MLB Player News

Howard was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday, The Denver Post reports.

Howard's stay with the Rockies lasted just four days, with his return to the minors coinciding with Harrison Musgrave's activation from the bereavement list. The 25-year-old made just one appearance during his brief stay with the Rockies, allowing one hit in a scoreless inning of work. He'll continue to work as a starter with the Isotopes.

Gott was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday, Jamal Collier of MLB.com reports.

Gott is the roster casualty to make room for Wednesday's starter, Erick Fedde. In 16.1 innings for the Nationals this year, Gott has a 4.96 ERA and 12:8 K:BB.

Beck was claimed off waivers by the Mets on Wednesday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Beck will fill a low-leverage role in the Mets' bullpen after being designated for assignment by the White Sox on Saturday. The 27-year-old's ERA sits at a respectable 4.18 after falling north of 6.00 in each of his first three big-league seasons, though his 6.02 FIP indicates that he isn't really pitching any better. His 14.7 percent career strikeout rate and 12.0 percent career walk rate don't give much reason for optimism. A corresponding move has not yet been announced.

Nelson remains limited to throwing off flat ground while he continues to recover from September shoulder surgery, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

With Nelson having yet to resume mound work approximately two and a half months into the season, it appears safe to conclude that he won't be an option for the Brewers until after the All-Star break. The Brewers haven't suggested that Nelson has endured any major hiccups in his rehab, but it appears the team is inclined to proceed cautiously with the prized right-hander, who emerged as the staff ace last season with a 3.49 ERA and 199 strikeouts in 175.1 innings.

Hicks, who fired two perfect innings in which he racked up four strikeouts during Tuesday's loss to the Padres, now sports a 19:3 K:BB over his last 10 appearances.

The 21-year-old phenom also sports an unblemished ERA through five June outings while recording multiple punchouts in four of them. The assumption that Hicks' triple-digit fastball and sinker would automatically lead to an eye-popping amount of missed bats remained largely unfounded until late May, when he began incorporating more offspeed stuff into his repertoire with the aid of pitching coach Mike Maddux. The returns on that experiment continue to be stellar, and with bullpen mate Luke Gregerson now expected to miss another 4-to-6 weeks following arthroscopic knee surgery, Hicks should continue seeing high-leverage work for the foreseeable future.

Smith struck out the side over a scoreless inning in Tuesday's 3-1 loss to Miami.

Outside of one bad outing against the Cubs on May 25, Smith has been untouchable since his return from Tommy John surgery this season. The 28-year-old now owns a 1.13 ERA with 19 strikeouts over 16 innings. The only downside with Smith from a fantasy perspective is the lack of holds (three) and saves (zero) while being slotted being Tony Watson and Hunter Strickland on the Giants' bullpen depth chart.

Cimber picked up the win after tossing three shutout innings while surrendering just one hit and striking out four in a 4-2 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday.

Cimber teamed up with starter Matt Strahm to combine for six shutout innings with seven strikeouts to no walks in a bullpen game. The former has been excellent in his rookie campaign with the Padres, posting a 2.60 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 7.0 K/BB over 34.2 innings. Cimber has managed to post those impressive ratios despite averaging 86.2 mph on his fastball. Brad Hand, Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen have a firm grip on the late-inning roles in the bullpen, so Cimber's value is capped in standard fantasy formats.

The Braves designated Jackson for assignment Wednesday.

The transaction clears a spot on the active roster for Mike Soroka (shoulder), who was activated from the 10-day disabled list ahead of his scheduled start Wednesday against the Mets. It's the fourth time in the last year that the Braves have DFA'd Jackson, with the right-hander going unclaimed off waivers the previous three times and remaining in the organization.

Dominguez worked around a hit with one strikeout in a scoreless inning of work to earn his third save of the season Tuesday against the Rockies.

Luis Garcia began the inning, but he allowed four straight hits to bring in a run and load the bases for Dominguez. The latter allowed an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to the first two batters he faced, but he got the final two outs to end the threat. The Philadelphia bullpen is still fluid, but Dominguez's dominant ratios and his 10.2 K/9 make him the best bet to see save chances moving forward.

Ferguson did not factor into the decision Tuesday, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three over four innings against the Rangers.

Making just his second big-league start, Ferguson was limited to just 65 pitches and four innings but he was decently effective in that time. The 21-year-old threw 40 of his pitches for strikes -- including six swings-and-misses -- and all five hits allowed were singles. The Dodgers' starting rotation is decimated by injuries at the moment, so the young left-hander may get a chance to stick around for a few turns. He's posted a 1.53 ERA in 10 starts between Double-A and Triple-A, notching 52 strikeouts over 47 innings.