MLB Player News

Fujinami will serve as the opener for the Athletics on Saturday against the Blue Jays, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Fujinami worked as the opener June 13 and will get another chance in the role Saturday. He's likely to cover only an inning before Hogan Harris takes over to pitch the bulk of the remaining frames. After a disastrous start to the season, Fujinami has allowed only one earned run across his last 6.2 innings, though that has come with a 7:6 K:BB.

White (elbow) has returned to the mound and is making appearances in the Florida Complex League.

White is working his way back from Tommy John surgery and has been sidelined since the beginning of the 2022 campaign. He's predictably struggled with his command and control, walking four across three innings in his first three appearances. White will likely take a significant amount of time to ramp up on his rehab assignment, but he reached Triple-A Durham in 2021 and could be a candidate to contribute out of the big-league bullpen by the season's end.

Devenski was tagged with a blown save against Colorado on Friday. He allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit and struck out one batter.

Devenski entered with one out and a pair of runners on base in the eighth inning. An error by Andrew Velazquez allowed the Rockies to load the bases, and Devenski then served up a grand slam to Elias Diaz to flip the score in Colorado's favor. The righty reliever has been dominant for much of the season -- through June 15, he notched a 1.85 ERA, 0.62 WHIP and nine holds over 19 contests. However, he's been scored upon in each of his past three games, allowing six runs (five earned) over 2.2 frames and picking up two losses along with two blown saves.

Romano (3-3) took the loss Friday as the Blue Jays fell 5-4 to the A's, serving up a solo home run to Shea Langeliers in an inning of relief.

With the score tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth, Romano hung a slider to the Oakland catcher with one out and watched it sail over the left-field wall. The right-hander hadn't been taken deep in over a month, posting a 1.46 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 15:3 K:BB through 12.1 innings in 12 appearances between long balls, but his streak of 12 straight successful save conversions remains intact.

May gave up a hit in a scoreless ninth inning Friday to record his fourth save of the season in a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays.

The game seemed like it was headed for extra innings until Shea Langeliers launched a solo shot off Toronto closer Jordan Romano in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for May to wrap things up. The veteran reliever has been tagged for earned runs only once in nine appearances in June while going 4-for-4 on save chances, but his 3.68 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 6:7 K:BB through 7.1 innings on the month suggest his hold on the closer role in Oakland is tenuous at best.

Duran picked up the save Friday against the Tigers. He allowed one walk while striking out three over a scoreless inning.

Duran handed out a free pass to Matt Vierling but bounced back to retire Miguel Cabrera and Zack Short via strikeout. While he doesn't have as many saves as the league leaders, Duran has been as steady as they come this season with a 1.50 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 41 strikeouts and 10 saves in 12 chances. Griffin Jax has been serving as the team's top setup man in front of Duran.

Jansen struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the save in Friday's 3-1 win over the White Sox.

Jansen has collected four saves and a win during a seven-inning scoreless streak over his last seven appearances. He's given up zero baserunners in five of those outings for one of his most dominant stretches of the season. Jansen is up to 16 saves with a 2.81 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 30:12 K:BB through 25.2 innings overall.

Smith struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the save in Friday's 4-2 extra-inning win over the Yankees.

Smith made sure Adolis Garcia's go-ahead home run in the top of the 10th inning was enough for the Rangers to get the win. This was Smith's 10th straight save conversion, and he's allowed just four runs over 17.2 innings in that span. The left-hander has been a stabilizing force at the back of the Rangers' bullpen with a 2.73 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 33:8 K:BB over 29.2 innings while converting 14 of 15 save chances and adding four holds this season.

Murphy, who was recalled from Triple-A Worcester on Friday, could serve as the primary pitcher in Wednesday's game against the Marlins and see consistent work as a long reliever, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

The Red Sox only have four healthy starters, and the next open spot in the rotation comes up Wednesday. Murphy could be needed this weekend, but his most likely path to fantasy value is as the pitcher of record in the bullpen game next week against the Marlins. Murphy has shaky numbers on the season at Triple-A, but he hasn't allowed a run over six innings in the majors with an 8:1 K:BB.

Murphy was optioned to Triple-A Worcester on Friday, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

Murphy will return to Worcester after he was called up Thursday, failing to appear in the team's 6-0 loss to the Twins. The left-hander was expected to appear in Wednesday's upcoming matchup with the Marlins and it's unclear if that's still the case. The 25-year-old has tossed six scoreless innings with the Red Sox in 2023, allowing three hits while walking a batter and striking out eight others.