MLB Player News

Graterol struck out two batters in a perfect inning against Milwaukee on Monday.

Graterol's first outing in six weeks went about as smoothly as possible, as he threw 11 of 14 pitches for strikes, fanned two of the three batters he faced and hit 100 mph on the radar gun, per Sarah Wexler of MLB.com. The fireballing reliever is set to immediately resume a high-leverage role in the Dodgers' bullpen, and he could even see an occasional save opportunity given Craig Kimbrel's recent struggles.

The Cubs selected Assad's contract from Triple-A Iowa ahead of his scheduled start in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader with the Cardinals, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Outfielder Jason Heyward (knee) was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day injured list to clear room on the 40-man roster for Assad, who will be making his MLB debut Tuesday. Assad will likely just be in line for a spot start before heading back to Iowa, though he could change the Cubs' plans for him if he fares better than expected against a hot-hitting St. Louis lineup. Over his 36.2 innings at Iowa since receiving a promotion from Double-A Tennessee earlier this summer, Assad produced a 2.95 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 37:7 K:BB.

The Cubs selected Padilla's contract from Triple-A Iowa ahead of Tuesday's doubleheader with the Cardinals, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Padilla will serve as the Cubs' 27th man Tuesday, joining the team's bullpen after posting a 1.69 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 14 strikeouts over 10.2 innings in seven games with Triple-A this season. The right-hander will likely return to Iowa following Tuesday's action.

The Orioles released Diplan on Aug. 6.

Diplan was cut loose after Triple-A Norfolk needed to make room on its pitching staff for left-handed prospect Kevin Smith, who was promoted from Double-A Bowie earlier this month. Before being cast off Baltimore's 40-man roster in July, Diplan made five appearances out of the big-league bullpen this season and gave up one earned run over 5.2 innings.

Mayers is scheduled to start Wednesday's game at Tampa Bay, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Mayers is presumably stepping into the rotation spot of Touki Toussaint, who could work out of the bullpen for the time being after being blasted for four earned runs on three hits and four walks in 2.2 innings in his last start Aug. 17 against the Mariners. In that same game, Mayers came on in long relief and wasn't any more effective, as he yielded five earned runs on six hits -- including three home runs -- and a walk while striking out four over 5.1 innings. Mayers tossed 96 pitches in that outing, so he'll be sufficiently stretched out as he steps into the rotation.

Alexy (1-0) allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one over 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win over the Twins on Monday.

Alexy made his first appearance since being called up late last week. He's shifted to a long-relief role after being groomed as a starter. The results have been slightly better since the transition -- a 4.57 ERA out of the bullpen compared to 6.86 as a starter -- but it's uncertain if the 24-year-old right-hander will remain a reliever.

Oller (2-6) took the loss against Miami on Monday, allowing three runs on five hits and five walks while striking out two batters over six innings.

Oller was in trouble for much of his outing -- he allowed at least one baserunner in each of his first five innings before finally retiring the side in order in the sixth -- but he did relatively well in holding the Marlins to three runs. However, Edward Cabrera tossed a gem for Miami, and Oller was therefore stuck with the loss. The Oakland right-hander continued a recent trend of issuing too many free passes, as his five walks were a season high and marked the third time in his past four outings he has walked at least three batters. Oller does have consecutive quality starts for the first time this season, but he'll need to show better control to win games consistently.

Scott allowed one hit and struck out one batter over one inning Monday to earn a save over the Athletics.

Edward Cabrera tossed another scoreless outing for Miami, and he turned the ball over to Scott with the Marlins leading by three runs in the ninth. The closer gave up a one-out single to Sean Murphy but didn't really face much stress in registering the save. Scott is prone to the occasional blowup, but he's been pretty good of late, succeeding on six of his past seven save chances and striking out 12 batters over 9.1 innings during that stretch. However, he's also walked seven hitters during that period, highlighting the most significant flaw in his game this season.

Bellatti walked one batter and struck out two in a scoreless inning while earning a save over the Reds on Monday.

Bellatti worked around a leadoff walk to finish the 4-1 win with little issue. It was his second save of the year and first since June 26. The 31-year-old lowered his ERA to 3.76 through 45 appearances. Bellatti is one of several Phillies that are expected to see some ninth-inning work while Seranthony Dominguez (triceps) is out.

Moore struck out one in a perfect inning to pick up the save Monday against the Twins.

The Rangers turned to the southpaw for his third save of the season. Moore has excelled in his first season as a full-time reliever, as he owns a 2.05 ERA which would be the best mark of his career and first time under 4.00 since 2014. Despite earning the save Monday (which was his first since July 28), the veteran appears to be in a closer-by-committee situation, as the Rangers have 10 relievers with at least one save this season.