MLB Player News

Grace (groin) will get the next two days off before being reevaluated Saturday, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

Grace, who has been sidelined since April 21 with a strained groin, has made two rehab appearances for Double-A Harrisburg, allowing an unearned run on four hits while striking out three across two innings. The Nationals will see how his groin feels in a couple of days before deciding whether to bring him back to the big-league bullpen or keep him on a rehab assignment.

General manager Michael Girsch said Reyes is dealing with a "significant" lat strain and will miss several starts, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. "Alex Reyes has a significant lat strain," Girsch said. "It is not going to be a couple starts. It's going to be more than a few starts."

This is a tough blow for the young right-hander, who suffered the injury in his first game back from Tommy John surgery. Reyes experienced a noticeable dip in velocity during Wednesday's outing against the Brewers, leaving the Cardinals worried, and a subsequent MRI confirmed the severity of the issue Thursday morning. He'll receive a second opinion in the coming days, but the Cardinals are preparing to move forward without Reyes for the foreseeable future. Carlos Martinez, who is on the shelf with a lat injury of his own, could rejoin the team's rotation next week in place of Reyes.

Venditte will head down to Triple-A Oklahoma City after just one day in the major leagues, Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLA.com reports.

Venditte allowed one run on two hits and struck out two in his lone relief appearance since being called up. He was sent back to Triple-A after the Dodgers officially activated Clayton Kershaw from the disabled list.

The Giants activated Law (ankle) from the 10-day disabled list Wednesday and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento, MLB.com reports.

Law had already made a one-inning rehab appearance with Sacramento on Tuesday, so he'll simply stick with the affiliate after the Giants didn't have a need for his services out of the bullpen now that he's healthy again. The right-hander was sidelined for a little over two weeks with the ankle injury.

Leiter was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Thursday, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Leiter will join the Phillies for the first time all season to offer a fresh arm in long relief after Drew Hutchison, who was designated for assignment in a corresponding roster move, and Victor Arano both worked a pair of relief innings in Wednesday's loss to the Dodgers. The 27-year-old owns a pristine 0.82 ERA and 15:4 K:BB across 11 innings between High-A Clearwater and Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season.

Strahm picked up the win in relief Wednesday, tossing two clean innings with a strikeout in a 3-2 win over the Marlins.

Strahm returned to the bullpen after his brief two-inning start Sunday. It appears that the club wants to keep him in a relief role going forward, following the announcement that Walker Lockett will be called up to take Joey Luchessi's (hip) next turn in the rotation. Strahm has posted a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 innings, but the club clearly doesn't want to push its new pitcher after he endured a rough knee injury last season.

Mayers was recalled from Triple-A Memphis on Thursday.

Mayers will return to the big leagues after being optioned to the minors Wednesday. He'll look to improve upon his already solid 2.63 ERA out of the bullpen during his next stint with the major-league squad.

Reyes was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right lat strain Thursday.

It was originally thought that Reyes avoided injury after experiencing a noticeable dip in his velocity during his 2018 big-league debut against the Brewers on Wednesday, but an evaluation upon his return to St. Louis confirmed the young right-hander suffered a lat injury that will require a stint on the disabled list. It's unclear how long Reyes will be sidelined with the issue, but the Cardinals figure to handle the 23-year-old with extra care seeing as Wednesday was his first game back from an extended absence due to Tommy John surgery. He tossed four scoreless innings in his first big-league start since 2016 prior to suffering the injury. Mike Mayers was recalled from Triple-A Memphis in a corresponding move.

Gott was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday, Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post reports.

Gott was sent back to the minors in order to free up a roster spot for Ryan Madson (pectoral), who was activated from the disabled list in a corresponding move. The 25-year-old owns a 5.28 ERA and 12:7 K:BB across 15.1 big-league innings this season. He'll continue to serve as organizational bullpen depth in the minors.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly wasn't willing to firmly commit to Brad Ziegler as his closer after Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Padres and suggested Barraclough would likely be first in line to save games if a change is made at the back of the bullpen, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. "You talk about leverage situations. Do you want your best guys pitching against the best part of the order? Or do you want [Barraclough] to pitching somewhere else?" Mattingly said, regarding his decision on how to deploy Barraclough going forward.

Ziegler retired only one of five batters he faced Wednesday to blow his first save in 10 chances this season, but the 38-year-old's 0-5 record and 7.83 ERA better illustrates how unreliable he has been in big spots this season. Despite righting the ship to some extent in the second half last season, Ziegler still finished with a 4.79 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in 47 innings, so the groundball specialist didn't enter the current campaign with much job security. In the aftermath of Ziegler's latest blowup, it appears the Marlins may finally be ready to consider other options in the ninth inning, with Barraclough and Drew Steckenrider both representing more dependable, higher-upside alternatives. Since Steckenrider endured a brief rough patch earlier in May, Barraclough likely has the inside edge on closing should Ziegler be pulled from the role. Barraclough has supplied a 1.48 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and has struck out 27 batters in 24.1 innings this season.