MLB Player News

The Twins optioned Henriquez to Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday.

Henriquez will head back to the minors as the Twins clear a spot on the 26-man active roster for right-hander David Festa, who was called up from St. Paul to start Thursday's game in Arizona. During his two-day stay with the Twins, Henriquez made one appearance, tossing a scoreless inning and striking out a batter in Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Thornton recorded the first save of his MLB career in a win over the Rays on Wednesday, firing a perfect ninth inning.

Ryne Stanek worked the eighth and Andres Munoz faltered with the save opportunity to open the ninth, failing to record an out and leaving Thornton to inherit a bases-loaded jam. The right-hander deftly managed the dangerous scenario, inducing a fielder's choice groundout from Richie Palacios that allowed Josh Lowe to score but then retiring Amed Rosario on a game-ending double play. The one run went on Munoz's tab, affording Thornton his sixth scoreless outing in his last eight trips to the mound -- including his third straight -- as well as his first career save.

Quijada (elbow) struck out the side in his first rehab appearance with the Angels' Arizona Complex League affiliate Wednesday.

It's a promising start as Quijada continues down the comeback trail from last May's Tommy John surgery. The left-hander will eventually move up to a higher affiliate and figures to need most, if not all, of the 30-day allotment for his rehab assignment.

Contreras didn't factor into the decision Wednesday against Oakland, allowing one run on four hits with two walks across three innings. He struck out two.

After coming out of the bullpen in his first nine outings as a Halo, Contreras was expected to get up to four or five innings in Wednesday's start. However, he threw 61 pitches across three innings before getting yanked. Three of the four hits Contreras allowed went for extra bases. On the year, Contreras owns a 3.82 ERA with 31 strikeouts over 33.0 innings. It's unclear if he'll make another start, but there's not many alternate options on the active roster at the moment. If he does stick in the rotation, he'd likely pitch Tuesday in a rematch with the A's.

Kimbrel earned a save against the Guardians on Wednesday, walking one batter and striking out three in a scoreless ninth inning.

Kimbrel issued a two-out walk but otherwise overpowered Cleveland with three punchouts. The veteran closer rebounded well after blowing a save against the Yankees during his previous trip to the mound. Kimbrel is 17-for-21 in save chances on the season and has registered an elite 13.3 K/9 while posting a 2.54 ERA and 0.99 WHIP across 28.1 innings.

Zerpa (1-0) struck out one without allowing a baserunner over two-thirds of an inning to earn the win over the Marlins on Wednesday.

Zerpa's had a strong season, but his overall numbers are skewed by a five-run meltdown versus the Rangers last Saturday. It was just the third time all year he had allowed multiple runs, and he bounced back with a sharp outing Wednesday to grab his first win. Zerpa is at a 3.41 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 25:9 K:BB over 29 innings while adding eight holds and a blown save. The southpaw saw increased high-leverage work in May, but the Royals have gone 9-14 in June, creating fewer opportunities for him to pitch in key situations. Zerpa should continue to factor in the late innings, but he's not yet a threat to James McArthur's closer job.

Hendriks (elbow) threw a bullpen session Wednesday consisting of about 15 fastballs, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Hendriks was back on the mound for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last August and was upbeat following the workout. The veteran reliever believes he can make it back from the 60-day injured list by the end of August, but he's not far along enough in the rehab process yet for the Red Sox to put a definitive target date on his return. The Red Sox signed Hendriks to a two-year deal in February with the understanding that anything the right-hander gave the club in 2024 would be a bonus, so the team likely doesn't have any visions of the three-time All-Star supplanting Kenley Jansen as the team's closer when he eventually returns.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Wednesday that Winckowski will start Sunday's game against the Padres in Boston, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

Due to off days Thursday and next Monday, the Red Sox didn't need to add a fifth starter to the rotation until July 6, but Cora is electing to bring Winckowski into the rotation early. Brayan Bello had been lined up to start Sunday's game, but he'll instead get pushed back to next Wednesday in Miami and have extra time to regroup after he was lit up for seven earned runs over 2.1 innings in a loss to Toronto on Wednesday. While coming on in relief of Bello on Tuesday, Winckowski struck out eight and allowed two earned runs in six innings, so he looks to be fully stretched out enough to head into Sunday's start without any restrictions with his pitch count. Winckowski has previously made three starts with the big club this season, posting a 1.69 ERA and 0.94 WHIP over 10.2 innings.

Santos (lat) is set to throw another live batting practice Friday in Seattle and could begin a rehab assignment shortly thereafter, MLB.com reports.

The right-hander put together a very encouraging live BP on Saturday in Miami before that day's game against the Marlins, using his sinker/slider combo with great effectiveness and impressive velocity against Ryan Bliss and Tyler Locklear in a 10-pitch session. If Santos encounters similar success Friday, it appears he'll be ticketed for what should be a fairly lengthy rehab assignment, given he's been sidelined since spring training.

Daniel will be recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to start Thursday's game against the Tigers, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Other than a one-day stay with the Halos in mid-May in which he didn't make an appearance, Daniel has spent the entire season at Salt Lake, posting an ugly 5.33 ERA but a more promising 82:25 K:BB across 76 innings covering 14 starts. The 27-year-old right-hander appeared in three games out of the Angels bullpen in 2023, allowing three runs with a 9:9 K:BB over 12.1 frames. With Patrick Sandoval (elbow) out for the season and Jose Soriano (abdomen) still on the injured list, Daniel could get a chance to take multiple turns through the rotation.