MLB Player News

Graveman (shoulder) was activated from the disabled list and will start Thursday's game against the Giants.

As expected, Graveman will rejoin the Athletics' rotation after a lengthy stay on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation. The 26-year-old compiled a 3.83 ERA and 1.28 WHIP through eight starts (47 innings) before landing on the shelf earlier in the season. Daniel Gossett was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Fulmer was placed on the 10-day disabled list with right elbow neuritis, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Fulmer was tagged for six runs in his most recent start, and it's possible this elbow ailment had something to do with his poor outing. It's unclear how long the injury will keep him sidelined at this point, but the 24-year-old will be forced to miss at least one turn in the rotation while on the shelf. The good news is that manager Brad Ausmus said he wasn't dealing with any ligament damage, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports, so it's possible that his stay on the DL won't be an extended one. His replacement in the rotation hasn't been named yet.

Leclerc retired the side in the ninth inning on 19 pitches in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Mariners, collecting a strikeout and inducing a flyout and a popout.

While his appearance came in a non-save situation, Leclerc's deployment in the ninth inning of a fairly close game perhaps indicates that he's still in the mix for closing duties. However, with Alex Claudio collecting three saves to Leclerc's one since Matt Bush was removed from the closer's role in late June, Leclerc is probably Option 1B at the back end of the bullpen.

Smith (elbow) threw 21 pitches to teammates during a batting-practice session Wednesday, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

The live BP session was the final box checked before the Red Sox send Smith out on a rehabilitation assignment set to begin Saturday at Double-A Portland. The right-hander will then join Triple-A Pawtucket when the PawSox return from their current road trip. Pitchers normally get 30 days on their rehab clock, but hurlers coming off Tommy John elbow surgery can tack another 30 days on top of that. The Red Sox are hoping Smith doesn't need all that time to get up to Boston.

Colome worked around a walk and a wild pitch to throw a scoreless ninth inning for his 32nd save Wednesday in Houston.

While many bullpens underwent overhauls at the trade deadline, Tampa Bay felt comfortable leaving Colome in the ninth inning role. His K/9 fell to an underwhelming 7.43 with this zero-strikeout effort, but Colome has been effective nonetheless with 32 saves in 37 chances.

Stanek, who was called up from Triple-A Durham on Monday, recently developed a splitter to go along with his 100 mph fastball, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports.

The 26-year-old right-hander worked on the pitch with Durham pitching coach Kyle Snyder over the last several weeks before being summoned, choosing to focus on the splitter as opposed to the slider that he'd previously utilized. While he'd also played around with the splitter last offseason and in spring training, he didn't hone in on perfecting it until returning to Durham following a rough initial major-league stint earlier this season. Stanek has been mowing down hitters with the Bulls, compiling a 47:14 K:BB over 35.2 innings.

Pruitt (6-2) allowed five hits and one walk while striking out three over 6.1 shutout innings to beat the Astros on Wednesday.

Pruitt shut down a Houston offense that came in scoring a league-high 5.93 runs per game while handing Dallas Keuchel his first loss of the season. This was a surprising result to say the least for a rookie that started the year in the bullpen and had never pitched more than five innings in a major league game before. He got lit up for five runs in five innings at Yankee Stadium in his last start, so this outing likely wasn't enough to keep Pruitt in the rotation with Jake Odorizzi's (back) return imminent.

Kelly (hamstring) struck out one in a scoreless inning got Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Kelly looked sharp in his first rehab appearance for the Paw Sox, and it looks like he should be back with the big club by Friday. The righty flamethrower, who has been out since July 12, will likely factor back into the setup mix upon his activation. However, that setup mix got a bit more crowded while Kelly was sidelined. Boston added reliever Addison Reed to join Kelly and Matt Barnes as potential eighth-inning bridges.

Maurer will be used to spell Royals closer Kelvin Herrera, but will function mainly from a setup role with his new team, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

With the additions of Maurer and Ryan Buchter, manager Ned Yost has a deadly late-inning arsenal in his bullpen. "We've got a lot of guys who could fill a lot of roles," Yost said. Even without defining roles, the skipper made clear that Herrera -- who's 35-for-41 in save chances over the past two years in Kansas City -- is the clear-cut closer. That said, Maurer -- who notched a career-high 20 saves with San Diego before being traded -- loses a serious chunk of his fantasy value moving forward.

Lopez earned the White Sox organization's pitcher of the month for July, Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago reports.

Lopez delivered a month of starts that suggests he's ready for a promotion from Triple-A Charlotte to Chicago. He posted a 2.10 ERA and struck out 38 batters over 30 innings. General manager Rick Hahn said earlier this week that the right-hander was forcing the issue. Lopez is currently among the leaders in the International League in strikeouts (122, third), K/9 (9.5, third) and innings (116, fifth).