MLB Player News

Stewart was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

Stewart was used from the bullpen during Monday's game against the Diamondbacks, giving up one run on three hits and a walk over 1.2 innings while striking out three batters. He'll return to Oklahoma City, where he owns a 2.41 ERA and 1.04 WHIP after four starts (18.2 innings).

Paredes was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

In a corresponding move, Brock Stewart was optioned to Oklahoma City. Although he's allowed just two runs over nine games (9.2 innings) with OKC this season, Paredes has been putting a ton of runners on base. He's allowed eight hits and walked seven batters across 9.2 innings.

Almonte is back in action with Triple-A Albuquerque after missing a little over two weeks with a nerve issue in his throwing elbow.

He logged one inning (giving up one run) on April 22, and then gave up three runs over five frames on April 29, returning to a starter's workload. Almonte would be slightly interesting if he were in a different organization, but his shaky command/control paired with a future home of Coors Field limits the intrigue in 2018, even if he gets a call later this season.

Mayers was optioned to Triple-A Memphis for the third time this season, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.

Mayers is clearly right on the fringe of the major-league roster and will likely shuffle back and forth between Memphis and St. Louis quite a lot this season. He's unlikely to have much fantasy value in the time he spends in the majors. He does have a 1.35 ERA in 6.2 innings so far this season, but his strikeout rate is just 12.9 percent and his 5.22 xFIP suggests that he's deserved to give up more runs than he has.

Kinley was returned to the Marlins on Tuesday, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Kinley was selected by the Twins in this year's Rule 5 draft, but he was ultimately designated for assignment and sent back to the Marlins after struggling mightily in four appearances with Minnesota (24.30 ERA across 3.1 innings). The 27-year-old will report to Triple-A New Orleans.

Alzolay struck out six and walked two in seven innings of one-hit ball Monday for Triple-A Iowa to record the win over Omaha.

The Cubs purposely delayed Alzolay's start to the minor-league season in order to limit his innings count, and the decision has seemingly paid dividends based on how dominant the 23-year-old has looked over his first three outings. Alzolay has turned in a shiny 2.12 ERA and 0.82 WHIP in those contests, with Monday's start representing his best to date. Alzolay isn't expected to receive an extended look as a starter with the Cubs this season if all of the team's current rotation members stay healthy and perform up to expectations, but the right-hander could make an impact out of the bullpen in the second half. His fastball already routinely sits in the mid-90s as a starter, making it conceivable that Alzolay might pick up a couple ticks of velocity while making max-effort relief appearances.

Johnson was the winning pitcher of record after firing a scoreless inning (one walk, no strikeouts) in Monday's comeback win over the Padres.

Johnson has been a pleasant surprise for the Giants after earning a bullpen job this spring, posting a 2.57 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 14 innings. The 26-year-old owns a 3.91 FIP due in large part to his lack of strikeouts (5.8 K/9), but he could work his way up the ladder in a bullpen that lacks reliable right-handed relievers outside of closer Hunter Strickland.

Hand (1-3) blew his second save and took the loss as he allowed three runs on two hits and two walks over 1.1 innings Monday against the Giants.

Although Hand has already suffered three losses, he had been on fire since the calendar turned to April. Over his previous 10 appearances, Hand had held opponents without an earned run over 9.1 innings with a 17:5 K:BB. Hand was going for his longest save of the year Monday night -- five outs -- and it seemed like he ran out of gas. After getting the first two outs of the ninth via strikeout, Hand walked two batters and allowed two singles to allow the Giants to turn a two-run deficit into a one-run victory. This shouldn't impact Hand's status as Padres closer, but he did throw 37 pitches, so we may see Kirby Yates or Craig Stammen pitching the ninth in Hand's stead should the Padres need a closer in the next couple of days.

Boxberger struck out a batter in a clean ninth inning for his ninth save Monday against the Dodgers.

Boxberger remains perfect in save opportunities, but he has taken a pair of losses in non-save situations, the only two of his 13 outings in which he has allowed runs. His ERA is down to 2.25 as Boxberger looks to post a sub-3.00 ERA for the first time since 2014 with the Rays, when he struck out 104 batters against just 20 walks over 64.2 innings of brilliant relief work.

Peralta allowed three runs on a hit and two walks while retiring two batters in Monday's loss to the Brewers.

Perversely, he also managed to pick up his second hold of the season -- only because he exited the game with two runners on and the Reds still leading, only to see his inherited runners score. His ERA climbed to 4.40 with the outing.