MLB Player News

The Dodgers recalled Bickford from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Bickford was unable to win a spot in the Dodgers' Opening Day bullpen after he was delayed in camp by a bout with arm soreness, but after making a few tune-up appearances at Oklahoma City, he's been deemed ready to join the big-league club. According to Eric Stephen of SBNation.com, manager Dave Roberts said that Bickford will be restricted to appearances of no more than an inning initially, but the right-hander is otherwise sufficiently built up and able to pitch on back-to-back days if needed.

The Reds placed Duarte on the 10-day injured list Sunday with right elbow inflammation, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Duarte presumably experienced swelling in his elbow after he was checked out by doctors following his one-inning appearance in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Dodgers. The Reds replaced Duarte on the 28-man active roster with infielder Alejo Lopez, who was recalled from Triple-A Louisville.

Suter (undisclosed) came on in relief during Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Cardinals, working around a hit while striking out one over a scoreless inning.

After suffering a scare in Friday's 10-1 loss when he collided with the dugout railing, Suter was available out of the bullpen a day later. His clean relief appearance Saturday suggests that Suter avoided any injury as a result of Friday's incident.

Rogers allowed a hit in a scoreless inning in Saturday's 4-2 win over the Guardians.

Rogers continues to do his best work in a setup role. He's already earned four holds in five appearances, though he also took a loss in the lone outing he's given up a run. The right-hander has historically been more of a groundball pitcher, so it's not surprising to see him post a 3:0 K:BB across 4.2 innings. As long as his performance is steady, he'll see high-leverage work, but he shouldn't be expected to pitch very often in the ninth inning.

The Marlins optioned Castano to Triple-A Jacksonville on Sunday, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

After making one-inning relief appearances Friday and Saturday, Castano was unlikely to be available out of the bullpen for at least another day or two, so the Marlins chose to send him to the minors in favor of a fresher arm. Miami recalled Paul Campbell in a corresponding move, and he's expected to be available for Sunday's series finale against the Phillies as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen.

Leone (1-0) earned the win in relief Saturday against the Guardians after tossing a scoreless inning, striking out one.

Leone has now tossed three straight scoreless outings, allowing one hit and striking out five with no walks during that span. He already has one win, one hold and one save through four outings, and while he might not be a primary candidate for save situations, he should be in line for high-leverage work -- especially if he can continue pitching like this going forward.

Melancon struck out two and did not allow a baserunner to earn the save Saturday against the Mets.

Melancon was called upon to protect a one-run lead, and he had no trouble doing so to pick up his first save of the season. He retired the Mets in order and generated swinging strikeouts against the final two batters he faced. Though this was his first save, Melancon has made four appearances this season, allowing one earned run across four frames. He appears to be locked into the closer role.

Phillips (1-0) was credited with the win over Cincinnati on Saturday, pitching a perfect inning during which he struck out one batter.

Julio Urias allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings but was relieved after throwing 65 pitches. Phillips came on in the sixth and made quick work of three batters, and he was tagged with the win as a result of Los Angeles tallying four runs in the bottom of the frame. After giving up two runs in his season debut against Colorado on April 10, Phillips has followed with 3.1 scoreless innings over his subsequent three appearances.

Peters (2-0) earned the win in relief Saturday against the Nationals after tossing two scoreless innings, walking two.

Peters has made two relief appearances this season and has come out with the win while hurling two frames in each one. His command wasn't sharp in this one, though, as he tossed only 10 of his 23 pitches for strikes, and in fact, he has posted a 2:3 K:BB so far this season -- albeit in a very limited sample size of four innings.

Wilson gave up two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out two across 4.1 innings Saturday against the Nationals. He didn't factor into the decision.

Wilson has not been involved in the decision in either of his first two starts of the campaign, but the early signs are not really encouraging -- he has given up multiple runs while failing to throw at least five innings in each of his first two appearances. He owns a 4:4 K:BB over his first 8.1 frames of work in 2022.