MLB Player News

The Astros outrighted Montero to Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday.

After he was designated for assignment Wednesday, Montero unsurprisingly went unclaimed off waivers, given that he's in the second season of a three-year, $34.5 million contract. Montero would have forfeited the money remaining on the contract had he elected free agency, so he'll stick around in the Houston organization and look to impress at Sugar Land with the hope of earning another look in the big-league bullpen. The 33-year-old had appeared in 41 games for the Astros this season, registering 10 holds with a 4.70 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 23:19 K:BB across 38.1 innings.

Smith (6-1) struck out three over 1.2 perfect innings to earn the win Friday over the Orioles.

Carlos Carrasco covered only 4.1 innings, and Smith was able to vulture a win with another strong performance. This outing extended Smith's scoreless streak to 16 innings over his last 13 appearances, and he's allowed just six hits and two walks while striking out 25 in that span. For the season, he's at a 1.86 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 74:11 K:BB, and he's backed up those stellar numbers with a 1.42 FIP and 2.34 xERA that suggest his results are mostly earned.

Faucher (2-3) blew the save and took the loss Friday against Atlanta, getting tagged for three runs on three hits and two walks in the eighth inning. He struck out one.

Manager Skip Schumaker continues to play it coy when it comes to the Marlins' closer situation in the wake of the Tanner Scott trade. After rookie Valente Bellozo gave the team five innings as the starter, Anthony Bender worked the sixth, Andrew Nardi the seventh and then Faucher the eighth, leaving open the question of who would have gotten the ninth had Faucher not coughed up a 3-2 lead. The blown save was Faucher's third of the year against two successful conversions, and Friday's implosion was the first time he's been charged with multiple earned runs since June 17. The situation could be headed for a committee, but at least so far, Schumaker has been willing to deploy Nardi and Bender earlier in the game in key spots.

Little (1-1) picked up the win Friday over the Yankees, giving up a hit and striking out two in 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Entering the game in the sixth inning, Little wound up getting credited with his first career major-league win after Kevin Gausman failed to last the minimum five frames to qualify. The 27-year-old southpaw has been a reliable option in the Toronto bullpen over the last month-plus, posting a 2.45 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 9:5 K:BB in 11 innings since the beginning of July with five holds in 13 appearances.

Bummer (3-2) picked up the win Friday over the Marlins, allowing one hit and striking out two in a scoreless eighth inning.

Entering the game with Atlanta down 3-2, the southpaw gave up a leadoff single to Xavier Edwards and watched the shortstop steal second base, but Bummer then proceeded to shut down what passes for the heart of the Miami order, including a strikeout of cleanup hitter Jonah Bride. Bummer has a 1.74 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 16:1 K:BB through 10.1 innings since the beginning of July, but Atlanta's deep bullpen keeps him out of consistent fantasy-friendly usage -- he has zero saves or holds on the season.

Green struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning Friday to record his eighth save of the season in an 8-5 win over the Yankees.

Facing the top of New York's order, Green needed 16 pitches to sit down Alex Verdugo, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in a very impressive performance. The right-hander appears set as the Blue Jays' closer for the rest of the season unless Jordan Romano is able to make a late return from arthroscopic surgery on his elbow, and Green has earned the role by posting a 1.84 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and 16:5 K:BB through 14.2 innings since the beginning of July while converting all six of his save chances.

Holmes is slated to start Saturday's game against the Marlins.

Holmes had made his first 10 MLB appearances out of the Atlanta bullpen, but he was called upon for a start in Monday's game against the Brewers. He took a no-decision in Atlanta's 8-3 loss, covering five innings and striking out eight while allowing just one run on three hits and no walks. The performance was enough to earn Holmes a second turn through the rotation, but he could be at risk of heading back to the bullpen as soon as next week if both Max Fried (forearm) and Reynaldo Lopez (forearm) are ready to make starts.

Ortiz escaped with a no-decision in Friday's 9-8 loss to the Diamondbacks, coughing up six runs on six hits -- including three home runs -- and three walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out two.

All three long balls came in the first inning, as Ketel Marte, Joc Pederson and Josh Bell went back-to-back-to-back as part of a five-run frame. It's the first time since June 21 that Ortiz has served up multiple homers, and over six appearances between those two games he'd posted a 1.71 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 27:6 K:BB through 31.2 innings. With Jared Jones (lat) inching closer to a return though, Ortiz likely can't afford more meltdowns if he wants to hang onto his spot in the rotation. He's scheduled to make his next start at home next week against the Padres.

Puk allowed one run on three hits over one-third of an inning in Friday's 9-8 win over the Pirates.

Puk entered to clean up a mess made by Kevin Ginkel in the sixth inning but couldn't prevent the Pirates from taking the lead. Both Puk and Ginkel were speculated as options to close out games after manager Torey Lovullo announced earlier in the day that Paul Sewald would no longer be the club's closer. Ryan Thompson eventually closed out the win after Arizona retook the lead, but Lovullo, who did not specifically name a replacement for Sewald, trusts all three of those relievers.

Ginkel allowed three runs on one hit, one walk and a hit batsman over two-thirds of an inning in Friday's 9-8 win over the Pirates.

Ginkel entered in the sixth inning with Arizona up 6-3 and by the time he and A.J. Puk finished the frame, the Diamondbacks were down 7-6. This came on the day that manager Torey Lovullo announced Paul Sewald would no longer be the team's closer, which led to speculation about both Ginkel and Puk as options to close games. Ryan Thompson eventually closed the win, but Lovullo never mentioned a specific player as Sewald's direct replacement. The manager has a number of arms he trusts, including Ginkel.