MLB Player News

Smith will serve as the opener Saturday against the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Smith has appeared in one game with the Mets this season, throwing a clean inning against Baltimore on May 12. He'll likely only throw only one or two innings, with Joey Lucchesi expected to throw the bulk of the innings after Smith.

Melancon shut down a 5-4 win over St. Louis to pick up his 13th save Friday, allowing a home run with one strikeout in the process.

Melancon surrendered a two-out home run to Nolan Arenado that brought the Cardinals to within one run but was able to induce a Yadier Molina groundout to end the game. Melancon's league-leading 13 saves for a strong team shows he's one of the best relief options in the game.

Jansen pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to save Friday's 9-6 win against the Marlins.

Jansen retired all three Marlins he faced in securing an easy save for Los Angeles. He now has seven saves and a 1.65 ERA on the season and remains among the game's top closers. Jansen hasn't allowed an earned run in his last six appearances.

Bard worked around a walk to throw a scoreless ninth inning and earn the save against the Reds on Friday.

Eugenio Suarez's two-run homer in the eighth inning created a save situation for Bard and the right-hander got the job done on 12 pitches. He has shut the door four times for Colorado, but he also has three blown saves and owns a 6.59 ERA. Clearly, he's still the No. 1 closer option, but Bard should be considered on thin ice in the role.

Alexander (shoulder) won't be ready to return for 2-3 more weeks, Michael J. Duarte of NBC LA reports.

Alexander went on the injured list due to left shoulder inflammation in early May. His stay on the IL was originally expected to be brief, but the left-hander appears to have hit a roadblock in his recovery. in 11.2 innings this season, Alexander has allowed three earned runs while registering a 5:1 K:BB.

Kimbrel struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning Friday to record his seventh save of the season in a 4-2 win over the Tigers.

The veteran closer's renaissance continued as he fired 10 of 12 pitches for strikes. Kimbrel is 7-for-8 in save chances to begin the year, but more impressively he's posted a 0.60 ERA through 15 innings, along with a 24:7 K:BB, after failing to get his ERA below 5.00 in either of the prior two seasons.

Brogdon (4-1) retired the only batter he faced and earned the win Friday versus Toronto.

The right-hander relieved starter Vince Velasquez with two outs in the sixth inning. Brogdon got Cavan Biggio to fly out to end the inning, and Philadelphia took the lead with a five-run rally in the top of the seventh. The 26-year-old has a 5.28 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 10:7 K:BB across 15.1 innings this year. He's given up three runs (two earned) in in 5.1 innings in May, and he typically hasn't seen much high-leverage work.

Castro (0-1) allowed a run on one hit and two walks in one-third of an inning to take the loss Friday against Tampa Bay.

Castro got Yandy Diaz to fly out to start the ninth inning, but he allowed the next three batters to get aboard. Reliever Aaron Loup entered the game and allowed a walkoff single to Brett Phillips, with the decisive run charged to Castro. Through 13.1 innings, Castro has a 3.38 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 20:8 K:BB and two holds in 14 appearances. The hard-throwing righty has been reasonably effective in a versatile role, although he's not likely to challenge Edwin Diaz for saves.

Gallegos has fired three scoreless innings and garnered a hold across his last two appearances after surrendering two earned runs on four hits over 1.1 innings to the Rockies last Saturday.

Gallegos saw a seven-appearance scoreless streak snapped with the aforementioned hiccup against Colorado, but the fact he's bounced right back is certainly encouraging for fantasy managers. The right-hander already has seven holds across his 18 appearances, and although he's just 1-for-3 in save chances, he could still get the occasional ninth-inning assignment when Alex Reyes is unavailable.

Hernandez (biceps) will begin a rehab assignment next week, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Reports from last week suggested that this could be the week Hernandez begins a rehab assignment, but he evidently needs a bit more time. He got through a 30-pitch live batting practice session Thursday but will need to build up his pitch count before returning to the big-league rotation.