MLB Player News

The Rays placed Cleavinger on the 15-day injured list Saturday due to left forearm tightness, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The 32-year-old southpaw may have picked up the injury during Friday's outing against the Rangers, when he allowed two runs on two hits (including a home run) and a walk while failing to record an out. He's eligible to return from the IL on Sept. 20, and he expressed confidence Saturday that he would pitch again this season, per Ryan Bass of Rays.tv. Right-hander Ty Johnson had his contract selected from Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move.

The Blue Jays recalled Tiedemann from Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday.

Tiedemann was optioned to Triple-A on Friday, but he's back with the big club after Jameson Taillon (elbow) was placed on the 15-day injured list. Tiedemann made his major-league debut Aug. 15 against the Yankees and made a second appearance with the Blue Jays on Tuesday against the Guardians, when he walked two batters in one scoreless inning.

The Angels signed Anderson to a minor-league contract Friday and assigned him to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Anderson was DFA'd by the Angels on Aug. 30 and elected to enter free agency Wednesday, but the veteran right-hander will remain with the Halos in the team's minor-league system. Anderson has appeared in 17 games (six starts) for Salt Lake this season, posting a 4.95 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 47:21 K:BB over 43.2 innings.

The Cubs recalled Assad from Triple-A Iowa ahead of his start Saturday against Miami, Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Assad has put up a 3.46 ERA and 1.10 WHIP across 83.1 innings in the big leagues this season and has given up four runs in nine innings since being sent down to Triple-A in late August. He'll now return to the majors to pitch against a Marlins offense that's put up a .677 OPS in the last two weeks, and he could stick around in the Cubs' rotation if he delivers another strong performance. Tyler Ferguson was optioned to Iowa in a corresponding move.

The Cubs optioned Ferguson to Triple-A Iowa on Saturday, Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Ferguson gave up one run in 1.2 innings during his lone appearance after coming up from Iowa on Tuesday. He'll now head back to the minors to make room for Javier Assad, who was recalled to start Saturday's game against the Marlins.

The Giants optioned Walker to Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Walker will lose his place in San Francisco's bullpen to make room for Joel Kuhnel, who was claimed off waivers from Milwaukee on Friday. Walker has struggled to a 7.16 ERA and 1.81 WHIP in 32.2 big-league innings this season and could spend the rest of the year at Triple-A.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol indicated Friday that Graceffo is under consideration to make a start during next week's series in San Francisco, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The qualifier is that the Cardinals will have to first get through a weekend series at Coors Field without needing to use Graceffo out of the bullpen, which is easier said than done. A midseason pitch mix change has unlocked Graceffo, who has logged a 2.22 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 31:11 K:BB over 28.1 innings since ditching his curveball for a new slider. He threw three perfect innings with four strikeouts while starting a bullpen game last week versus the Orioles, and the righty has since added an additional five scoreless frames with a 9:1 K:BB over two subsequent outings. Graceffo threw a season-high 48 pitches his last time out, so he should be capable of around 50-to-60 pitches next week if he does wind up making a spot start.

Fedde (8-8) earned the win Friday, allowing three hits and two walks over five scoreless innings against Minnesota. He struck out two.

Fedde recorded his second straight outing with five innings pitched and a win. The right-hander was relieved in the sixth by Hagen Smith after logging 83 pitches (47 strikes). The 33-year-old Fedde has posted a 4.00 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 90:47 K:BB in 128.1 innings this season. He is projected to make his next start Thursday against Pittsburgh.

Williams did not factor into the decision in Friday's 7-6 loss to Tampa Bay, registering a perfect inning while striking out two.

Williams was called on to start his first game of the season in his second outing with the Rangers on Friday. The 34-year-old struck out both Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero en route to a clean first inning before handing the ball off to the bullpen. The right-hander now owns a 3.72 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 25:7 K:BB over 19.1 innings between the Rays and Nationals this season.

Wells registered a perfect ninth inning Friday to record his sixth save of the season in a 7-6 win over Texas.

Wells recorded his sixth straight appearance without an earned run allowed, and his 15th in his last 16 outings. The right-hander was called on with no outs and two runners on in the ninth after Bryan Baker (illness) failed to record an out. In 11 games with Tampa Bay, Wells owns a 1.93 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 13:4 K:BB and two saves over 14 innings.