MLB Player News

Barnes (back) expects to be activated from the 10-day disabled list when first eligible on Friday, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Barnes, who has been on the shelf since Aug. 22 with a lower-back strain, is on the cusp of a return to the big-league bullpen. He's set to make a minor-league rehab start for Double-A Portland on Tuesday, and if all goes well, his next appearance should be for the Red Sox. Once he returns, Barnes should resume his role as one of Boston's main setup men for closer Craig Kimbrel.

Hart was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday.

A roster spot was needed for Tuesday's starter, Dylan Bundy (bereavement), and Hart was the corresponding roster casualty. He made just one appearance during his most recent stint with the Orioles, tossing a scoreless frame and lowering his ERA to 3.03 over 35.2 innings this season. He'll likely be back as bullpen depth sometime in September.

Pruitt is expected to move back to the bullpen when next available to pitch Saturday against the White Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Though he picked up the win Monday against the Royals after tossing six scoreless innings of one-hit ball, Pruitt has been rather erratic in his last seven turns through the rotation, registering a 4.50 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 40 innings. After former starter Matt Andriese (hip), who was activated from the 60-day disabled list earlier Monday, piggybacked Pruitt with three shutout innings of his own to close out the contest, Rays manager Kevin Cash apparently decided that he saw enough from Andriese to warrant inserting him back into the rotation. Pruitt could very well pick up additional starts this season as injuries and the Rays' schedule present opportunities, but now that he's due to work out of the bullpen for the foreseeable future, he'll lose most of his value in deeper mixed leagues and AL-only formats.

The Rays are planning to have Andriese start Sunday's game against the White Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

After bringing Andriese back from the 60-day disabled list Monday, the Rays elected to ease the right-hander back into action as a high-leverage, multi-inning reliever, and he quickly aced his first test in that role. Andriese came on Monday to toss three scoreless innings of one-hit ball in the series opener against the Royals, notching his fourth career save. That impressive outing was apparently all manager Kevin Cash needed to see from Andriese to return him to his normal spot in the rotation. Andriese is expected to replace Austin Pruitt, who should move to the bullpen after compiling a 4.50 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in his seven starts.

Armstrong will be recalled from Triple-A Columbus to serve as the 26th man for Wednesday's doubleheader against the Yankees, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Armstrong will join the Indians ahead of Wednesday's twin bill to offer an extra bullpen arm. The 26-year-old owns a 4.76 ERA through 22.2 innings this season. While he's expected to return to the minors following the doubleheader, Armstrong will likely see another shot with the Indians after rosters expand in September.

Merritt will be recalled from Triple-A Columbus to start Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Yankees, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Tuesday's game was postponed due to rain, creating a need for Merritt to join the Indians' rotation for a spot start. He'll start the second game of the twin bill, with Trevor Bauer starting Game 1 and Josh Tomlin (hamstring) pushing his return to the rotation back to Sunday in order to accommodate the new schedule. Merritt held his own in his spot start earlier in the month, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings while striking out three batters. Since he's slated to serve as the 26th man for the twin bill, Merritt will likely be returned to Columbus following the start, but he will be back soon enough when rosters expand in September.

Flynn was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday with a left groin strain.

Flynn was lifted from Monday's game after 2.1 innings with a groin injury, and further tests confirmed the issue would indeed require some time on the shelf to recover from. Flynn has apparently been dealing with the injury for a couple weeks; the fact that he's been able to pitch through it could indicate the issue isn't anything overly serious. Still, he remains without a timetable to return. Eric Skoglund was recalled from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move.

Pagan (1-3) gave up an earned run on three hits over 2.2 innings in Monday's 7-6 loss to the Orioles. He struck out three.

Pagan pitched well overall, but the seventh-inning go-ahead two-bagger he surrendered to Chris Davis ultimately proved to be the difference in the contest. The 26-year-old reliever has now allowed four earned runs in three of his last four outings, but he retains a consistent bullpen role, along with a solid 2.77 ERA and 0.90 WHIP.

Andriese (hip) picked up a three-inning save in his return from the disabled list Monday against Kansas City.

Expect Andriese to serve in this kind of multi-inning relief role for at least a couple weeks, as he managed just one appearance between May 30 and Monday night's outing due to a hip injury. Andriese owned a solid 3.54 ERA and 55:21 K:BB over his 61 innings in the Rays' rotation, so expect them to get him back into a starting role as soon as he's ready.

Pruitt (7-4) earned the victory behind six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out six Monday against Kansas City.

Pruit rebounded fantastically from serving up 11 runs over his past two starts, including a four-homer disaster last time out against Toronto. This marks just the fifth time Pruitt has completed six innings in nine starts, and it's his fourth quality start of the season. Pruitt has a strong 55:16 K:BB; the question is whether he can keep the ball in the yard consistently -- as he did Monday.