MLB Player News

The Twins designated Blewett for assignment Saturday.

Blewett made two appearances after being selected from the minors, allowing one earned run while striking out five batters and walking none across 4.2 innings. Despite his strong performance, the Twins will move him to the minors and call up Kody Funderburk from Triple-A to fill the open spot in the bullpen.

Ginkel (shoulder) threw a bullpen session Friday, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

Ginkel, whose shoulder injury surfaced late in spring training, has thrown a couple of sessions and is ready to face live batters. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said it's likely that Ginkel will throw a rehab game before being activated.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Friday that Matz remains on track to start April 16 against the Astros as part of a six-man rotation, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

Matz will be available out of the bullpen this weekend against the Phillies, although maybe not for multiple innings since he has a start looming Wednesday. It's not yet clear how long the Cardinals plan to use a six-man rotation, but it sounds like Matz will be in line to make multiple starts. The left-hander has pitched well out of the bullpen so far this season, permitting three runs (two earned) with a 5:1 K:BB over 9.1 frames. Matz's high pitch count among his four appearances is 53, and that came back on April 4. He's thrown 16 and 11 pitches over his last two appearances, respectively, so he'll likely have workload limitations versus Houston.

Pagan struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning to collect his third save of the season in Friday's 5-3 win over the Pirates.

Friday's outing was exactly what Pagan needed to bounce back from his last appearance Wednesday, which saw him give up a walk-off home run against the Giants. He sent Endy Rodriguez and Ke'Bryan Hayes down on strikes, and Jack Suwinski ended things quickly with a flyout on the first pitch he saw. Pagan is still the only reliever in the Reds' bullpen with multiple saves, though he may not get many more ninth-inning chances with Alexis Diaz (hamstring) approaching a return from the IL.

Martin (0-2) took the loss Friday against the Mariners after giving up two runs on two hits in 1.1 innings. He struck out one without walking a batter.

Martin served up a go-ahead two-run homer to Cal Raleigh in the eighth inning, allowing the Mariners to score what were ultimately the winning runs. Although the veteran right-hander entered spring training as Texas' presumed favorite for saves, he's fallen behind Luke Jackson in the bullpen pecking order to open the campaign. Even so, Martin holds a 2.25 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 12:2 K:BB with four holds over eight innings this year, so he should remain in the high-leverage mix going forward.

Munoz picked up the save Friday against the Rangers after giving up one hit in a scoreless ninth inning. He struck out one.

Jonah Heim singled to bring the potential tying run to the plate, but Munoz was able to get Dustin Harris to strike out and Marcus Semien to ground into a double play to preserve the victory for the Mariners. The hard-throwing right-hander has been a lights-out closer to begin the campaign, having not yielded a run while converting each of his first five save chances to go with 10 punchouts over seven innings.

Kahnle allowed a run on three hits and struck out one without walking a batter over one inning to earn the save in Friday's 7-6 win over the Twins.

Kahnle gave up a run for the first time in five innings this season. Ty France connected for a two-out single in the ninth inning, but Kahnle got Mickey Gasper on a groundout to end the threat. Friday's outing wasn't the best show of Kahnle's early work, but he now has two saves with a 1.80 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and 5:0 K:BB this season. That's put him atop the Tigers' closer committee so far -- he's tied for the team lead with Brant Hurter with two saves, but Hurter's saves have been of the three-inning variety as a long reliever. Kahnle represents a decent speculative option for fantasy managers in search of saves, but the Tigers' bullpen could end up being one where the hot hand at any given time is the one getting the ninth-inning duties.

Finnegan earned the save in Friday's 7-4 win over the Marlins, allowing one hit while striking out a batter in a scoreless ninth inning.

Finnegan gave up a leadoff double to Otto Lopez, but the 33-year-old closer proceeded to fan Kyle Stowers before logging two straight groundouts to secure the win. Finnegan has registered a save in each of his last five outings, and he's allowed just one run on six hits and four walks while striking out six across 6.2 innings to begin the season.

Newcomb (0-2) allowed six runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out six over four innings to take the loss against the White Sox on Friday.

The Red Sox's defense committed five errors, but the mostly cost one came as part of the White Sox's four-run fourth inning. This got Newcomb's pitch count up to 94 (60 strikes), and the offense didn't bail him out. He's now failed to complete five innings in all three of his starts this season, posting a 4.97 ERA, 2.13 WHIP and 15:7 K:BB over 12.2 innings, and he'll continue to struggle as long as he's dealing with that much traffic on the bases. Newcomb is tentatively projected to remain in the rotation for one more turn, as Brayan Bello (shoulder) and Lucas Giolito (hamstring) could need one additional rehab start each. With that, Newcomb's next start is projected to be on the road versus the Rays.

Helsley earned the save after allowing one hit in a scoreless ninth inning Friday against the Phillies.

Trea Turner brought the possible tying run to the plate with a leadoff single, but Helsley quickly put out the next three batters he faced on just six pitches to protect a 2-0 victory. The hard-throwing right-hander has blown one save and has struggled with his control to begin the season, posting a 1.67 WHIP and 9:5 K:BB over six frames, but Helsley has given up just two runs and remains St. Louis' go-to weapon in save situations.