MLB Player News

Kolarek has been designated for assignment, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The left-hander was expected to be added to the big-league roster after a strong Triple-A Durham campaign, but the Rays have instead decided to remove him from the 40-man roster. Assuming he clears waivers, Kolarek could remain with the organization for now, but this move suggests he might need to move to a different team to get another shot at the big leagues.

Bass was outrighted to Triple-A Round Rock on Sunday.

The right-hander cleared waivers after being designated for assignment Thursday and will stick around as organizational pitching depth. Bass had previously made two appearances with the big club this season in long relief, serving up nine runs on 14 hits over 5.2 innings.

Paredes was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

The Angels had always planned to include Paredes among their September callups, but since he had been optioned to Triple-A on Aug. 24, he needed to wait the required 10 days before rejoining the big club. Paredes, who has maintained a 3.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP across 15 innings with the Angels this season, is likely to work in lower-leverage situations out of the bullpen.

Rowley was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Sunday, Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 The Fan reports.

Rowley had previously made three starts for the Blue Jays before being demoted to Buffalo on Aug. 23 after manager John Gibbons opted to replace him in the rotation with Tom Koehler. With the Blue Jays having since added Brett Anderson to the 40-man roster to fill out the back end of their rotation, both Koehler and Rowley will be ticketed for bullpen roles in September, likely seeing most of their usage in lower-leverage scenarios.

Robertson worked around a hit to pitch a shutout eighth inning in Saturday's win over the Red Sox, striking out one.

There was some thought when Aroldis Chapman was removed from the closer role in mid-August that Robertson could be in line to take over the ninth inning, and while that still could hold true on occasion, Dellin Betances has seen every save opportunity since then. Robertson has still been effective when called upon, though, and remains a solid source of strikeouts.

Betances pitched a perfect ninth inning in a non-save situation, striking out all three batters he faced in Saturday's win over the Red Sox.

Both of Betances' last two outings came with the Yankees up by four and thus were not save situations, but it's been done in an effort to get the 29-year-old work as the team hasn't had the need for a closer in over a week. Though there was some question if the Yankees would go with a committee approach to the ninth inning after removing Aroldis Chapman from closing duties, Betances seems to have cemented himself as the first option. Even when he's not getting saves, his elite 15.5 K/9 will keep him relevant in most formats.

Leclerc failed to record an out and was charged with the loss in Saturday's 7-4 loss to the Angels in 10 innings. He walked all three batters he faced and was charged with three earned runs.

A promising first half allowed Leclerc to emerge as one of the top closers in waiting after Matt Bush was pulled from the role in late June, but the rookie's implosion since the All-Star break has dimmed any chance he has of displacing Alex Claudio as the team's ninth-inning man. Over 18 appearances in the second half, Leclerc has submitted a 5.87 ERA and 13:21 K:BB in 15.1 innings.

Diekman tossed a scoreless seventh inning and struck out a batter in Saturday's 7-4 loss to the Angels in 10 innings.

Manager Jeff Banister has wasted no time working Diekman back into high-leverage duties out of the bullpen since the lefty was activated from the 60-day disabled list Friday after having been sidelined all season following three surgeries to address ulcerative colitis. Diekman has picked up holds in back-to-back contests with a pair of perfect innings, and could settle in as the primary setup man to closer Alex Claudio with Jose Leclerc and Ricardo Rodriguez having struggled in recent appearances.

Giles pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out one to earn his 28th save in the Astros' 4-1 win over the Mets in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader.

Giles hasn't allowed a run over his last eight games and sports a 0.89 ERA since the All-Star break. With just three blown saves this season -- one since early June -- Giles has a firm grasp of the closer's job. The only problem has been getting to him. The bullpen leading up to Giles has been less effective over the second half, a situation exacerbated by injuries to the starting rotation, which led to shorter outings by the starting staff. This has led to fewer save opportunities for Giles. However, the staff is in better shape entering September. Dallas Keuchel is healthy and Houston welcomes Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers (back) to the rotation this week. Those improvements and the return of reliever Will Harris sets the stage for Giles to garner more save opportunities.

Kittredge was called back up from Triple-A Durham on Saturday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Kittredge had been sent down on Aug. 23 and the Rays had to let a mandatory 10-day period pass before bringing him back up to the big-league club. The 27-year-old will serve as another bullpen option for manager Kevin Cash during the final month of the season.