MLB Player News

Colome worked around a hit with two strikeouts to record his 10th save of the season Tuesday against the Indians.

Entering with a two-run lead, Colome allowed a leadoff single to Edwin Encarnacion before sitting down the next three men he faced. He now has an outstanding 2.00 ERA to go along with a 0.94 WHIP this season and has blown just two saves in 12 chances.

De Leon fired five no-hit innings for High-A Charlotte against Dunedin on Tuesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The 24-year-old right-hander also notched five strikeouts and issued a pair of walks in his outing, which was an improvement over his first trip to the mound last Thursday. De Leon had given up a pair of earned runs on five hits over 3.1 innings in that start, although he'd racked up seven whiffs as well. De Leon conceivably could ascend to Triple-A Durham for his next start, although the Rays may opt to have him make at least one appearance for the Stone Crabs.

Boxberger (back) threw 15 fastballs in his first bullpen session Tuesday and emerged setback-free, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

It was a modest but important step for the right-hander, as it marked his first time throwing off a mound since suffering his injury in spring training. Boxberger will presumably take at least a day off before attempting another session, with the likelihood that he'll push his pitch count and intensity up a notch or two.

Kelly has not allowed a run on four hits and a walk while striking out five over his last 5.2 innings, spanning six games.

Kelly's good fortunes coincide with a downturn in those of Matt Barnes and are shaking up manager John Farrell's late-inning relief pattern. Kelly worked in a traditional setup role in his last game, bridging the eighth inning to closer Craig Kimbrel. It's all about throwing strikes for Kelly. He's thrown strikes on 65 percent of his pitches during his recent run, up from 59 percent over his first 10 games when he walked eight batters in 13.1 innings. If he can sustain the command and limit the walks, Kelly has the stuff to be an effective setup guy.

Barnes, who has allowed four runs in 2.2 innings over his last five games, has been working on the side to fix his delivery, Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com reports.

Manager John Farrell said it looks like Barnes' delivery is out of sync, specifically his body is getting out ahead of him, resulting in faulty command. He had been elevated to the eighth-inning role early in the season after not allowing a run in his first seven outings, but has allowed eight runs on nine hits and five walks over eight innings since. This has Farrell looking at Joe Kelly as a possible setup guy.

Axford (shoulder) is scheduled to appear in two more minor-league rehab games before the Athletics consider activating him from the disabled list, Joe Stiglich of NBC Sports California reports.

Axford's Triple-A rehab appearances are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. If he's able to breeze through those with no setbacks, it's conceivable that the hurler will be able to rejoin the Athletics' bullpen as soon as this weekend.

Zych could see more save opportunities with Edwin Diaz removed from the closer's role Tuesday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Zych picked up the save Monday night, and it now seems that appearance was more than a change of pace. Marc Rzepczynski, Steve Cishek and Nick Vincent are also in the conversation for ninth-inning work, but Zych's 2.45 ERA and 85.7 percent strand rate could help him pick up his fair share of saves.

Diaz was removed from his position as the Mariners' closer Tuesday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Although he has seven saves, the 23-year-old has been anything but tidy in his appearances this season, posting a 5.28 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP in 15.1 innings pitched. After two straight messy outings, manager Scott Servais opted to give Diaz a break from the role in order to work on his mechanics in lower-leverage situations. No clear frontrunner for saves has been revealed at this time, although Nick Vincent, Steve Cishek, Marc Rzepczynski and Tony Zych seem like candidates to fill the void for the time being.

Shaw logged a pair of walks and strikeouts over an inning of work Monday en route to his seventh hold of the season.

Shaw is off to a fine start in 2017, appearing in a team-high 17 games while managing an admirable 2.00 ERA. He ranks second among Tribe relievers in innings (18), and the right-hander has stranded four of the five runners he's inherited during the campaign. Shaw's 1.6 K/BB is way outside the norm for the 28-year-old, but his 8.0 K/9 is on par with his career average. He's also picked up a save and one win thus far.

Armstrong was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday.

He has struggled in the majors (5.63 ERA) and has excelled at Triple-A (2.89) while missing a ton of bats at both levels. His shaky control (16.2 percent walk rate) has been his downfall in the big leagues through eight innings this year. Look for him to be used in low-leverage spots.