MLB Player News

Boxberger (oblique) pitched a scoreless inning for High-A Charlotte on Tuesday, allowing two hits and a walk.

The rehabbing reliever fired 18 pitches, half of which went for strikes. Boxberger has now allowed two earned runs on five hits and a walk over four innings in four appearances for the Stone Crabs. He's scheduled for another short appearance Wednesday and absent any setbacks, will rejoin the big league club this weekend.

VerHagen will undergo season-ending thoracic outlet surgery, Katie Strang of ESPN reports.

VerHagen was expected to make a return in August, but his injury turned out to be more serious. Recovery periods from this type of surgery can range anywhere from 1-to-6 months, so VerHagen should be ready for spring training next season if there are no complications.

Kimbrel (knee) threw Wednesday and could be on the verge of beginning a rehab assignment, Ryan Hannable of WEEI reports.

The Red Sox figure to release an official update on Kimbrel's status in the near future, but the report notes there were "fist pumps all around" after Kimbrel threw Wednesday morning, so he could be ready to head out on a rehab assignment in the near future. Kimbel could throw a couple times in the minors having been sidelined for several weeks, but he remains on track to rejoin the Red Sox at some point in the early portion of August.

The Blue Jays optioned Schultz to Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday, Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith reports.

Schultz did not allow a run in his first six appearances with the Blue Jays in July, but he was tagged for two earned runs while recording just one out last time he was on the mound Monday, so the Blue Jays decided he would be the reliever to go to make room on the roster for Joaquin Benoit.

Kelly had a one-pitch appearance Tuesday, retiring Detroit's Ian Kinsler on a slider in Boston's 9-8 loss, Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe reports.

Kelly is adjusting to life out of the bullpen and part of that adjustment is using all of the pitches available to him. When he was called up to Boston over the weekend, he told reporters his mindset is trying to strike everyone out as a reliever. On Monday, he relied heavily on the fastball, hitting 100 mph multiple times, but velocity didn't stop Detroit's Justin Upton from tripling and eventually scoring the winning run. "The same thing applies in this role as it did while he was starting," Boston manager John Farrell said. "His need to use the secondary pitches exists. That's going to always be a part of Joe's plan for success - that he can't rely just on velocity because as we've seen, the swing-and-miss rate is low despite upper-90s to 100 miles an hour." Going forward, Kelly said he'll need to rely on his slider more often in order to keep hitters off balance.

Martinez (1-3) allowed five runs on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts over four innings in a loss Tuesday to the Athletics.

Martinez was called up to make this start as a replacement for the ineffective Kyle Lohse, but Martinez didn't fare much better. He allowed three home runs and managed just three strikeouts as he wasn't fooling anybody. Martinez allowed four home runs in the three starts prior to his demotion, and with no sign that he's fixed the problem, his stay in the Rangers' rotation could be a short one.

Robertson threw a scoreless ninth to record his 24th save Tuesday against the Cubs.

Robertson desperately needed to convert this save, as he had allowed seven runs on four home runs in blowing his previous two attempts. Tuesday, he struck out a batter and needed just 15 pitches for a 1-2-3 inning, but he'll need to have a few more uneventful outings before owners begin to trust him again.

Mengden was optioned to Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday, John Hickey of Bay Area News Group reports.

Mengden had an atrocious July, giving up 17 walks, 31 hits, and 23 earned runs over his last five starts, leading to a 9.00 ERA and 2.09 WHIP for the month. He'll head back to Triple-A Nashville and look to regain the form he had in June. J.B. Wendelken was recalled in a corresponding roster move.

Harvey underwent successful Tommy John surgery Tuesday, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports.

Harvey exited a start back on July 16 reporting elbow soreness and ended up visiting Dr. James Andrews shortly after to diagnose the problem. It was determined that the right-hander would need ligament replacement surgery, which he had Tuesday. At only 21 years old, Harvey likely has a long career ahead of him, but in the short term he'll probably miss all of 2016 and most of 2017 as he goes through Tommy John rehab.

Giles hasn't given up a run since June 18, spanning 10.1 innings.

The 25-year-old struggled to start the season, posting a 9.00 ERA in April. Now owning a 4.08 ERA, he has continuously improved as the season has progressed, compiling a 2.31 ERA in June and a scoreless July.