MLB Player News

The Rays placed Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list Monday with left hip inflammation, Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports Sun reports.

The move is retroactive to May 28, leaving Fairbanks eligible for activation June 12. It's unclear at this point whether he will be ready at that time, however. With Fairbanks on the IL for the second time this month, Jason Adam will move to the top of the Rays' bullpen pecking order.

Rodriguez was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on Monday.

Rodriguez will head back to Triple-A after being called up Saturday, pitching two scoreless innings while allowing one hit and walk with a strikeout in Sunday's 11-4 win over the Phillies. His return to Gwinnett opens a roster spot for Michael Soroka, who is set to make his season debut with Atlanta on Monday.

Boxberger (forearm) will play catch again Monday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Tests on Boxberger's right forearm came back negative for structural damage and he's slowly ramping things back up with a game of catch for the second day in a row. He'll progress to the mound and will probably need a rehab appearance or two before rejoining the Cubs' bullpen.

Helsley (3-4) blew the save and took the loss Sunday against the Guardians, allowing two runs on one hit and two walks over two-thirds of an inning. He didn't record a strikeout.

Helsley pitched 1.1 scoreless innings Saturday en route to a win and was called upon Sunday to secure the save, as Giovanny Gallegos was likely unavailable after appearing five times over the past nine days. Helsley struggled with the top of Cleveland's order and blew his first save since April 25. The right-hander already has four blown saves this season, which ties his mark from last year. Despite the poor outing, Helsley has been strong in May, posting a 2.77 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 16:6 K:BB over 11 appearances (13.0 innings).

Bradford was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Monday.

Bradford produced a strong outing Sunday, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out five over five innings in a spot start versus the Orioles. With Dane Dunning (personal) due back from the paternity list and set to reclaim his spot in the Texas rotation Wednesday, Bradford will now head back to Round Rock, where he has compiled a sparkling 0.99 ERA and 0.93 WHIP with 42 strikeouts over 45.1 innings in eight starts. Grant Anderson had his contract selected from Triple-A on Monday and will replace Bradford on the major-league roster.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy said Bradford showed better command in Sunday's start, his second in the majors, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports. "He had the changeup going, and I thought his breaking ball was better too," the manager said.

Bradford bounced back from a rough introduction to the majors May 15 and arguably could have had a better result Sunday. He allowed two runs in the first inning, which included pop-up single by Cedric Mullins that had an expected batting average of .030. Bradford showed mettle in putting that inning behind him and retired the 13 of the final 15 batters.

The Rangers selected Anderson's contract from Triple-A Round Rock on Monday.

Anderson will join the Rangers after he posted a 3.80 ERA and 1.04 WHIP with 38 strikeouts over 21.1 innings in 11 appearances -- including one start -- with Round Rock this season. The right-hander will be added to the big-league bullpen, replacing Cody Bradford on the major-league roster after Bradford was optioned to Triple-A. Ricky Vanasco was designated for assignment Monday to open up a spot for Anderson on the 40-man roster.

Diaz struck out the side and allowed a hit in a scoreless ninth inning Sunday against the Cubs to secure his 12th save of the season.

Diaz was summoned to protect a three-run lead and required 23 pitches to work around a one-out base knock from Dansby Swanson. The 26-year-old has racked up multiple strikeouts in three straight outings and has done so in seven of his 10 appearances in May. He's allowed just one run over 11.2 innings and has piled up eight saves this month alone. Diaz now sits at a 1.74 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 40:10 K:BB over 20.2 innings and is starting to assert himself as one of the more dominant relivers in baseball right now.

Pivetta allowed two hits and struck out three over three scoreless relief innings in Sunday's 4-2 loss to Arizona.

The Diamondbacks tattooed starter Tanner Houck and were in position to run away, but Pivetta gave the Red Sox a chance to come back with his best relief appearance since moving to the bullpen. In three outings as a reliever, Pivetta has a 3.24 ERA with nine strikeouts and zero walks over 8.1 innings.

Guardians manager Terry Francona said over the weekend that Morris (lat) will be built up to three innings during his rehab assignment before the organization decides whether he'll serve as a starter or reliever upon returning from the 60-day injured list, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

Morris, who is working back from a right lat strain, covered 1.2 scoreless innings in his second rehab outing with Double-A Akron on Sunday, so he'll presumably make at least one more appearance in the minors before the Guardians solidify their plan for him moving forward. Though the 26-year-old right-hander has been working as a starter up to this point in his development, the Guardians are already flush with rotation depth and will get Aaron Civale (oblique) and Triston McKenzie (shoulder) back from the IL within the next week or two. With that in mind, the bullpen likely represents the clearer path for Morris to pitch with the big club at this time, though it's possible the Guardians choose to option him to Triple-A Columbus at the conclusion of his rehab assignment to have him continue to make regular starts and stay ready in case injuries hit the big-league rotation down the road.