MLB Player News

  • Brant Hurter P | DET

    Tigers' Brant Hurter: Another three-inning save Tuesday

    Hurter picked up the save in Tuesday's 5-0 win over the Yankees, tossing three scoreless innings while allowing two hits and a walk. He struck out three.

    Hurter entered in the seventh protecting a 5-0 lead and went on to blank the Yankees for another three innings. He now has two three-inning saves in his last two appearances, though those came over a week apart. Hurter owns a 3.68 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 6:1 K:BB in 7.1 innings so far this season.

  • A.J. Puk RP | ARI

    Diamondbacks' A.J. Puk: Earns eighth-inning hold

    Puk allowed one hit and struck out one over one inning to earn a hold in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Orioles.

    Puk worked around a hit and a stolen base to record his second hold of the season. He entered the eighth inning with two lefties due up and served as the bridge to Justin Martinez, who recorded the save. It was the second straight save situation where Puk worked the eighth and Martinez the ninth. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo still hasn't named a closer and appears to be calling on the lefty Puk or righty Martinez depending on the matchups.

  • Phil Maton RP | CHC

    Cardinals' Phil Maton: Earns save Tuesday

    Maton picked up a two-out save in Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Pirates, allowing a hit and striking out a batter in a scoreless appearance.

    Ryan Helsley threw 37 pitches Sunday in a blown save attempt, so Maton was called upon to shut the door after JoJo Romero let the Pirates back in it with two runs in the ninth. Maton allowed an RBI double to Joey Bart to make it a two-run game and bring the tying run up to the plate, but he was able to retire Tommy Pham for the win. Maton has now tossed 5.1 scoreless innings with a 7:1 K:BB while picking up his sixth career save in the early going this year.

  • Padres' Wandy Peralta: Continues strong start to season

    Peralta struck out one batter in a perfect inning against the Athletics on Tuesday.

    Peralta needed just nine pitches to set the A's down in order, and eight of those offerings were strikes. The veteran lefty has yet to give up a run over 6.1 innings this season, and he's yielded just one hit while posting a 4:1 K:BB. Peralta has entered in the seventh inning or later in each of his seven appearances, and while he has just one hold to date, he's also recorded a pair of wins. Robert Suarez has a stranglehold on the Padres' closer role, but Peralta could have some utility in fantasy leagues that count holds if he continues to pitch well and receive late-game opportunities.

  • Ben Joyce RP | LAA

    Angels' Ben Joyce: Velocity down Tuesday

    Joyce was charged with a blown save against Tampa Bay on Tuesday, allowing three runs on four hits while retiring just one batter.

    Joyce entered the contest in the seventh inning with the Angels ahead 2-0, and by the time he departed the Rays had taken a one-run lead. Joyce served up a Junior Caminero solo homer on his third pitch, and then gave up three more hits -- a single, a double and a triple -- to the next three batters, resulting in two more runs, before finally notching his first out. Notably, Joyce's sinker averaged just 93.5 mph in the outing, while his four-seamer averaged 99.3 mph -- both falling a couple ticks below his season average coming into Tuesday. There's been no indication that the righty is dealing with any sort of injury, but the velocity is worth keeping an eye on in Joyce's next outing.

  • Giants' Hayden Birdsong: Strong start to season continues

    Birdsong threw three scoreless innings during Tuesday's 1-0 loss to the Reds, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out two.

    Birdsong threw 25 of his 39 pitches for strikes during his third appearance of the season. The 23-year-old gave up a double to begin the ninth frame, but he kept his composure and retired Cincinnati's next three hitters. Manager Bob Melvin said postgame, "The velocity's been there out of the bullpen as well, all his pitches working -- he just looks like he's really confident," according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Birdsong has recorded a 0.00 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and a 6:3 K:BB over seven innings so far this season.

  • Pete Fairbanks RP | MIA

    Rays' Pete Fairbanks: Takes loss against Angels

    Fairbanks (1-1) allowed one earned run on two hits and no walks while striking out one across one inning to take the loss Tuesday against the Angels.

    Fairbanks was tasked with keeping the game tied at 3-3 in the ninth inning. He surrendered only two singles, though that was enough to allow one run to score. Prior to Tuesday's outing, Fairbanks had turned in three scoreless outings and had a 6:2 K:BB across four innings, so his status as the Rays' closer shouldn't be in jeopardy.

  • Porter Hodge SP | CHC

    Cubs' Porter Hodge: Blows second save Tuesday

    Hodge (1-0) blew the save but picked up the win Tuesday against Texas, giving up one run on two hits and no walks while striking out three in 1.1 innings.

    Working with a 6-5 lead, Hodge fanned Wyatt Langford in the seventh inning but blew the save after a Josh Jung triple scored a game-tying run in the eighth frame. The Cubs then scored four runs in the bottom of the inning to get Hodge off the hook, and Ryan Pressly worked around two singles to put the game away in the ninth frame. Although Pressly has converted each of his three save chances to open the year, he's allowed six walks and 11 hits over seven innings. However, Hodge has also been shaky, having failed to convert both of his save opportunities and logging a 1.43 WHIP across his seven frames of work.

  • Yuki Matsui RP | SD

    Padres' Yuki Matsui: Strong start to season

    Matsui allowed one run on two hits with a strikeout in an inning Tuesday against Athletics. He has a 1.80 ERA with nine strikeouts and two walks in five innings.

    Matsui is working in middle relief but could be used in higher-leverage roles if he can continue his high strikeout totals and limit his walks. After striking out 12 batters per nine innings during his 10-year career in Japan, Matsui's K rate dipped after moving to the States. His 26.8 percent strikeout rate during the regular season last year was still above league average, but Matsui's 10.5 percent walk rate likely prevented possible ascension to higher-leverage work.

  • Daniel Lynch SP | KC

    Royals' Daniel Lynch: Logs first save of 2025

    Lynch earned the save in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Twins, retiring the only batter he faced in the ninth inning.

    Lynch was brought in for the ninth inning with two outs, and it took him only two pitches to retire Edouard Julien on a groundout to shortstop. It was Lynch's first save of 2025 and second in the majors, though he isn't expected to see many more opportunities with Carlos Estevez as the Royals' top closer. Lynch has allowed one hit and one walk while striking out three batters across 6.1 innings to start the season.

Around the Web Promoted by Taboola