MLB Player News

Joyce is expected to operate as the Angels' closer after the trade of Luis Garcia on Tuesday.

Garcia was labeled the closer while Joyce was named the setup man and closer-in-waiting after the trade of Carlos Estevez over the weekend, and Garcia has now also been dealt. However, manager Ron Washington used Joyce in the eighth inning Tuesday while Hunter Strickland picked up the save, so it remains to be seen if the skipper sticks with the initial plan. Joyce still struggles to control his 101.8-mph fastball at times and has a 4.0 BB/9 this season, but that's an improvement from his first taste of the big leagues last year when he walked nine over 10 innings and had an 8.1 BB/9 at Triple-A. The right-hander has a 2.01 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 19:10 K:BB in 19 appearances this season.

McCann (nose) will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.

Despite suffering multiple nasal fractures when he was hit in the face by a fastball while he was batting in the first inning of Game 1 of Monday's doubeheader with Toronto, McCann was able to stay in the game. After re-evaluating McCann on Tuesday, the Orioles made him available off the bench for their eventual 6-2 win, and he'll now draw back into the lineup for the series finale while top backstop Adley Rutschman gets a day off. According to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com, McCann took batting practice Wednesday while wearing a protective mask, but it doesn't sound like it'll be anything that inhibits his vision at the plate or while catching.

Hernaiz (ankle) played a full game at shortstop in Triple-A Las Vegas' loss to Albuquerque on Tuesday, going 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs.

Hernaiz was charged with an error as well, but otherwise, his night was yet another step in the right direction. The 22-year-old appears ready for activation at any point moving forward, as he's now forged a .345 average and .873 OPS across 33 plate appearances over eight rehab games. Hernaiz has experience playing every infield position besides first base.

Orioles general manager Mike Elias confirmed Wednesday that Suarez will move to a long-relief role, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Rather than expanding the rotation to six men, the Orioles will shift Suarez to the bullpen to make room for lefty Trevor Rogers, who will take over as the club's No. 5 starter following his acquisition from the Marlins on Tuesday. Suarez owns a 3.62 ERA over 77 innings with the big club this season, but he failed to deliver a quality start in any of his last three outings while going 0-2 with a 10.03 ERA and 2.14 WHIP across those contests.

The Twins placed Stewart on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a right shoulder strain, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Stewart just returned a week ago from a lengthy absence due to shoulder issues and is now headed back to the IL. The righty was roughed up for seven runs over 2.1 innings covering three appearances over the last week while showing diminished velocity. Stewart has often been a lockdown reliever for the Twins when healthy, but whether he'll be able to regain that form this season is a fair question.

Jimenez is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles.

Jimenez will head to the bench after he manned shortstop in each of the last four games while going 2-for-15 with an RBI and a run. Ernie Clement will slide over from his usual spot at third base to cover shortstop in place of Jimenez, who is slashing .228/.297/.281 since getting promoted from Triple-A Buffalo on July 2 and stepping in as the primary replacement for the injured Bo Bichette (calf).

Kirk (elbow) is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles.

Kirk is likely still aching after taking a pitch off his left elbow in Tuesday's 6-2 loss, but with a day out of the lineup Wednesday coupled with a team off day Thursday, the Blue Jays seem hopeful that the backstop will be ready to go for Friday's series opener versus the Yankees. Brian Serven will handle the catching duties in the series finale in Baltimore.

Gelof went 2-for-3 with a walk in a win over the Giants on Tuesday. He was also caught stealing twice.

Gelof's small-ball production stood in stark contrast to that of his teammates, as the Athletics scored all five runs off home runs. The multi-hit effort was an especially welcome sight for Gelof, who entered the night mired in a 1-for-25 slump that had encompassed his previous seven games. Gelof had last tallied multiple hits in a game July 9, and despite Tuesday's success, his average remains just below the Mendoza Line at .196 due to his recent skid. The pair of failed steal attempts were an outlier as well, considering Gelof had gone an impressive 12-for-13 in that category this season coming into Tuesday.

Vargas will start in left field and bat second in Wednesday's game versus the Royals.

The presumption was that Vargas would return to playing the infield after landing with the White Sox in a trade. However, after making his debut with his new club at designated hitter on Tuesday, he's now being used in the outfield. Vargas could still wind up playing a lot of third base and/or second base, but on Wednesday, the White Sox will have Nick Senzel cover the hot corner and Lenyn Sosa man the keystone.

General manager Ross Atkins indicated Tuesday that Bloss will get some "breathing room" at Triple-A Buffalo before being called up and added to the Blue Jays' rotation, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic reports. "Our ideal outcome is that he's helping us this year and growing and developing here in Toronto," Atkins said. "We're going to get to know him, make sure that he's in the strongest possible spot."

The right-hander was part of the package the Jays received from Houston in the Yusei Kikuchi deal, but Bloss will begin his Toronto tenure in the minors to help him get settled. Assuming he sees game action for Buffalo, the Bisons will be the fifth different affiliate the 23-year-old has pitched for this season -- he began the year with High-A Asheville before stints at Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Sugarland, eventually making his big-league debut with the Astros on June 21. Bloss posted an impressive 1.64 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 63:21 K:BB in 66 innings across his three minor-league stops, but he got tagged for five homers in 11.2 frames for the Astros before the trade.