MLB Player News

Mears (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment with Single-A Bradenton on Tuesday, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

Mears has been out since the beginning of the season while recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow, but he appears to be on the cusp of a return in the coming weeks. The 25-year-old produced a 5.01 ERA and 1.63 WHIP with 23 strikeouts over 23.1 innings in 30 appearances with Pittsburgh last season.

Dominguez pitched a perfect ninth inning and recorded his fifth save of the season in Monday's 6-4 win over Atlanta.

The right-hander appears to be interim manager Rob Thompson's top choice as closer, collecting three of the Phillies' last four saves, with Brad Hand securing the fourth. Dominguez has certainly earned the role -- since the beginning of June, he's posted a 1.65 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and 20:4 K:BB through 16.1 innings -- but his success may not dissuade the team from trading for a more established ninth-inning option at the deadline.

Bard earned a save against the Brewers on Monday, allowing one hit and one walk in one scoreless inning.

Bard entered in the ninth inning with a two-run lead, and he got into immediate danger when Christian Yelich led off for Milwaukee with a single and Willy Adames subsequently reached on an error. Bard was able to bounce back by retiring the next two batters, and he got Luis Urias to line out to end the contest after loading the bases with a walk. Bard has been a major bright spot for the Rockies this season, racking up 21 saves -- tied for fourth-most in the majors -- while posting a 1.91 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 43:19 K:BB over 37.2 innings. He struggled late in the season last year and eventually lost his closer job, but he's thus far shown no signs of slowing down in 2022.

Finnegan allowed a hit and struck out one in a scoreless inning to earn the save in Monday's 4-1 win over the Dodgers.

Finnegan was called on for five outs to close out Sunday's game versus Arizona, and he was back on the mound again Monday. He gave up a leadoff single to Gavin Lux but retired the next three batters to secure his third save of the year. Finnegan's covered 3.2 scoreless innings in his last three appearances and now owns a 3.66 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 44:13 K:BB through 39.1 innings. He's the Nationals' closer after Tanner Rainey (elbow) suffered a season-ending injury, but Finnegan's heavy workload in the last two days may leave him unavailable should a save chance arise Tuesday.

Junis (4-2) allowed a run on three hits, a walk and a hit batter with two strikeouts in 4.1 innings, taking the loss Monday versus the Diamondbacks.

Junis allowed more baserunners than the Giants contributed in the entire contest, and he received no run support in his first start since June 10. The right-hander wasn't bad, but he was limited to 62 pitches (38 strikes) as he continues to build back up after missing over a month with a hamstring strain. He's been generally effective with a 2.98 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 44:11 K:BB through 54.1 innings in 11 appearances (eight starts) this season. He's projected for a home start versus the Cubs this weekend, though it's likely Junis will still have a workload restriction for at least a couple more outings.

Effross worked around a hit to pitch a scoreless ninth inning and record the save in Monday's 3-2 win over the Pirates. He struck out one.

Regular closer David Robertson pitched the last two days, so the Cubs gave him the day off and turned to Effross instead. The 28-year-old responded with his first save at the MLB level in four career chances. Effross has been pretty solid this year with a 2.72 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 50 strikeouts across 43 innings, and he might end up seeing more save chances if the veteran Robertson ends up getting traded before the upcoming deadline.

Manaea (5-5) allowed nine runs (four earned) on eight hits and a walk over 3.1 frames Monday, striking out four and taking a loss against the Tigers.

Manaea turned in a pair of scoreless frames before coughing up five runs in the third inning, including a grand slam by Eric Haase. The 30-year-old lefty was tagged with four more runs in the fourth, including a leadoff shot by Jeimer Candelario. It was the fourth time this year that Manaea's given up two homers in a start and the first time since June 14. His ERA is up to 4.33 with a 104:39 through 18 appearances. Manaea is lined up to face the Twins at home this weekend.

Pop left Monday's game against the Reds with an undisclosed injury, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

The nature of Pop's injury is unclear at this time, and he'll be labeled day-to-day until more information comes to light.

Cousins (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment Tuesday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

An elbow injury has kept Cousins out of action since the final day in April, but he has seemingly reached the final stage of his recovery. He will pitch Tuesday in the Arizona Complex League, and if all goes well will then advance to Triple-A Nashville.

Yates (elbow) will make his next rehab appearance Wednesday with Triple-A Gwinnett, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Yates' last two rehab outings took place at Double-A Mississippi, and he's yet to surrender a run while on his current stint. "Everything's going really, really good right now," stated manager Brian Snitker, per Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Braves have yet to reveal a concrete timetable for the reliever's return, though it seems likely he'll need just a few more appearances in the minors before being activated from the 60-day injured list.