MLB Player News

Armstrong is a potential candidate to pitch in the ninth inning with Mychal Givens temporarily demoted to a low-leverage role, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.

Givens' recent struggles have led manager Brandon Hyde to take him out of the firing line, at least for now. Armstrong's 5.93 season ERA is poor, but he's posted a 2.70 mark in 10 innings since getting claimed off waivers by the Orioles in late April. His career 21.8 percent strikeout rate is hardly closer material, but the Orioles' bullpen isn't exactly full of premium arms, so Armstrong is a candidate to move up from a medium-leverage role to a high-leverage one.

The Royals aren't listing Lopez as one of their starting pitchers for the four-game series with the Rangers that begins Thursday, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports.

Kansas City has confirmed six of its seven probable starters for the week, with the lone vacancy coming Wednesday in Chicago against the White Sox. Unless they're comfortable deploying Lopez on three days' rest with a limited pitch count, the Royals look poised to make a change with their fifth starter. If Lopez is in fact demoted to the bullpen or to Triple-A Omaha, it wouldn't come as much of a surprise given that he's posted a 6.79 ERA and 1.57 WHIP across 51.2 frames this season. Long reliever Glenn Sparkman would likely represent the top candidate to replace Lopez in the rotation if a change is made.

Rijo was placed on the 7-day IL at Low-A Cedar Rapids, retroactive to May 25, with a left hamstring strain.

Rijo, who came over to the Twins in last year's Lance Lynn trade to the Yankees, has a 3.47 ERA and a 7.4 K/9 in 36.1 innings. He'll need to improve his strikeout rate and reduce his walks (3.5 BB/9) to thrive at higher levels.

Green will serve as the Yankees' opening pitcher for Monday's game against the Padres, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Green will make his third "start" of the season after previously opening games May 19 and 25. In those two contests, Green has yielded three runs on six hits and a walk over 2.2 innings, so the Yankees' experiment has yet to pay dividends. Once Green likely exits after covering one or two frames, it's unclear if the Yankees will lean on a primary pitcher like Luis Cessa or David Hale or treat the contest as more of a bullpen game.

Brasier was not used in a save situation Sunday when manager Alex Cora turned to Marcus Walden in a 4-1 win over the Astros.

Brasier has not logged a save since April 21 and is emerging from a rough stretch earlier in May. Walden has been pitching well for Boston and earned high-leverage relief appearances, so he has been added to the mix for save chances. Where this leaves Brasier in terms of save opportunities is uncertain, but he's made three consecutive clean outings and remains part of the late-inning crew.

Barnes worked around a walk to record a hold in Sunday's 4-1 win over the Astros. He struck out two while pitching the eighth inning.

Barnes had a notable loss Saturday when he failed to retire any batters in the ninth inning. Manager Alex Cora on Sunday used Barnes to face the bottom of the Astros order, telling Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald that he can't always have Barnes consistently face the middle of an opponent's order. "We've been talking about this, usage and whatever they call it his role," Cora said. "But people get caught up on the whole closing thing and using the guy in the high-leverage situation, but he needs to face some guys that they're not the 3, 4, 5 hitters all the time. It's a grind for him." Marcus Walden followed Barnes and registered the save for Boston while facing batters 4, 5 and 6. Cora will continue to deploy his late-inning options depending on which part of an opponent's order is due up but there are times when Barnes will get a break.

Alvarado posted one strikeout during a two-out save in a 6-3 victory against the Indians on Sunday.

The 24-year-old was very efficient, recording his two outs in just seven pitches. Alvarado needed an outing like this after giving up five runs in his last 2.2 frames. He is 6-for-7 in save chances with a 3.05 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 30 strikeouts in 20.2 innings this season, and should continue to split save opportunities with right-hander Diego Castillo.

Stanek allowed no runs on two hits and struck out three during 1.2 innings to open against the Indians on Sunday.

The 27-year-old has been an excellent opener this season, posting a 1.64 ERA in 14 "starts," but he's never pitched past the second inning in any of those outings. That obviously limits his fantasy value. Curiously, Stanek also hasn't been as good out of the bullpen. Overall, he is 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 31 strikeouts in 28.1 innings this season.

Jurado pitched 6.1 innings and received a no-decision versus the Angels on Sunday, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three.

Jurado didn't fool many hitters -- he induced only two swinging strikes -- but was nonetheless effective in his second start of the season. He was in line for a win but was pulled after giving up a one-out single in the seventh, then watched the Rangers' shaky bullpen allow six runs to cross the plate before the inning was over. After throwing only 76 pitches in his first start, Jurado tossed 94 on Sunday, a good indication that he is ready to take on a full-time starting role. He is projected to next face the Royals on Friday.

Torres agreed to a minor-league contract with the Tigers on Sunday, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports.

Torres has appeared in 14 games this season with Triple-A El Paso, sporting a 2.63 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with a 23:10 K:BB over 24 frames. The veteran right-hander figures to serve as organizational depth for the Tigers.