MLB Player News

Borucki has been placed on a strict pitch count in his recent starts for High-A Dunedin, SB Nationt reports.

The reason for the recent restriction placed on Borucki is unspecified, but it may be a simple case of preserving the prospect's arm. The southpaw tossed just 68.2 frames over his first three professional seasons but last year Borucki racked up 135.2 innings for Low- and High-A combined, giving the Jays good reason to be careful with him. Through eight starts in 2017, Borucki owns a 4.11 ERA and 1.31 with 41 strikeouts over 35 innings.

Since being activated from the minor-league DL, Smith (elbow) has logged two scoreless appearances for Triple-A Buffalo.

Smith will work his way back into form as he hopes to make his MLB debut at some point in 2017. He owns a stellar 2.23 ERA and 192:45 K:BB over 114 minor-league games (169.2 innings). With the Jays' stable of pitchers dealing with numerous health problems, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Smith break into the majors sooner rather than later.

Barnes allowed two hits and struck out five over two innings in Thursday's 8-3 loss to the Athletics.

Barnes had been elevated to the eighth-inning role earlier this season, but hadn't pitched dependably since that promotion and now finds himself getting mop-up work. Of late, manager John Farrell has been going by feel and matchups in high-leverage spots. Barnes' two-inning stint was the best he's looked in a month. He threw 29 of his 39 pitches for strikes, a promising sign for the right-hander, who is at a career-low 59.6 strike percentage this season. Barnes will return to high-leverage duty if he can keep the ball in the zone.

Green pitched three shutout innings in Thursday's loss to the Royals, allowing just one hit while striking out six.

The game had mostly been decided when Green entered in the sixth inning and the Yankees down 5-0, but the 25-year-old needed just 34 pitches to complete three extremely effective innings. Although he's currently serving as a long-relief option in the Bronx, the righty was in contention for a rotation spot heading into spring training and has stayed stretched out as a starter in the minors, so outings like Thursday's will keep his name in the mix if the need for another starter arises at any point.

Covey allowed four runs on five hits and three walks while striking one over six innings in Thursday's 5-4 loss to Seattle.

Covey, who allowed a third-inning solo shot, was pitching one of his better games until the fifth inning -- the third time through the order -- when Jean Segura took him deep for a three-run homer. Other than the fifth, he was pretty efficient, needing only 87 pitches to get through six innings, the second time in seven starts he's lasted that long. It was the fourth straight start in which he's allowed multiple homers. He's been taken deep 11 times in 35.1 innings, tied for fourth in MLB. The rookie right-hander has managed to dodge the ax for a couple of turns through the rotation and will get another chance next Tuesday in Arizona.

Farmer was recalled from Triple-A Toledo on Thursday, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

In a corresponding move to Victor Martinez being placed on the paternity list, the Tigers opted to bring Farmer up to the majors. Farmer has made eight starts and pitched 48.2 innings with Toledo this season. In that time he's built a 3.51 ERA and 1.31 WHIP while notching a respectable 8.8 K/9.

Kimbrel came on in a tied game and pitched a perfect ninth inning in Boston's 5-4 extra-inning win over St. Louis on Wednesday.

Bucking baseball's convention of only using closers on the road when you have a lead, manager John Farrell brought Kimbrel in to face the top of the Cardinals' order in the bottom of the ninth. Farrell has modified his usage of Kimbrel this season, having him enter games in the eighth inning in addition to Wednesday's deployment in a tie game on the road. He's been the most stable of Boston's relievers so it makes sense to use him in big spots regardless of if a save is on the line.

Betances recorded the final out of the game to pick up his first save of the season in Wednesday's 11-7 win over the Royals.

The Yankees actually took an 11-4 lead into the ninth inning, but mop-up man Giovanny Gallegos made a mess of things and Betances had to come on to retire Eric Hosmer on four pitches with the tying run on deck to end the game. Betances may not get an easier save chance while Aroldis Chapman (shoulder) is out of commission, but he should see plenty more with New York holding the second-best record in the AL at the moment.

Wilson gave up a hit and a walk in Wednesday's save chance against Baltimore, but he struck out two and closed it out successfully.

That marks save No. 3 for the lefty since taking over for Francisco Rodriguez, and it's a good one for his psyche because Wilson just blew a save Tuesday against these same Orioles. His stats this year are nothing short of spectacular -- a 1.50 ERA, 0.61 WHIP and 30 strikeouts in 18 innings -- so fantasy owners should feel pretty confident that he's going to hold on to the ninth-inning role successfully.

Fulmer (5-1) gave up four runs (three earned) on 10 hits over seven innings against Baltimore on Wednesday, but that was good enough for a win. He whiffed four.

Fulmer's gone at least six innings in each of his starts this year, and he's yet to allow more than three earned runs in an outing. Last year's debut was impressive, but he's been even better this season, again outpitching his peripherals to the tune of a 2.72 ERA. The hard-throwing 24-year-old has rapidly developed into one of the more valuable fantasy starters around.