MLB Player News

Boxberger (back) struck out the side in the seventh in his rehab appearance for Triple-A Durham against Columbus on Wednesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The outing marked the second time that Boxberger has struck out the side in his minor-league rehab appearances, although the first occasion came against a lower level of competition while pitching for High-A Charlotte. The 29-year-old right-hander needed only 15 pitches to get through his one frame and will likely take the mound again by the weekend.

Lopez was scratched from his scheduled start Wednesday due to a personal matter, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

The White Sox didn't specify what Lopez was dealing with, but they indicated that he would be back in the rotation for his next start. The 23-year-old has a 3.82 ERA and 1.30 WHIP through 12 starts (66 innings) with Triple-A Charlotte this season.

Johnson prematurely exited Wednesday's game against the Phillies due to left shoulder discomfort, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

Johnson made it just 2.2 innings before being replaced by Hector Velazquez. The severity of the injury remains unclear given the vague diagnosis, but his status should be updated after he is reevaluated Thursday.

Johnson left Wednesday's game early with a trainer, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Johnson was through two scoreless innings before encountering some issues in the third, when he allowed three runs on three hits and left after just recording two outs. It's unclear what Johnson is dealing with at this point, but it's worth noting that he missed some time earlier in the year due to a hamstring injury. His status should be updated once he is evaluated further.

Heller was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.

Heller will head back to the minors after making just one appearance for the Yankees; he recorded one out while allowing a walk and a hit. He'll stick with the RailRiders, with whom he owns a 2.60 ERA and 35:11 K:BB through 27.2 innings this season, until the Yankees need further bullpen help. Ronald Herrera was recalled to take his place in the bullpen.

Lawrence was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday, Bob Dutton of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

Lawrence played a prominent part in the Mariners' 20-7 loss to the Twins a day earlier, surrendering six runs on 11 hits in 3.2 innings in relief. His ugly showing coupled with the fact that he likely wouldn't be available for the next couple of days prompted the Mariners to bring aboard a fresh arm in Paul DeJong, who is expected to work in long relief for the big club.

Abreu was placed on the 7-day DL at High-A Tampa with an undisclosed injury.

He left his last start on June 6 after two perfect innings, so while an injury had not manifested itself in diminished results in the box score, he clearly suffered some sort of injury in that start. The big news with Abreu this season has been his added velocity, a fairly common occurrence for young pitchers who join the Yankees' organization. He has touched 100 mph with his fastball this season. Abreu posted a 3.82 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 41:12 K:BB in 37.2 innings across Low-A and High-A prior to suffering the injury, but he had been much more successful at Low-A than with Tampa.

Lawrence gave up six earned runs on 11 hits over 3.2 innings in Tuesday's 20-7 loss to the Twins.

Lawrence endured a rocky reintroduction to the big leagues after being summoned from Triple-A Tacoma on Monday, surrendering a pair of round trippers and giving up a season-high amount of hits. The 29-year-old can work multiple frames but does pitch to contact, already having given up 11 earned runs on 23 hits over the 17.1 innings he's pitched since his May 18 team debut.

Pruitt fired 2.2 scoreless innings in Tuesday's 8-1 win over the Blue Jays, allowing two hits and issuing one walk. He struck out two.

The right-hander contributed his second straight strong outing after getting lit up for three earned runs on four hits over 1.1 innings by the Mariners on June 4. Pruitt has certainly taken his lumps this year -- as evidenced by five outings in which he's surrendered multiple earned runs -- but he's also posted five scoreless multi-inning efforts, three of which have come in his last four trips to the mound. His ability to eat up valuable innings is likely to continue affording him a bullpen spot provided he's able to progressively limit the damage.

Wilson (2-2) took the loss Tuesday against the Diamondbacks. In an inning of work, he allowed one run on a hit and a walk.

The walk didn't end up hurting him, but the hit was a solo home run by David Peralta to break a 6-6 tie in the top of the ninth inning. Wilson had thrown five consecutive scoreless innings before this hiccup, and with a 2.77 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 12.8 K/9 this season, he's still a solid fantasy bullpen option who should rack up a decent number of saves moving forward.