MLB Player News

Peralta (hip) had a successful bullpen session prior to Thursday's game against the Brewers, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Peralta landed on the 10-day injured list June 15 with a right hip flexor strain and has now thrown two bullpen sessions this week. The 27-year-old will likely require a rehab stint before returning to the majors, but he could still rejoin the Reds shortly after the All-Star break.

Rodney worked around two hits in a scoreless ninth inning against the Marlins on Thursday en route to his second save of the season.

The 42-year-old has found new life with Washington, as he's now turned in four straight scoreless appearances with two saves, a hold and four strikeouts since joining the Nationals at the end of June. He had a 9.42 ERA and 2.23 WHIP in 17 appearances with the A's before being released. Per Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post, manager Dave Martinez said Rodney is "going to be the guy" when regular closer Sean Doolittle is unavailable.

Hernandez (1-3) allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out six over 4.1 innings in a loss to the Nationals on Thursday.

The long ball was a problem; Hernandez gave up homers to Kurt Suzuki and Anthony Rendon. He also uncorked a wild pitch and hit two batters. The 24-year-old has been decent overall, but with Hernandez now unavailable through the All-Star break, it seems likely that he gets sent down for a fresh arm ahead of the Marlins' weekend series in Atlanta.

Wilson was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.

Wilson earned the win Wednesday with two runs allowed over six innings, but he returns to Triple-A as the Braves bolster their bullpen depth ahead of the All-Star break. The 21-year-old is expected to return to the majors when the Braves first need a fifth starter after the break, lining up to pitch July 16 against the Brewers, Gabe Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Kelly (3-3) pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout to pick up the win against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Kelly came into the 10th inning with the score tied, 4-4. He retired the Diamondbacks in order at a tough part of the lineup including Ketel Marte and Eduardo Escobar. Cody Bellinger then blasted a walkoff homer in the bottom of the frame to gift Kelly the victory. Perhaps his successful outing is a sign of what's to come for the 31-year-old, who has struggled mightily with the Dodgers this season. Overall, he owns a 5.76 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and 35:14 K:BB over 29 appearances.

Brebbia (2-3) picked up the win Wednesday against the Mariners after tossing 2.1 perfect innings with six strikeouts.

With the Cardinals trailing 2-0 in the sixth, Brebbia replaced reliever Tyler Webb to record the final out of the inning. Brebbia was then even more effective in his next two frames, posting a season-high six strikeouts in his longest appearance of the year. Through 37 games in relief, the 29-year-old owns a 3.21 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 52:15 K:BB.

Pivetta (4-3) was dealt the loss Wednesday in Atlanta after surrendering six runs (five earned) on five hits over 5.1 innings. He struck out four and walked one.

Pivetta pitched relatively well for much of the evening but struggled with runners on base, giving up a pair of three-run homers to sink the performance. The 26-year-old heads into the All-Star break with a 5.84 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 52:19 K:BB through 11 starts.

Kimbrel (0-1) was charged with both a loss and a blown save against the Pirates on Wednesday, allowing two runs on one hit and a walk over two-thirds of an inning.

After blowing an early lead, the Cubs mounted a comeback in the seventh and turned to their newly signed closer to win their first game of this series. However, Kimbrel simply added to the Cubs' blues. After retiring the first hitter, Kimbrel recorded only one more out in the next four batters, and that was on a sacrifice fly that lost the game. It's still a very small sample size, but Kimbrel has yielded five runs in 2.2 innings (16.88 ERA) across three appearances with the Cubs thus far.

Smith gave up no hits and struck out two in a scoreless inning to record his 22nd save in a 7-5 win over the Padres on Wednesday.

Smith cruised through the ninth inning to nail down the save. Smith looks to carry his success from June into July, as he posted eight saves with a 1.54 ERA in 12 appearances last month. The left-hander has a 1-0 record with a 2.10 ERA heading into the All-Star break.

Iglesias struck out one and hit a batter but did not allow an earned run in the ninth inning to record the save Wednesday against the Brewers.

Iglesias entered the game in the ninth inning with a three-run lead and had little trouble closing out the contest to record his 15th save of the season. It was his second consecutive scoreless outing since surrendering seven earned runs across two appearances to close out June. Encouragingly, he's recorded each of the Reds' past two saves, though he will likely continue to cede at least some opportunities to Michael Lorenzen as the season wears on.