MLB Player News

Boxberger (2-0) fired a scoreless ninth inning in Friday's 2-1 extra-inning victory over the Angels.

Boxberger looked sharp once again in what was his fifth straight scoreless effort since making his season debut on June 30. The 29-year-old right-hander showed excellent control over his one frame, firing eight of his 12 pitches for strikes. Manager Kevin Cash appears to have thorough confidence that his former closer is at full health, as he deployed him in a considerably high-leverage scenario Friday.

Belisle has an ERA of 2.60 with 11 strikeouts over 17.1 innings since the beginning of June.

Despite his mild recent success, Belisle has only been able to lower his ERA to 5.66 from the 8.66 it sat at after May. The lack of strikeouts doesn't come as much as a shock, as the 37-year-old veteran has never averaged more than 8.9 K/9 in his entire career.

Smith (elbow) tossed a bullpen session in Fort Myers on Saturday, The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham reports.

Smith was finally able to get some work in after suffering a setback a month ago, which caused the right-hander to be shut down for a week with shoulder inflammation. This marked significant progress for the reliever, as he slowly but surely recovers from the Tommy John surgery that has forced him to miss over a year of action. He will likely throw another bullpen in the coming days and could head out on a rehab assignment within the next couple weeks.

Diaz struck out two in a perfect ninth inning Friday to notch his 14th save of the season in a 4-2 win over the White Sox.

While it's been an up-and-down campaign for the young closer, things are mostly trending up at the moment for Diaz, who's struck out at least one batter in 13 straight games while posting a 2.70 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 21:4 K:BB in 13.1 innings over that stretch.

Colome picked up a save with a perfect 10th inning Friday against the Angels.

Colome has now saved each of his past six chances and is 26-for-30 on the season. That said, Colome has been far from clean over that stretch, having allowed three runs with a 5:4 K:BB over 6.1 innings. Either way, fantasy owners will gladly take the saves and run.

Pomeranz (9-4) allowed four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven across six innings, but received no decision Friday against the Yankees.

Pomeranz left the contest with a one-run deficit, but the offense bailed him out by scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to take him off the hook for a potential loss. This was the first time he's allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last six starts, lowering his ERA from 4.48 to 3.75, and he's been a high-end fantasy starter for most of the past month. He'll make his next start Wednesday against the Blue Jays.

Chapman allowed two runs on two hits and one walk without retiring a batter to take the loss Friday against the Red Sox.

Chapman was protecting a one-run lead, and subsequently blew his third save over his last four chances. He's watched his ERA soar to 4.35 while his WHIP has risen to 1.45, and although he always has upside based on his long-term track record, he's certainly jangling the nerves of his fantasy owners.

Graveman (shoulder) threw a live batting practice session in Arizona on Friday, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports.

Graveman is slowly progressing in his rehab, but the Athletics have still yet to have him pitch in either a simulated game or on a rehab assignment. As such, it's looking less and less likely that Graveman will be able to return to the rotation by the end of July. Expect him to need multiple rehab starts once he is ready to go.

McHugh (elbow) will make his final rehab start Sunday with Double-A Corpus Christi, the Houston Chronicle reports.

McHugh has battled arm trouble since early in spring training, but he's down to one final hurdle on his road back to the big-league roster. He will attempt to build up to six innings and roughly 90 pitches Sunday with an eye toward returning next weekend in Baltimore. Joe Musgrove seems the most likely candidate to lose his rotation spot upon McHugh's activation.

Burdi has been diagnosed with a tear in his UCL and will likely need Tommy John surgery, JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago reports.

The hard-throwing right-hander, who many have pegged as the White Sox's closer of the future, will likely not pitch again in a competitive setting until 2019 if surgery is indeed necessary. Burdi has posted a 4.05 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 51:17 K:BB in 33.1 innings with Triple-A Charlotte this year. His brother, Nick Burdi, underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this season.