MLB Player News

Williams has been nursing right arm fatigue but is available out of the Mets' bullpen for Thursday's game in Cleveland, Laura Albanese of Newsday reports.

He was unavailable Wednesday, leading to Daniel Duarte closing things down to notch his second career save. Williams will be ready for a save opportunity Thursday should one present itself, and the Mets do not seem concerned at this point that Williams' fatigue will be a recurring issue.

The Cubs optioned Ferguson to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday, Jared Wyllys of AllCHGO.com reports.

Ferguson had pitched each of the last two days -- including throwing 29 pitches over two scoreless frames versus the Dodgers on Wednesday -- so he's being replaced by a fresh reliever. The 32-year-old has logged a 3.45 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 19:2 K:BB over 15.2 innings for the Cubs, so he's likely to be back with the big club sooner rather than later.

Suarez (forearm) has yet to increase the intensity of his throwing program as Atlanta takes a cautious approach with his recovery, Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The veteran reliever began playing catch right after the All-Star break, but he hasn't progressed beyond that yet. "The philosophy there is we want him to be 100% pain-free before he starts to ramp up again," manager Walt Weiss said Wednesday. "At this point of the season, we just can't afford a setback. If he were to have a setback, his season is probably over. So we're just really making sure he's 100% when he steps on the mound again so he can sprint to the finish line." Suarez hasn't seen game action since June 19, and given the length of his absence, a best-case scenario for his return might see him come off the IL in late August.

Pagan struck out one without allowing a baserunner over one inning to earn the save in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Athletics.

Pagan now has a win or a save in eight straight appearances for the Reds. The 35-year-old has not walked a batter and has struck out 10 in seven innings during that stretch. Pagan now has a 4.26 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 27 games while converting 13 of 16 save chances this year.

Kerkering threw a clean sixth inning with no strikeouts to pick up a hold Wednesday against the Nationals.

Wednesday's hold marked Kerkering's 13th of the campaign. The right-hander has been a quality high-leverage arm in Philadelphia's bullpen for the most part despite a lack of save chances, posting a 3.27 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 48:25 K:BB across 44 innings with a lone save in three opportunities during 2026.

Duarte earned the save in Wednesday's 6-5 extra-inning win over the Guardians, working around a walk in a scoreless inning.

After the Mets took the lead in the top of the 10th, Duarte was called upon to close out the game in the bottom half. After walking Chase DeLauter with one out, Duarte settled in to record the final two outs, stranding the tying and go-ahead runs on base to earn his second major-league save and his first since 2023. Duarte has been sharp out of the bullpen in his brief stint with New York, allowing just two runs on seven hits through his first 14.1 innings. He could find himself in a high-leverage role down the stretch after the Mets traded away Luke Weaver, A.J. Minter, Huascar Brazoban and Brooks Raley ahead of the trade deadline.

Megill struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the save in Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Pirates.

Megill picked up his second save in as many days and his third since the start of August. The right-hander threw seven of 12 pitches for strikes to get this conversion, making him the 12th reliever to reach 20 saves this season. He's maintained a 2.70 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 51:11 K:BB through 43.1 innings on the year. Aaron Ashby or DL Hall would be the top options for an ancillary save chance since the Brewers' bullpen is likely to be shorthanded Thursday, as Megill, Antonio Senzatela and Abner Uribe have all pitched consecutive days.

Fuentes secured the save Wednesday against the Marlins, throwing 1.1 clean innings. He struck out two.

Closer Raisel Iglesias wasn't sharp in Tuesday's outing against Miami, giving up a pair of runs, which perhaps prompted Atlanta to turn a different direction for Wednesday's save situation. Although Fuentes has emerged as a real weapon out of the bullpen after scuffling to a 13.85 ERA last regular season, he doesn't appear to be a legitimate threat to Iglesias' closer role. Through 48.1 innings, Fuentes sports a 2.42 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 61:15 K:BB with 12 holds plus two saves in five chances.

Zeferjahn allowed a solo home run but also retired two batters via strikeout to earn a hold in Wednesday's 7-6 win over the Dodgers.

Zeferjahn allowed a solo home run to Shohei Ohtani, which happens to even the best pitchers. The hard-throwing righty rebounded from that small blemish to tally two more strikeouts, bringing his season-long total to 77 across 53.1 innings. Zeferjahn has now recorded a hold in each of his first two appearances since joining the Cubs at the trade deadline, working ahead of Jacob Webb on both occasions. That seems to indicate that Webb has the inside track on the closer role, at least until Daniel Palencia (elbow) returns, but Zeferjahn has the stuff to be effective in the ninth inning if the Cubs decide to go in that direction at some point.

Webb tossed a scoreless ninth inning to record the save in Wednesday's 7-6 win over the Dodgers.

After starter Shota Imanaga allowed just one run in his five innings of work, Chicago's middle relievers allowed five runs in three innings. Webb then managed to slow down the imposing Los Angeles lineup for his sixth save of the season. The righty has pitched well with a 2.49 ERA and 56 strikeouts across 50.2 innings this year, and he's done a good job since stepping into the closer role. However, Daniel Palencia (elbow) is due back soon, and the Cubs also picked up Ryan Zeferjahn at the trade deadline, which clouds the back end of Chicago's bullpen a bit moving forward. At the very least, Webb has earned the opportunity to keep seeing high-leverage work, possibly as part of a closer committee.