and through 11.1 innings this season he has a 3.18 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 11:9 K:BB.

Williams credits a mechanical adjustment for his current 10-appearance scoreless streak, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.

The right-hander has suddenly regained the elite form he showed to begin his career in Milwaukee, where he posted a sub-2.00 ERA over three straight seasons before being traded to the Yankees in 2025. His new club had Williams adjust the position of his hands when he began his motion to the plate in an effort to combat perceived pitch tipping, but the end result was a 4.79 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 90:25 K:BB over 62 regular-season innings last year, and he eventually lost the closer job to David Bednar. Williams signed a three-year contract with the Mets this offseason, and after a shaky start to 2026, a video review session in late April prompted the 31-year-old to return to his original hand placement. Since then, he's converted five straight save chances over 9.2 shutout innings with a 12:2 K:BB.

Macko (1-0) gave up a hit and struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings of relief Thursday to record the win over the Yankees.

Braydon Fisher worked 1.1 scoreless frames as the opener before passing the torch to Macko in what ended up being a 2-0 combined shutout for the Blue Jays staff. It was the 25-year-old southpaw's first win in his third MLB appearance, and through three innings Macko has yet to give up a run while posting a 3:0 K:BB.

Lovelady will serve as the Nationals' opener in Friday's game versus Atlanta, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.

Lovelady has been used in a variety of roles by the Nats this season -- this will be his third opener assignment, but he has also collected three saves. The lefty will likely pitch just one inning before handing things off to Miles Mikolas, who is set to handle the bulk of the workload Friday.

Miles is viewed as purely a short-term option for the rotation by the Blue Jays, and manager John Schneider said after Thursday's game that the organization has "off ramps" in mind to return the right-hander to the bullpen, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports.

Toronto appears to have found a gem in the Rule 5 pick, as Miles has a 2.17 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 29:8 K:BB over his first 29 MLB innings. That's already more than double his prior career innings total as a professional, however, as the 25-year-old has struggled to stay healthy since being a fourth-round pick of the Giants in 2022. Miles is plugging a hole in the rotation for now, but the organization doesn't want to over-extend him, and the projected June returns of Max Scherzer (forearm/thumb/ankle) and Shane Bieber (elbow) would provide those "off ramps" to get the rookie back to a sheltered long-relief role.

Snead signed a minor-league contract with the Phillies on Saturday.

The Phillies assigned Snead to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and he made his organizational debut Thursday, striking out the lone batter he faced. The 31-year-old lefty holds a lifetime 5.09 ERA and 1.70 WHIP over 79 career appearances in the majors from 2021 through 2024 across stops with the Blue Jays, Athletics and Mariners.

The Red Sox selected Guerrero's contract from Triple-A Worcester on Friday.

Guerrero earned the promotion by collecting a 0.92 ERA and 22:6 K:BB over 19.2 innings while notching three saves with Worcester. If the hard-throwing righty makes an appearance out of the Boston bullpen, it will be his first at the major-league level since 2019.

Ginkel retired both batters he faced in the eighth inning of Thursday's 2-1 win over the Rockies.

Much of the focus after the win was on the sterling performance of starter Eduardo Rodriguez, as well as Corbin Carroll's walk-off single, but Ginkel made the latter possible. With one out in the eighth inning, Juan Morillo hit a batter with the bases loaded that tied the game. Ginkel took over and induced a pop-out to the catcher and a groundout to third base to escape the jam. It was the reliever's eighth scoreless outing over his last nine appearances, during which he's allowed four hits and two walks while striking out nine over 7.1 innings. With Paul Sewald holding down the closer job, there isn't much opportunity for Ginkel to pick up saves, but his 3.20 ERA in 2026 is making last season (7.36) look like an outlier.

Coulombe (neck) allowed one run and recorded two outs for Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

The outing was Coulombe's second while on rehab with the WooSox, and the Red Sox haven't yet determined if he needs another appearance. His return could spell the end of Rule 5 pick Ryan Watson's time on Boston's roster.

Joyce (shoulder) is currently conducting his rehab program at the Angels' complex in Arizona, MLB.com reports.

Joyce had a minor-league rehab stint halted in mid-May after four appearances due to less-than-optimal recovery. He got an MRI, which came back clean, and was subsequently moved to the 60-day injured list. That transaction won't necessarily push back Joyce's return date dramatically, but he'll presumably need to resume a rehab assignment before he's ready to be activated. At this point, Joyce seems unlikely to rejoin the big-league club before June.