MLB Player News

Montero (5-11) allowed five runs on seven hits and a pair of walks over just four innings in Wednesday's loss to Miami.

The 26-year-old righty has now failed to last longer than 5.1 innings in four consecutive starts since his stunning 8.1 shutout frames against the Reds back on Aug. 30. He's still usually missing some bats, but Montero's issues with command and control sprout up in almost all of his starts, making him practically unusable for fantasy purposes.

Nelson underwent successful surgery on his shoulder Tuesday, but will miss some additional time next spring at the beginning of the 2018 regular season, Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Nelson's labrum required addition repair, which appears to be the culprit behind the extended time needed for the right-hander to recover. Although General Manager David Stearns failed to provide any sort of timetable, since it is unknown at this point, it is apparent that Nelson will be out a portion of the season when the Brewers begin the 2018 season. The team will provide a more accurate status on his timetable once he's able to begin rehabbing over the winter.

Johnson was claimed off waivers by the Giants on Wednesday.

Once considered a top pitching prospect in the Cubs' organization, Johnson was designated for assignment last week after posting a 4.31 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and 74:27 K:BB with Triple-A Iowa this season (his first working almost exclusively out of the bullpen). With this move, Johnson goes onto the Giants' 40-man roster, but it's uncertain if they have plans to use him at the big-league level over the final 11 days of the campaign.

Edwards pitched a perfect eighth inning with a strikeout in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Rays to record his 23rd hold of the season.

The 23 holds are good for third in the National League, as Edwards has been a key late-inning reliever for the Cubs. His 12.9 K/9 speaks to how nasty he's been. Edwards is a strong fantasy asset in leagues that count holds, but his strikeout potential gives him some value in other leagues as well.

Strop pitched a perfect seventh inning with a strikeout in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Rays to record his 20th hold of the season.

Strop has his ERA under 3.00 and his 20 holds rank 11th in the National League. He remains a vital member of the Cubs bullpen, though he's behind Wade Davis, and possibly Carl Edwards and Justin Wilson, in the saves pecking order.

Manager Bruce Bochy indicated Tuesday that Melancon (forearm) will enter the 2018 season as the Giants' closer, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

The Giants signed Melancon to a four-year, $62 million contract this offseason to be their long-term closer, but the veteran reliever was displaced from the ninth-inning role as he battled a myriad of elbow and forearm issues throughout the season. Despite the rocky 2017 campaign, Melancon will be reinserted into the closer role next season. He's a prime candidate to put together a solid bounce-back performance, assuming he's fully healthy.

Ottavino has an ERA of 5.40 over 50 innings this season with the Rockies.

Ottavino hasn't seen much action lately, and with his sky-high ERA it's not hard to see why. He has consistently struggled this season, and has given up eight runs in his last 10 innings. The Rockies have been using him mostly in low-to-medium-leverage situations (41.2 of his 50 innings), and it's hard to envision the 31-year-old throwing many key innings down the stretch.

Wilson is aiming to pitch better and prove himself capable of a high-leverage role as the postseason approaches, Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Wilson has mainly struggled with the Cubs since coming over before the July 31 trade deadline, as he's posted a 6.23 ERA and 2.15 WHIP in 13 innings with his new team. But manager Joe Maddon noted that Wilson could still play a key role for the team late in games. "Man, he could be the linchpin of a lot of this stuff right here," Maddon said. "If we get this guy right, that could make a big difference down the stretch run and hopefully into the playoffs."

Hader threw 1.2 scoreless innings in Monday's victory over the Pirates and allowed just one hit while striking out three batters.

Hader allowed four earned runs over four appearances around the turn of this month, but he turned things around quickly, allowing just Monday's hit and one walk while striking out 13 batters in 7.1 innings over his last five outings. The Brewers will continue leaning on him as the top left-handed option in their bullpen as they push for the playoffs.

Hand pitched a scoreless ninth inning to collect his 19th save of the season during Monday's win over Arizona.

Hand has now converted 11 of his past 12 save opportunities and posted a 2.25 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 11.3 K/9 over 16 innings during that 14-game stretch. Those are rock-solid numbers in all fantasy formats, and while he's unlikely to see too many more chances to close out games this season, Hand remains a must-own asset.