MLB Player News

Kelly (illness) allowed one walk in a scoreless ninth inning in Boston's 8-1 win over Baltimore on Tuesday.

Kelly, like several others in Boston's clubhouse, had been feeling the effects of the flu. Tuesday's performance was his first since last Friday. He's now firmly behind Matt Barnes in terms of the eighth-inning role and needs to post a few scoreless outings to get back in the good graces of manager John Farrell.

Giles allowed two runs on two walks, a double and a wild pitch over one inning in a non-save situation in Tuesday's 7-5 win over Seattle.

Giles has allowed multiple runs in two straight appearances, both coming in non-save situations. This sometimes happens with closers, as the same adrenaline they feel when the game is on the line isn't quite there in non-save situations. When Giles starts blowing saves, that's when we should start to worry.

Pomeranz (1-0) tossed six innings of one-run ball en route to a victory Tuesday against the Orioles, allowing four hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Pomeranz was fresh off the disabled list after recovering from a forearm injury but showed no lingering effects of the ailment in limiting a strong Baltimore offense. He worked efficiently and needed just 91 pitches to make it through six-plus frames, with the only run on his ledger coming on an RBI groundout after he had already exited the game in the seventh. Boston will look to Pomeranz as a solid arm in the middle of the rotation this season and he'll look to build on an impressive debut Sunday against the Rays.

Layne has a 3.86 ERA, two strikeouts and a hold through four appearances so far this season.

The Yankees have only played seven games thus far, so it appears they plan on calling Layne's number frequently. He's only pitched 2.1 innings in those four appearances though, and each time he came in with a left-handed hitter due up first. While he's capable of getting out righties as well, it seems as though he'll mostly be deployed as a lefty specialist, thereby limiting much of his fantasy value to his ability to rack up holds.

Chapman has pitched twice in the team's opening seven games, tallying four strikeouts over two innings.

The Yankees haven't found themselves in a save situation yet, so Chapman hasn't been able to get on the board in that category. He's still been extremely effective when called upon though, tossing 20 of 26 pitches for strikes in a pair of perfect appearances. He's arguably the top closer in all of baseball, so the only thing that could hold back the left-handed flamethrower this season will be if the youth-focused Yankees don't put the 29-year-old in enough save situations.

Shaw picked up the win by recording the final two outs, one via strikeout, in Tuesday's 10-inning victory over the White Sox.

The 29-year-old has now recorded a win, save and hold through his first four appearances of 2017. It's a much better start for Shaw than last season's nine runs on eight hits allowed through four games. It's extremely early, but he's been much more efficient at this juncture of the campaign than he was a year ago.

The Tigers were prepared to rest Wilson on Tuesday, but he ended up pitching a scoreless inning in the win over the Twins, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus was prepared to give Wilson the day off, but the lefty said before the game he was good to go. Wilson has now pitched in four of the team's last five games, and he credited better conditioning for allowing him to pitch more frequently. He should be a good source of holds, and occasionally wins and saves, this season.

Smith (elbow) has increased his level of throwing and is now participating in bullpen sessions, Evan Drellich of CSN New England reports.

Manager John Farrell said that Smith threw too aggressively in his first bullpen session and experienced some soreness afterwards, but has had a series of healthy workouts since. Although the team has yet to lay out an official timeframe for Smith's return, it appears that returning at some point in June is still attainable.

Santiago (1-1) gave up two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out out one over 6.1 innings Tuesday but took the loss as the Twins fell 2-1 to the Tigers.

On an afternoon when offense was at a premium, Santiago made only one mistake, but that was enough as James McCann drilled the first pitch he saw in the fifth inning to left-center field for a two-run homer. Much as he did last season Santiago has gotten off to a good start to 2017, posting a 2.38 ERA through his first two outings, but his 5:3 K:BB in 11.1 innings suggests fantasy GMs shouldn't expect that success to continue. The left-hander's next trip to the mound will come Sunday at home against the White Sox.

Barnes is expected to continue being used as Boston's primary setup reliever, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

Although Barnes is in a position to see plenty of high-leverage situations in the near future, his status as the team's go-to setup man may be in jeopardy once Tyler Thornburg (shoulder) comes off the DL. After pitching in three games (3.2 innings) this season, Barnes has struck out five batters, allowed just two hits and picked up a win.