MLB Player News

Chapman walked one batter in a scoreless ninth inning during Monday's 7-0 win over Baltimore. He struck out three batters.

After serving a two-game suspension to start the year, Chapman looked impressive in his 2021 debut. He threw 13 of 19 pitches for strikes and made fairly quick work of the heart of Baltimore's lineup. Of course, he'll usually work in save situations moving forward.

Lopez (0-1) allowed four runs on three hits and three walks over 4.2 innings Monday, taking the loss against the Yankees. He struck out five.

Lopez looked good to begin the game, allowing just one hit through three innings. He then coughed up a solo homer to Aaron Judge in the fourth before getting into more trouble in the fifth. With two outs in the inning, he walked the bases loaded and was replaced by Shawn Armstrong, who would later serve up a grand slam to Giancarlo Stanton. Lopez will look to turn things around Sunday at home against the Red Sox.

Puk was recalled from Oakland's alternate training site Monday.

Puk was unable to crack the Opening Day roster, but he'll get his chance in the majors early in the 2021 campaign. He finished with a 3.18 ERA and 1.32 WHIP with a 13:5 K:BB across 11.1 innings a season ago. Puk will take the roster spot of Chad Pinder (knee), who was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday.

Sulser was optioned to the Orioles' alternate training site Monday.

Sulser was effective in his 2021 debut Sunday, as he allowed one hit and no walks while striking out three in two scoreless innings. However, he'll now be sent down by Baltimore after right-hander Shawn Armstrong was recalled from the COVID-19 injured list in a corresponding move.

Armstrong (not injury related) was reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list Monday.

Armstrong was away from the team following the birth of his child, and he was on the COVID-19 injured list while going through intake testing prior to his return. The right-hander has now tested negative and will be cleared to rejoin his teammates ahead of Monday's series opener against the Yankees. Armstrong should factor into the late-inning mix for the Orioles going forward.

Merryweather may not be ready to pitch on back-to-back days yet, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic reports.

The right-hander was one of the stars of the season's opening weekend, dominating the Yankees with triple-digit heat to rack up his first two career saves, but Merryweather almost didn't make the initial 26-man roster due to back tightness late in the spring. Given his lengthy injury history the Jays intend to be very careful with his workload, which will keep the 29-year-old from pitching on consecutive days early in the season, and manager Charlie Montoyo also suggested that the club would only use Merryweather to begin innings rather than bringing him in to handle a jam. That leaves the door open for other relievers such as Jordan Romano to get save chances, but Merryweather has quickly established himself as a key piece of the late-inning puzzle for Toronto this season.

King pitched six scoreless innings against Toronto on Sunday, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three. He did not factor in the decision.

Starter Domingo German was removed after yielding three runs across three frames, and the Yankees subsequently handed the ball to King. The right-hander went on to dominate Blue Jays hitters, giving up only a fourth-inning walk and single while retiring the final 16 batters he faced. King ended up throwing as many pitches (68) across his six innings as German did in three, with 48 of the former's throws going for strikes. King will likely be unavailable for a few days due to the extended outing, but it is a positive sign that he looked so good in his first appearance of the campaign after struggling to a 7.76 ERA with the big club last season.

Iglesias was credited with a win after blowing a save in Sunday's 7-4 victory over the White Sox. He recorded five outs and gave up an unearned run on one hit while striking out two.

Iglesias entered the contest in the eighth inning and was able to record the final two outs of the frame, but he wasn't able to preserve a 4-3 lead heading into the ninth. After he hit Nick Madrigal with a pitch, Adam Eaton hit a one-out grounder back to Iglesias, who made an errant throw to third base that allowed Madrigal to score the tying run. Fortunately, Jared Walsh was able to bail Iglesias out in the bottom of the ninth with a walkoff, three-run blast off Matt Foster. Considering that Iglesias was used three times in the Angels' four-game season-opening series with Chicago, he may not be available out of the bullpen Monday against the Astros.

Paredes walked four of the 10 batters faced over the opening series with just 25 strikes among his 48 pitches, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The four-game opening series against Oakland provided a glimpse into how manager Dusty Baker intends to deploy his bullpen. Paredes pitched the seventh inning Opening Day and the eighth inning Saturday, leverage spots for the young reliever, but he jeopardized leads in both games. "I feel like Paredes is trying to do too much because (of) the atmosphere. My job is to keep talking to them, make sure that they understand the louder it gets, the calmer they have to be," catcher Martin Maldonado said. This is the first time he's pitching in front of fans at the major-league level, and Oakland is a hostile environment to the Astros. Paredes has allowed one unearned run on four walks and two hits over 1.1 innings.

Heuer allowed one run on three hits in Sunday's 7-4 loss to the Angels.

Heuer allowed his first run of the season when he was tagged for a solo home run by Jared Walsh in the fifth inning. He became the fourth White Sox reliever to permit a homer. Chicago's bullpen was considered a strength entering the season, but thus far the 'pen is 1-3 with a 5.52 ERA.