MLB Player News

Santana (ankle) will report to Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday to begin a rehab assignment.

Santana has been on the shelf since Aug. 4 with a left ankle sprain, so he'll presumably only need one or two appearances in the minors to get ramped up before Texas brings him back from the injured list. Prior to being deactivated, Santana appeared in 46 games out of the bullpen and turned in a 5.09 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 33:18 K:BB across 40.2 innings.

The Rangers optioned King to Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday.

King will lose his spot on the 26-man active roster and in the Texas bullpen after Matt Moore (personal) was reinstated from the bereavement list. During his week-long stay with Texas, King appeared in two games and gave up two earned runs on three hits while striking out two over 3.1 innings.

The Rangers reinstated Moore (personal) from the bereavement list Thursday.

After a three-day stint on the paternity list, Moore was moved to the bereavement list Wednesday so he could spend an extra day with his wife and newborn child. Now ready to rejoin the Rangers for Thursday's series finale, Moore should settle back into a late-inning role in the bullpen.

Atlanta optioned Tarnok to Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.

One of the organization's top pitching prospects, Tarnok was summoned from Triple-A earlier this week despite having made only five starts for Gwinnett following his mid-July promotion from Double-A Mississippi. Atlanta was likely just keeping Tarnok on hand as an insurance option in case neither Max Fried (concussion) or Kyle Wright (arm) was able to start this week, but Fried will take the hill for Thursday's series finale with the Mets, while Wright will go Friday against Houston. Tarnok at least received the chance to make his MLB debut out of the bullpen Wednesday, working two-thirds of an inning and striking out a batter in Atlanta's 9-7 loss.

Garcia (2-4) picked up the win in Wednesday's 6-1 victory over the Orioles, striking out one in a perfect two-thirds of an inning.

The right-hander relieved Ross Stripling with one out in the seventh inning of a scoreless tie, and Garcia wound up as the pitcher of record when the Blue Jays offense erupted in the bottom half of the frame. The right-hander continues to work in a setup role for Toronto, and since the All-Star break he has five holds in 10 appearances along with a 2.79 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 10:5 K:BB through 9.2 innings.

Barlow allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one in one inning in Wednesday's 7-2 loss to Oakland.

Barlow, the Rangers' one-time closer, returned from a month-long absence due to a blister. He was given a soft re-entry, pitching the sixth inning with Texas down, 3-1. Since his injury, the Rangers have installed Jonathan Hernandez as the closer.

Voth didn't factor into the decision in Wednesday's 6-1 loss to the Blue Jays, scattering two hits and a walk over six scoreless innings while striking out three.

Good as Voth was, Ross Stripling was even better, and the Toronto right-hander took a perfect game into the seventh inning. The quality start was Voth's first of the season -- in fact, this was the first time he's completed six innings since moving into the Baltimore rotation. Over his last 10 appearances (nine starts and a relief outing), the 30-year-old sports a 2.79 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 37:11 K:BB through 42 innings.

The Rays plan to call up Patino from Triple-A Durham to start Thursday's game against the Royals in Tampa Bay, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Tampa Bay isn't known to be dealing with any injuries or expected absences to any members of its current five-man rotation, so it's possible that manager Kevin Cash just wanted to break in another starting pitcher with the Rays in the midst of a stretch of 17 games in 17 days. Patino will be making his fourth appearance for Tampa Bay in 2022, with the right-hander having thus far spent a considerable portion of the season on the injured list due to a significant oblique strain. He's generally looked good across his last three outings at Durham, accruing a 3.72 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 12:4 K:BB across 9.2 innings.

Abbott did not factor into the decision against the Cubs on Wednesday, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out five and walking one over six innings.

Abbott threw 57 of 83 pitches for strikes across six frames for his first quality start of the year. Abbott has been a mixed bag since becoming a starter for the Nationals. He shined in his starting debut earlier this month, lasting five innings and not allowing a run, but is next two starts resulted in 10 earned runs over 7.2 innings, so turning in a quality start is a good sign that the young righty may be figuring things out. He will take a 5.16 ERA into his next outing.

Melancon earned a save against the Giants on Wednesday, striking out one batter in a perfect inning.

Melancon came on in the ninth inning to protect a one-run lead, and he was able to retire the side on just nine pitches. A wild pitch on a strikeout allowed the first batter he faced to reach base, but that was quickly wiped out by a double-play grounder. Since blowing a save Aug. 1 against Cleveland, Melancon has converted three straight save opportunities while giving up only one run over five innings. He and Ian Kennedy have alternated the past six successful saves for Arizona and appear to be locked into the top spots in a closer committee.