MLB Player News

Triple-A Buffalo reinstated Danner (undisclosed) from the 60-day injured list Wednesday.

Danner missed two months while recovering from an undisclosed injury, but he finished up a rehab assignment with Single-A Dunedin on Aug. 10 and has pitched well in two relief appearances for Triple-A Buffalo. The right-hander has allowed one unearned run on one hit while walking two and striking out three over two innings.

Triple-A Round Rock activated Church (shoulder) from the 60-day injured list Thursday. He's since made two appearances out of the bullpen for Round Rock, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and no walks over two innings.

Church was placed on the 7-day injured list April 18 due to a right shoulder strain and was transferred to the 60-day IL on May 1. He made a rehab appearance with High-A Hickory on Aug. 11 before getting the green light to rejoin the Round Rock bullpen. Church retains a spot on the Rangers' 40-man roster, but a promotion to the big leagues wouldn't seem to be imminent, given how much time he's missed this season.

Triple-A Norfolk reinstated Avila (undisclosed) from the 7-day injured list Tuesday.

The Orioles claimed Avila off waivers from the Giants on June 17, but he was immediately placed on Norfolk's IL due to an injury that dated back to his time with the San Francisco organization. He was cleared to begin a rehab assignment July 21 with High-A Aberdeen, and after making six appearances with the affiliate, Avila rejoined Norfolk last week. Avila has had a rough go in his first three outings with Norfolk, recording just four outs while allowing 10 earned runs on nine hits and three walks.

Hendriks (elbow) is expected to have his rehab assignment transferred to Double-A Portland in the coming days, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Hendriks tossed a scoreless inning out of the bullpen with Triple-A Worcester on Sunday and he will now shift to face Double-A competition for his next few outings. The right-hander reported that he felt good after his first appearance and he'll continue to build up towards a potential return to the major-league bullpen in early September.

Foster was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte on Monday.

Foster was reinstated from the 60-day injured list Friday after making a full recovery from Tommy John surgery, and he'll be sent to work in the minors after making one appearance with the big club. He tossed a scoreless frame Friday against Houston, collecting one strikeout and a hold in the process.

The Rays placed Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list Monday due to a right lat strain.

Fairbanks sustained the injury in Sunday's outing against Arizona, when he allowed three runs on three hits and one walk across 0.2 innings. The full results of his MRI on Monday haven't been announced, but a severe lat strain would likely end the 30-year-old's season. Fairbanks has gone 23-for-27 on save opportunities this year with a 3.57 ERA and 1.17 WHIP across 45.1 innings. Colin Poche, Edwin Uceta and Manuel Rodriguez are nominally the favorites to see save opportunities with Fairbanks sidelined, but manager Kevin Cash's deployment of his high-leverage options has been notoriously hard to predict when the Rays haven't had a set closer. Joel Kuhnel was recalled from Triple-A Durham to add depth to Tampa Bay's bullpen.

The Rays recalled Kuhnel from Triple-A Durham on Monday, Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports Sun reports.

Kuhnel has four scoreless relief innings under his belt with the Rays this season and has also spent time in the majors this year with the Brewers and Astros, although he didn't make an appearance for Milwaukee. He'll pitch in low-leverage situations.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday that Kopech is "gassed" and will be held out from pitching for a few days, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

During Kopech's successful save against St. Louis on Sunday, he averaged 96.7 miles per hour on his 10 fastballs, two ticks below his season average of 98.7 mph. Roberts acknowledged after the contest that he has deployed the righty reliever more often than the White Sox did prior to the deal between the two teams at the trade deadline and suggested that Kopech isn't physically injured but will be held out a few games for rest purposes. Kopech pitched three times in four days from Thursday to Sunday, though he was relatively efficient with a total of 40 pitches during that span. If he is indeed uninjured, Kopech will likely be back to working in high leverage for the Dodgers before the end of the week and should continue to see frequent chances in a closing role. He's notched a save in both of his past two appearances and has posted 9.1 scoreless innings with a 13:1 K:BB and just one hit allowed over nine appearances since joining Los Angeles.

The Pirates recalled Stratton from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.

Stratton was sent down to Triple-A on Aug. 9, but he returns to the 26-man roster Monday at the expense of Ryder Ryan, who was designated for assignment. After a rough start to the 2024 season, Stratton hadn't allowed a run in 7.1 innings out of the Pittsburgh bullpen before he was placed on the IL.

The Pirates designated Ryan for assignment Monday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.

Ryan will lose his spot on the 40-man roster for the second time in three weeks as part of a flurry of roster moves by Pittsburgh on Monday. The 29-year-old appeared in two games during this stint in the majors, allowing three runs across 3.2 innings. He has a 5.66 ERA in 20.2 innings for Pittsburgh this season.