MLB Player News

Boxberger (back) is scheduled to throw batting practice sessions next Monday and Thursday at High-A Charlotte, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Boxberger's bullpens have gone well, allowing him to take the next step in his rehab. If the pair of batting practice sessions also go off without a hitch, the veteran reliever would presumably be slated for some rehab appearances as the final step before his 2017 debut with the big-league club.

Johnson will be recalled to start Saturday's game against the Mariners, Evan Drellich of CSNNE reports.

Hector Velazquez's demotion to Triple-A Pawtucket left a vacancy in the Red Sox rotation for Saturday, so the club will call on one of its top pitching prospects to face the Mariners. Johnson, a lefty, was touched up for four earned runs over 5.0 innings in his lone start for the Red Sox this season. He'll be facing a Seattle team that ranks third-to-last in baseball in terms of wOBA against southpaws.

Andriese (5-1) threw eight scoreless innings with six hits and two walks allowed while striking out five batters during Thursday's win over the Angels.

After his worst start of the season against the Yankees last time out, this was a spectacular bounce-back showing from Andriese. He's posted admirable fantasy numbers with a 3.24 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 8.0 K/9 to go along with his five wins. While the 27-year-old righty is clearly deserving of more virtual attention going forward, it is probably still wise to consider avoiding daunting matchups. His upcoming road start against Texas likely qualifies and will be a telling outing.

Farmer will start the first game of Friday's doubleheader against the White Sox, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

The Tigers flipped the order of Friday's starters and will instead have Farmer start things off in Game 1 while bumping Matt Boyd back to the nightcap. This will mark Farmer's first big league action of 2017. In nine starts at Triple-A Toledo this season, Farmer owns a 4.12 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP to go with 54 strikeouts and 10 walks in 54.2 innings. The Tigers will officially add Farmer to the roster early Friday in all likelihood.

Diaz pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record his eighth save of the season during Thursday's win over Washington.

It's probably safe to assume the Seattle brass wants Diaz to succeed as the closer, and he's now pitched four consecutive scoreless innings over his past three outings. Considering the hard-throwing righty is a converted starter and skipped the Triple-A level entirely last season, it shouldn't be surprising that there have been some struggles. His current form is encouraging, and Diaz's fantasy upside remains high.

McHugh (elbow) threw off a mound Thursday for the first time in his rehab, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

While this marks a significant step in McHugh's recovery process, he still remains without a timetable for return. A clearer return date should start to materialize once the next steps in his rehab process are determined.

Rogers pitched the eighth inning and struck out two in Wednesday's win over Baltimore for his 12th hold of the season.

Rogers was able to pitch around a leadoff single and an error by second baseman Brian Dozier to record a scoreless inning. The 12 holds now leads the AL, but seven of those holds have come from outings where the southpaw pitched less than one inning. The Twins have continued to use Rogers in situational opportunities, and until the time comes when they trust him to handle a full inning more consistently, it seems he will remain a lefty specialist out of the pen.

Whalen, who was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday, could be a candidate to start Saturday against the Red Sox, Bob Dutton of The Tacoma News Tribune reports.

The Mariners have a vacancy in their rotation after Chris Heston was shipped back to the minors following a disastrous start last weekend, so if Whalen goes unused in long relief in the team's next two games, he may be asked to step in as the fifth starter. Even if he ends up starting Saturday and shuts down the Red Sox offense, Whalen may not have much longevity in the rotation, as the Mariners are expected to bring back James Paxton (forearm) from the disabled list May 31. Either Whalen or Sam Gaviglio would likely shift back to the bullpen once Paxton is activated.

Diaz fired a scoreless seventh inning in Wednesday's 5-1 loss to the Nationals, issuing two walks and recording a strikeout.

The young reliever put together his second straight scoreless outing since being jettisoned from the closer's role, although Wednesday's performance featured some of the control problems that derailed the May 15 appearance which led to his demotion. Diaz had only issued five walks over 10.1 innings in April, but has already handed out seven free passes in 8.1 frames across nine May appearances. Following his previous outing on May 19, manager Scott Servais had previously hinted that he would re-evaluate the 23-year-old's suitability for the closer's role after his next appearance; therefore, it remains to be seen if Wednesday's effort was enough to vault Diaz back into the ninth-inning job.

Leclerc (finger) could be cleared to throw off a mound Friday, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Leclerc, who is working his way back from a bruised right index finger, resumed playing catch Wednesday and experienced no issues, so he'll be able to move on to the next phase of the recovery process. After Leclerc tosses a bullpen session and faces hitters in batting practice, the Rangers could have him head out for what would likely be a brief rehab assignment. Prior to landing on the disabled list, Leclerc had turned in a 2.31 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in 11.2 innings. Once he's activated, Leclerc will likely slot in as one of the top setup men to closer Matt Bush.