MLB Player News

Morgan (2-1) allowed one run on one hit and two walks in one-third of an inning Thursday, taking the loss versus the Twins.

After a rough May in which Morgan was scored upon in five of his nine appearances, his June didn't get off to a better start. He loaded the bases with no outs before allowing a sacrifice fly by Willi Castro to bring in the decisive run. In addition to allowing too many runs in May, Morgan failed to record a save or a hold during the month, which suggests he's on the verge of losing what little high-leverage work he had. For the season, he still has a solid 1.93 ERA, but a 1.29 WHIP and a 3.58 FIP are both indicators that his numbers could regress further.

The Rays acquired Stephenson from the Pirates on Friday in exchange for minor-league infielder Alika Williams, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

Stephenson has a 5.14 ERA for the Pirates this season and a 5.38 ERA over 76 relief appearances since the beginning of 2022. However, the 2011 first-round pick still has pretty good stuff and can miss bats, particularly with his slider. It's the kind of profile the Rays usually get the most out of, but Stephenson can be expected to work in low-leverage situations initially.

Harris will serve as a bulk reliever behind opening pitcher Shintaro Fujinami in Friday's game in Miami, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Oakland had previously been listing Harris as its starter for the series opener, but he'll instead handle a bulk-relief role in his second straight turn through the Athletics rotation. Harris will attempt to deliver a performance on par with what he provided last Saturday, when he blanked the Astros over five innings while striking out five and allowing only two baserunners.

Pressly allowed one hit and struck out one batter over a scoreless inning Thursday to earn a save against the Angels.

Pressly blew his first save of the campaign against the Twins in his previous appearance, but he was able to get back on track. The veteran closer allowed a one-out double, though that didn't provide extensive stress given that he was protecting a three-run lead. Pressly has 11 saves in 12 chances since April 21, posting a 1.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 18:2 K:BB over 16 innings during that span.

Blanco (1-0) garnered the win against the Angels on Thursday, allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out five batters over 5.1 innings.

It wasn't a breezy outing for the right-hander -- he threw just 59 of 94 pitches for a strike and dealt with plenty of traffic on the bases -- but he mostly got out of trouble when he needed to (including an inning-ending strikeout of Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded in the second.) Blanco had come out of the bullpen for each of his first 16 major-league appearances but will pitch as a starter for the time being with the Astros not getting their next day off until June 12. It remains to be seen how he will adjust to the role, as it's relatively foreign to him -- over eight minor-league campaigns, only 23 of his 191 appearances came as a starter.

Jax (3-6) earned the win in Thursday's 7-6 win over the Guardians. He didn't allow a hit or walk while striking out one over a scoreless inning.

Jax struggled with an 8.18 ERA and three blown saves between April 21 to May 19. He's since thrown five scoreless innings in his last five appearances with an 8:0 K:BB ratio, so it looks like he's back to being a reliable setup man.

Pagan (hip) allowed a hit and no walks over 2.1 scoreless innings in Thursday's 7-6 victory over the Guardians.

Pagan left Sunday's loss to Toronto with a minor muscle strain in his hip area. He needed a few days off, but he's back to full speed. He's had an up-and-down season (4.57 ERA entering Thursday) and has continued to struggle in high-leverage spots. He'll continue to work in middle relief.

Fujinami will serve as the Athletics' opener Friday against the Marlins, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Fujinami's first season in the majors has certainly been rough, as he holds a 12.00 ERA and 1.97 WHIP through 30 innings. However, he's seen an uptick in performance recently, allowing one run on one hit over 2.1 frames. Fujinami will likely stay in Friday's game for an inning or two before turning things over to Hogan Harris, who will take on most of the workload.

Thielbar (oblique) will be evaluated by the Twins on Friday, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Thielbar has thrown two scoreless innings while on a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul. If all goes well during his evaluation, there's a good chance the Twins activate Thielbar off the injured list Friday. The 36-year-old reliever holds a 1.80 ERA across 10 innings and has been sidelined since May 5 with a right oblique strain.

Romano earned his 13th save Thursday against the Brewers after he allowed one run on one hit and one walk during the ninth inning. He had one strikeout.

The right-hander allowed the first two batters to reach base via a triple and a walk, but he limited the damage to a single run thanks to a double play. Romano has earned a save in each of his past three appearances and is now tied for fourth in MLB with 13. He hasn't been as dominant as the past couple seasons but still has a strong 3.27 ERA and 28:7 K:BB in 22 frames this year.