MLB Player News

Kelley was optioned to Triple-A Nashville on Wednesday.

Kelley spent a week in the Brewers' bullpen and allowed two hits and a walk while striking out two in two scoreless innings against the Dodgers on Tuesday. However, he'll head back to the minors after Adrian Houser (elbow) was reinstated from the injured list ahead of Wednesday's start.

Holderman was diagnosed with right shoulder discomfort following his appearance in Wednesday's game against Atlanta, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

The injury likely explains why Holderman was woefully ineffective Wednesday, as he failed to record an out and was charged with five earned runs on three hits and a walk. The Pirates are labeling Holderman as day-to-day, but a trip to the injured list could be in the forecast if he doesn't show significant improvement heading into the weekend.

The Red Sox optioned Winckowski to Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday.

For the second time in a week, Winckowski will be sent back to the minors after giving up exactly six earned runs in a start. His latest outing came Tuesday, when he was lifted after just two innings while entering the rotation for the injured Nathan Eovaldi (shoulder). Brayan Bello (groin) was activated from the 15-day injured list in advance of his start Wednesday and looks poised to fill Eovaldi's spot in the rotation moving forward now that Winckowski is out of the picture.

The Athletics claimed Cyr off waivers from the Phillies on Wednesday and optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Cyr made his MLB debut with the Phillies last weekend before being pushed off the 40-man roster, but since he still has three minor-league options remaining, he'll head to Las Vegas. Prior to getting his brief cup of coffee in Philadelphia, the 29-year-old reliever posted a 2.50 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 37:18 K:BB across 36 innings at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Stephan has posted a 1.42 ERA and 1.34 WHIP while collecting eight holds in 13 appearances since the All-Star break.

Stephan has racked up an impressive 23:3 K:BB in that span, and he's kept opponents off the board in 11 of those 13 outings. One of the keys to his success has been an improvement with his splitter -- per Statcast, he's throwing it 27 percent of the time this year compared to 8.1 percent in 2021. It's been effective, limiting opponents to a .141 batting average and .156 slugging percentage. That's allowed the right-hander to post a 2.44 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 62:12 K:BB, 13 holds and two saves through 48 innings while emerging as a setup man to top-tier closer Emmanuel Clase.

Sandlin (5-2) struck out two in 1.1 perfect innings to earn the win Tuesday over the Padres.

After starter Aaron Civale fell one out shy of qualifying for the win, Sandlin struck out Jorge Alfaro to end the fifth inning and then retired the side in the sixth to preserve the Guardians' lead. This extended Sandlin's scoreless run to 13.1 innings, a span in which he has a 14:1 K:BB. The right-hander's strong pitching hasn't led to a more prominent role yet -- he hasn't logged a save or a hold during the streak, though he took one blown save for allowing an inherited runner to score. For the season, Sandlin has a 2.18 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 29:19 K:BB while adding five holds through 33 innings.

Staumont (3-3) took the loss Tuesday versus Arizona, allowing four runs on three hits and three walks with one strikeout in 1.1 innings.

Staumont has given up at least one run in five of his eight appearances in August, with Tuesday's outing being one of the worst this month. He entered with the game tied at 1-1 in the seventh inning and yielded a sacrifice fly. He remained in the game to begin the eighth, but was charged with all three of Arizona's runs in that frame after Luke Weaver struggled to contain the mess. Staumont's bad month has him up to a 6.45 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and 43:29 K:BB through 37.2 innings this year. He hasn't logged a hold since June 21 -- his last appearance before missing nearly a month with a neck injury -- so it's fair to question if he's even in the high-leverage mix at this stage. The Royals' bullpen has a collective 4.76 ERA, so there are few better options to serve as setup man to closer Scott Barlow.

Honeywell (elbow) allowed three earned runs on three hits while recording two strikeouts over one inning in Triple-A Las Vegas' loss to Sugar Land on Tuesday.

Making his rehab debut with the Aviators, Honeywell didn't fare well with the boost in competition. The right-hander did pound 17 of his 21 pitches in for strikes, but he gave up a solo home run to Korey Lee and a two-run shot to Yainer Diaz to account for the damage against him. Honeywell is expected to retake the mound for Las Vegas by the weekend, where the organization will undoubtedly be looking for him to show an ability to miss more bats.

Yacabonis cleared waivers Saturday and was outrighted to Triple-A Durham.

After being scooped up off waivers from the Marlins on Aug. 4, Yacabonis surrendered five runs (four earned) in 3.2 innings over his four appearances with the Rays before being pushed off the 40-man roster. He's expected to serve as a multi-inning reliever as he heads to Durham.

Payamps, just activated Monday after being claimed off waivers Saturday, fired two scoreless innings during which he allowed two hits and recorded two strikeouts in a loss to the Marlins on Tuesday.

Payamps labored some, needing a total of 39 pitches to record his six outs. The 28-year-old is highly capable of handling multi-inning assignments such as Tuesday's on a regular basis, having averaged well over one frame per relief appearance during his 29 outings with the Royals prior to his release.