MLB Player News

Jax pitched a perfect ninth inning and struck out one to pick up his third save of the season Wednesday against the White Sox.

Jax seems to have taken hold of the closing job in place of Jhoan Duran, who's in the midst of a rehab assignment after suffering an oblique injury late in camp. Jax has twirled back-to-back perfect innings for a pair of saves and owns a 2.70 ERA with a 14:3 K:BB over 11 appearances (10 innings), but his run in the ninth inning will likely come to an end soon with Duran nearing activation.

Criswell (1-1) earned the win Wednesday over the Guardians, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out three over five scoreless innings.

Criswell was impressive in his second start this year, as he held the Guardians scoreless through five innings while throwing just 72 pitches en route to his first victory. The 27-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.38 on the season with a 1.15 WHIP and 7:2 K:BB across 11.1 innings. The Red Sox will likely continue to stretch out Criswell as a starter with Brayan Bello (lat), Nick Pivetta (elbow) and Garrett Whitlock (oblique) all on the IL. Criswell is currently lined up for a home matchup with the Giants early next week.

Henriquez will be optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

The 23-year-old reliever was selected from St. Paul on Monday to add depth to Minnesota's bullpen, but he will head back across the Mississippi River on Thursday to make room for Simeon Woods Richardson. In his first big-league stint of the season, Henriquez struck out two batters across two scoreless innings during his lone appearance.

McArthur earned the save Wednesday against Toronto, allowing one hit and no walks with two strikeouts over a scoreless inning.

McArthur converted on his sixth consecutive save chance, keeping the Blue Jays off the scoreboard after entering the game with the Royals ahead by one run. He's rebounded from a rocky start to 2024 and hasn't allowed a run since April 3 (eight appearances), with 11 strikeouts over 9.2 innings in that stretch.

Neris allowed a solo home run but still managed to secure the save in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Astros. He struck out one.

Neris started the frame by allowing a home run to Jose Altuve, but he rebounded to retire the next three batters and earn his second save of the season. With Adbert Alzolay out of the closer's role following four blown saves, Neris figures to see plenty of endgame opportunities in the near future for the 15-9 Cubs. If the veteran pitches well, he could hold onto the job for the rest of the season.

Iglesias blew the save Wednesday against the Marlins, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and no walks across one inning. He struck out one.

Iglesias was given two runs of cushion in the ninth but allowed three consecutive singles to open up the frame. With the bases loaded and no outs, a hard-hit groundball by Josh Bell ricocheted off Matt Olson into Atlanta's dugout, allowing two runs to score. The outing snapped Iglesias's streak of seven straight appearances with a save and it was just his second outing allowing a run in 10 appearances.

Sanchez didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against Atlanta, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk over 2.2 innings. He struck out three.

While the outing was Sanchez's first start since 2020, he operated in more of an opener capacity. He was shaky in the first inning, giving up a walk to Ronald Acuna and a single to Michael Harris to open up the game. With runners on first and third, Sanchez inexplicably tried a pick-off move to second base, allowing Acuna to score on a balk for the first score of a two-run inning. After giving up a run in each of his first four appearances this season, Sanchez looked to be turning the corner, posting three consecutive scoreless outings before Wednesday's poor start. In 10 innings, Sanchez owns a 7.20 ERA and 6:4 K:BB.

Vest (1-1) allowed three runs on three hits across an inning of work to take the loss Wednesday against the Rays. He struck out one.

Vest has been mostly good so far this season, though his ERA climbed from 1.64 to 3.75 with this clunker. The righty turned in a 2.98 ERA across 48 games last year, so this poor performance will likely just be a blip on the radar. Vest should remain locked into a high-leverage setup role for the Tigers, but his fantasy value is somewhat limited because he's not seeing save opportunities at the moment.

The Rangers recalled Anderson from Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Anderson has allowed four earned runs across two innings in the majors this season, and he'll now return to Texas with Austin Pruitt (knee) headed to the injured list. The 26-year-old right-hander figures to work exclusively in low-leverage situations while with the Rangers.

The Rangers placed Pruitt on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a right meniscus injury, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Pruitt has been touched four six earned runs across 4.1 innings in his first four appearances, and he'll now be sidelined for the two weeks due to problems with his knee. Grant Anderson was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock in a corresponding move.