MLB Player News

Hand struck out one in a perfect ninth inning Wednesday to record his 32nd save of the season in a 4-2 win over the Tigers.

The southpaw appears to be righting the ship after blowing three straight save chances in mid-August. Hand has now converted three straight over three scoreless appearances, lowering his ERA back to 3.17 with a 78:16 K:BB in 54 innings on the year.

Barria is not scheduled to start against the Red Sox over the weekend, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Barria was originally scheduled to start Saturday against Boston, but the Angels are listing Jose Suarez, Dillon Peters and Andrew Heaney as their starters for the three-game series. It's unclear if Barria will slot back into the rotation at this point; with a pair of off days, the Angels won't need a fifth starter until next Saturday against the White Sox.

Johnson will pitch out of the bullpen for the remainder of the season, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Johnson will shift back to a long-relief role for the stretch run with David Price (wrist) slated to come off the injured list to start Sunday against the Angels. The southpaw has made five appearances since returning from the IL at the beginning of August, posting a 7.20 ERA, 2.13 WHIP and 9:9 K:BB across 15 innings.

Lopez will start Saturday against the Orioles, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

The Royals will need a spot starter with Brad Keller getting shut down for workload reasons and Danny Duffy (hamstring) not returning until Sunday. Lopez has a 7.07 ERA as a starter this season and a 5.79 mark as a reliever.

Betances (lat) completed a live batting practice session with no issues Wednesday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Everything went well in what was Betances' second session against live hitters in the past week. The right-hander will throw another live BP session Saturday, and he could be cleared to head out on a rehab assignment shortly thereafter if everything goes off without a hitch. The hope is that Betances will be ready to rejoin the big-league bullpen in mid-September.

Fulmer (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte on Wednesday.

Fulmer has been out since early August with a hamstring strain. He appears to be on track to return to Chicago in early September.

De Leon was recalled by the Rays on Wednesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

De Leon has only appeared once for the Rays this season but has a solid 3.65 ERA in 49.1 innings for Triple-A Durham. He's offset a poor 12.5 percent walk rate with a strong 32.9 percent strikeout rate. He'll give the Rays extra bullpen depth for the stretch run. Mike Brosseau was optioned in a corresponding move.

Jurado will be deployed as the Rangers' primary pitcher behind opener Emmanuel Clase in Wednesday's game against the Angels.

Texas has typically deployed Jurado as a traditional starter this season, but the decision to use him as a bulk reliever Wednesday is likely just a means of managing his workload. Jurado covered eight innings in his last turn Aug. 22, tossing a season-high 112 pitches in the outing. Clase is expected to work only one or two frames before giving way to Jurado, who still projects to be the Rangers pitcher most likely to factor into any decision.

Clase will serve as the Rangers' opening pitcher Wednesday against the Angels.

The flame-throwing reliever hasn't worked more than two innings in any of his nine appearances with Texas this season, so he likely won't be asked to record more than six outs as he makes his first MLB "start." Ariel Jurado is slated to enter the contest after Clase and cover the bulk of the frames for Texas.

Hendriks struck out one in a perfect ninth inning Tuesday to record his 16th save of the season in a 2-1 win over the Royals.

He's now converted seven straight save chances in August without allowing a run, posting a 0.00 ERA, 0.28 WHIP and dazzling 18:0 K:BB through 10.2 innings on the month. Hendriks came into the year with only one career save, but the 30-year-old reliever has proven he's more than up to the task since replacing Blake Treinen in the closer role.