MLB Player News

Weems (1-0) recorded a blown save and a win Tuesday against the Giants, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits in an inning of relief. He struck out one.

The right-hander entered a 3-1 game in the sixth inning and couldn't close the door, but the Nationals answered back with a go-ahead run in the top of the seventh. Weems has been solid in the early going, appearing in five of Washington's 11 games and posting a 1.80 ERA and 5:2 K:BB over five innings with two holds in addition to Tuesday's win.

Harvey was removed during his relief appearance in the eighth inning of Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Giants after being struck on the left hand by a comebacker, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

According to Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com, X-rays on Harvey's non-throwing hand came back negative after it was struck by a 95-mph line drive off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski. After the Nationals were able to hold on for the win, Harvey was credited with his fourth hold of the season, striking out one over two-thirds of an inning. With an off day on tap Thursday, the Nationals could elect to stay away from Harvey in Wednesday's series finale in San Francisco, but the right-hander appears likely to avoid a trip to the injured list.

Alcala (undisclosed) struck out two over a scoreless inning of relief in Tuesday's 6-3 loss to the Dodgers.

Per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com, Alcala dealt with some unspecified soreness coming out of his most recent relief appearance in Saturday's 3-1 loss to Cleveland, prompting the Twins to hold him out of Monday's series-opening 4-2 loss to Los Angeles. Alcala was able to play light catch Sunday without incident, and after returning to action Tuesday and delivering a solid outing, he looks to be good to go moving forward. The right-hander is off to an excellent start to the 2024 campaign, striking out six over 5.2 scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and two walks.

McGowan is on the development list with Double-A Reading.

He only threw 25.2 innings in the minors last season -- his first year back from April 2022 Tommy John surgery. This move is likely a maneuver to manage McGowan's workload this season, as he could have been placed on the injured list if he were hurt.

Fairbanks picked up the save Tuesday, allowing one run on two hits and a walk while striking out two during one inning against the Angels.

Fairbanks entered the contest with three runs of cushion but still gave fantasy managers a bit of a scare. He allowed a pair of singles -- one of which plated Aaron Hicks -- then walked Anthony Rendon to put runners on first and second with two outs when he struck out Miguel Sano. After being one of the more reliable closers in baseball last season, Fairbanks owns an awful 15.00 ERA through four appearances and could be losing his grip on the ninth-inning job after allowing at least one run three times to date.

Finnegan picked up the save Tuesday against San Francisco, allowing two hits and two walks over 1.1 scoreless innings with no strikeouts.

Finnegan got himself in plenty of trouble Tuesday, allowing back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs to start the ninth. With just two runs of cushion, it seemed like Finnegan was heading toward his second blown save of the season. However, he was able to get a force out at home on a fielder's choice and then got Matt Chapman to ground out into the game-ending double play. While fantasy managers have had to hold their breath during some of Finnegan's outings, he's received more save chances than expected thus far with the Nationals sitting just one game under .500.

Brown didn't factor into the decision Tuesday, allowing three hits and one walk over 4.2 scoreless innings against San Diego. He struck out five.

After coming out of the bullpen in his first two appearances, Brown took the ball for his first career start. He was held to just 77 pitches and isn't quite fully stretched out after throwing 44 and 52 pitches in his first two outings. However, after yielding six runs in 1.2 innings during his MLB debut, Brown has rebounded with one run allowed in his last 8.2 frames and seems to have the hold on Justin Steele's (hamstring) slot in the rotation. Brown's tentatively expected to take the mound Monday against the Diamondbacks for his next start.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy did not indicate any changes at closer after Leclerc blew a save Tuesday, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports. "We're just over a week here into the season," Bochy said. "These guys, with what they've done, no, I don't have concern."

The manager noted that Leclerc is healthy and suggested the right-hander is not yet "locked in." Leclerc has given up runs in four of five outings in addition to Tuesday's blown save, his first of the season.

Spiers allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks while striking out one over four relief innings in Tuesday's 9-5 loss to Milwaukee.

Spiers, who was called up Monday to replace Tejay Antone (elbow), was needed for a bullpen-saving stint. After the Reds had fallen behind, 9-1 in the seventh inning, the game was in the hands of Spiers, who had been part of the rotation at Triple-A Louisville.

Ginkel fired a perfect ninth in a 3-2 win over the Rockies on Tuesday to pick up his first save of the year. He struck out two.

Ginkel finally earned his first save of the year as the team's primary fill-in closer while Paul Sewald (oblique) is on the mend. The 30-year-old was able to bounce back after giving up runs in back-to-back outings. He has kept things pretty clean overall though with a 3.38 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 7:0 K:BB in 5.1 innings.