MLB Player News

Hand didn't allow a run in an inning of work while converting his 15th hold of the season in Thursday's 5-2 win over the Giants.

The dominant lefty danced around three base runners to extend his scoreless streak to 14.1 innings. Hand has been a great source of holds while helping fantasy owners' ratios. The 27-year-old's name has been involved in several trade rumors, but a move away from pitcher-friendly Petco Park likely won't alter his value much, as his elite 4.4 K/BB and 1.44 ERA on the road indicate that could pitch successfully in any venue.

Stewart tossed two scoreless innings Thursday, walking one and striking out one in a loss to the Braves.

Make that 13 scoreless innings for the 25-year-old in the majors this season. All of his appearances have been two or more innings, so he appears to be manager Dave Roberts' long reliever of choice. Stewart, however, isn't striking out enough batters (6.9 K/9) to have relative fantasy value in his current role.

Stephenson will get the start Saturday against the Marlins.

Stephenson was officially tabbed as the starter after tossing six innings with Triple-A Louisville on Monday. The 24-year-old has made 13 appearances with the Reds this year, but Saturday will mark his first start since last season. Since being optioned by the club in late May, Stephenson has posted a 3.92 ERA with a 1.03 WHIP over the course of eight appearances (seven starts) at the Triple-A level. During eight starts with the big-league team in 2016, Stephenson allowed 25 runs in 37 innings of work with a 31:19 K:BB.

Koch could make a spot start Saturday against the Nationals, Jeremy Vernon of MLB.com reports.

The Diamondbacks called Koch up from Triple-A Reno prior to Thursday's game against the Reds, providing the team with another fresh arm after Taijuan Walker, the team's originally scheduled starter for that contest, was placed on the paternity list. Patrick Corbin, who had been in line to take the hill Saturday, was moved up in the schedule to start Thursday and provided the Diamondbacks with 7.1 quality innings while Koch went unused out of the bullpen in the victory. Since the Diamondbacks confirmed Zack Godley would start on normal rest in Friday's series opener and Walker isn't expected to be activated until Sunday, a void in the rotation still exists for Saturday. Thus, if Koch is again unneeded in relief Friday, he'll likely be the leading candidate to start Saturday, though he won't make for an attractive DFS or season-long streaming option in such a scenario. The right-hander has submitted an 8.47 ERA and 1.59 WHIP over 17 innings with Reno this season.

Ellington will be called up by the Marlins prior to Friday's game against the Reds, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Ellington will take the roster spot of the recently departed David Phelps, who was sent over to Seattle on Thursday. During 11 adventurous appearances in the big leagues this season, Ellington allowed 10 earned runs off 19 hits and 13 walks while striking out 18 over the course of 11.2 innings. He figures to slide into a low-leverage role while trying to work back into the form that he showed the past two seasons.

Rodney tossed a perfect ninth inning in Thursday's 12-2 win over the Reds, striking out two batters.

Though manager Torey Lovullo is often reluctant to use Rodney outside of save situations, the Diamondbacks haven't had any arise since the All-Star break, so the 40-year-old was called upon for mop-up duty as a means of getting some work in for the first time in nearly two weeks. Rodney only needed 11 pitches to retire the side, so he should remain available out of the bullpen for the next two games, barring heavy usage Friday against the Nationals. Rodney's 5.40 ERA and 1.29 WHIP make him far from a reliable closing option, but with 22 saves in 27 chances, he hasn't blown enough games for the Diamondbacks to ponder a change just yet.

Maurer pitched a scoreless ninth inning to collect his 20th save of the season during Thursday's win over San Francisco. He did allow two hits and walk.

Maurer has now converted six consecutive saves and made eight straight appearances without allowing a run. For the year, Maurer's 5.17 ERA is still an eyesore, but his 1.15 WHIP, 8.9 K/9 and 2.79 FIP are all encouraging marks. As long as he's strutting out to the mound in the ninth inning, the 27-year-old righty is a strong fantasy asset.

White was promoted to Double-A Tulsa on Thursday, Eric Stephen of SB Nation reports.

The Dodgers promoted several of their talented prospects to Double-A on Thursday, including White, Yadier Alvarez, and Dennis Santana. A broken toe kept White out for the month of June, but he responded with three scoreless outings with eight strikeouts (7.0 IP) after returning at High-A Rancho Cucamonga. The 22-year-old will now head to Double-A, where he figures to remain for the rest of the 2017 season.

Nelson (8-5) allowed four runs on six hits and a walk while striking out five batters in Thursday's loss to the Pirates.

As has been the case during their series in Pittsburgh, it's tough to point at the pitching as the reason behind the loss. Nelson was plagued by a number of bloop hits strung together, although Gregory Polanco did leave the yard in the fourth inning to tie the game at that point. This is the first start since June 23 in which he allowed more than three earned runs. Nelson's ERA is still a solid 3.43 mark and he's striking out batters at a good rate, but he'll look to get back into the win column in his next start Wednesday against the Nationals.

Szapucki will miss the remainder of the 2017 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in New York on Thursday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

This is a big blow for the pitching prospect, although not an unexpected one given his history of arm troubles, as he had been dominating at Low-A Columbia (2.79 ERA, 27:10 K:BB in 29 innings pitched) prior to being shut down at the beginning of the month. Szapucki will start on the long road back from the operation, likely rendering him unavailable until the latter half of the 2018 season or perhaps even the start of the 2019 campaign.