MLB Player News

Montero, who's converted only two of five save opportunities this season, fired a scoreless sixth inning during which he allowed one hit in a win over the Orioles in Game 1 of a doubleheader Thursday. He was credited with his first hold.

Manager Scott Servais has found some closing success with Kendall Graveman of late, with the latter converting both of his save chances. That's apparently served to displace Montero from the closing role, and at least for Thursday, bump him down into a setup slot. If both players continue to thrive in their current assignments, the arrangement could certainly endure.

Pivetta and the Red Sox won't play the White Sox on Friday as the game was postponed due to inclement weather.

Boston is receiving some heavy rain Friday, leading to the postponement. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sunday. The Red Sox have yet to officially announce their updated pitching plans, but Pivetta figures to take the mound Saturday.

Wittgren pitched a scoreless inning with one hit and one strikeout in Thursday's 4-2 win over the White Sox.

Wittgren worked the seventh inning, while fellow relievers James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase handled the eighth and ninth, respectively. The 29-year-old Wittgren has allowed four earned runs on five hits and two walks over 3.2 innings to start 2021. Thursday was the second time in four outings he kept runs off the board. He's posted one save and two holds.

Karinchak pitched a scoreless inning with one hit and two strikeouts to earn a hold in Thursday's 4-2 win over the White Sox.

Karinchak successfully protected a three-run lead in the eighth inning to pick up his second hold of the season. He's added one save and one blown save across five innings. The 25-year-old has a 0.00 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 8:2 K:BB so far as a fixture in Cleveland's plans for the late innings. Emmanuel Clase had a slightly shakier outing in the ninth, allowing one unearned run.

King will be promoted from the taxi squad and follow opener Nick Nelson against the Rays on Friday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic reports.

King has been traveling with the team throughout the week as a potential rotation option, and he'll officially join the roster to serve as Friday's primary pitcher. The 25-year-old surrendered only one hit over six scoreless frames of long relief in his only appearance of the season April 4.

Nelson will open Friday's game against the Rays, Jim Bowden of The Athletic reports.

The 25-year-old primarily worked as a starter in the minors and will now make his first career start in the majors. Nelson has covered four innings across three appearances out of the bullpen this season, so he'll likely be limited to a few frames Friday. Michael King is expected to follow as the primary pitcher for the Yankees.

Ottavino (1-1) allowed one run on two hits and a hit batsman over a third of an inning to pick up the loss against Minnesota on Thursday.

After Alex Verdugo doubled in the game-tying runs in the eighth, Ottavino gave it right back with a shaky ninth, the third time in five outings he's surrendered runs. In 3.2 innings over five appearances, Ottavino has allowed four runs (9.82 ERA) on seven hits, three walks and one hit batter. Even though manager Alex Cora hasn't officially declared a closer, it's clear Matt Barnes is the man after he and Ottavino battled for the job during spring training. Ottavino is still expected to pitch late in games; however, that could change if he continues to be a liability.

Sborz (1-1) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the win Thursday over the Rays, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out two.

Sborz allowed a couple batters to reach with two outs before striking out Manuel Margot. Sborz has been effective lately, firing 3.2 innings and allowing just one run. The 27-year-old's only bad outing came April 3 when he surrendered three runs while failing to record an out.

Clase recorded his third save of the season Thursday against the White Sox. He gave up one run on one hit while striking out one in an inning of work.

Clase started the season on a dominant note with three perfect outings, but he's now allowed baserunners in each of his last three appearances and given up runs in his last two. He's still 3-for-3 in save opportunities, but he seems to be trending in the wrong direction after a sizzling start to the campaign.

Zimmermann (1-1) gave up two runs on six hits and three walks while fanning two in Game 2 of Thursday's doubleheader against the Mariners. He was tagged with the loss.

Zimmermann started the season with back-to-back quality starts, but he was unable to continue that run here, leaving three outs shy of achieving that feat again. Zimmermann only allowed the Mariners to score via the long ball in this one, as both Dylan Moore and Mitch Haniger took him deep. That has been an issue for the 26-year-old left-hander so far, as he's given up four homers in 17 innings across three starts in 2021.