MLB Player News

Even though Grace notched two saves over the weekend against the Reds, he could still be at risk of a demotion following the acquisition of Sean Doolittle, the Washington Post speculates.

Adding Doolittle gives the Nats four left-handers in the bullpen (Doolittle, Enny Romero, Oliver Perez and Grace), with Grace being the only one remaining with options. Their roster decisions should come to a head Tuesday, as they play an early game Monday (12:35 ET) and need to find room to add their two new relievers and Tuesday's projected starter Edwin Jackson to their active roster.

Medina credits his improved strikeout rate this season to a combination of attacking the zone more and changes he made to his slider late last season, Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Medina mostly threw a loopy curveball as his offspeed pitch last season when he struck out just 34 batters in 64.2 innings for short season Williamsport. He has used his slider, which is more of a slurve, this season in addition to his curveball, and Medina's struck out 97 batters in 81.1 innings at Low-A Lakewood. Pitching coach Brian Sweeney said Medina still has room for improvement with his slider, "He has a great break to it. But it's 82 [mph] max. With the arm speed he has, he could throw it at 88. Then it'll be devastating." The 20-year-old is yet another high-upside arm in the low minors of the Phillies' farm system and should be on the radar for dynasty-league owners.

Fields fired a perfect inning while striking out two in Sunday's 3-2 win over the Marlins.

A rough stretch in June led to a demotion to the minors for the veteran reliever, but he has looked better since rejoining the bigs, giving up just one run while striking out seven over 5.2 innings. The Dodgers have plenty of right-handed options in the bullpen and don't involve themselves in too many tight games, which limits Fields' fantasy value in holds leagues.

Hernandez gave up a two-run homer in Sunday's loss to the Nats, one of five given up by the Reds and the third by Hernandez. Only one run was charged to Hernandez, who came on in relief of Homer Bailey.

Hernandez's line this season is pretty interesting -- after Sunday's outing he has a 1.88 ERA and 0.84 WHIP, with 18 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. But three of the four hits he has allowed have left the yard, and he has already allowed seven walks in that timeframe. If you squint, you can see some late-inning upside, but also a need for more refining.

Jansen struck out three batters through 1.1 innings to collect his 23rd save of the season during Sunday's win over Miami.

Jansen had been nursing flu-like symptoms following the All-Star game and even felt dizzy during his appearance Friday. However, it hasn't hindered his work on the mound. He's now converted all 23 of his save opportunities and sports a 0.90 ERA, 0.58 WHIP and 13.7 K/9 for the year. With the Dodgers piling up wins in bunches, Jansen projects to remain a high-end fantasy asset.

Neris pitched a scoreless ninth to nail down his eighth save Sunday in Milwaukee despite allowing two hits.

Neris came in with a 5-2 lead but promptly allowed a pair of singles to bring the tying run to the plate. He settled down from there, though, striking out Stephen Vogt before inducing a pair of popups to seal the victory. Neris has converted eight of 11 save opportunities and owns a 3.43 ERA.

Hoffman (6-1) allowed four runs off seven hits and one walk while striking out three over the course of six innings during Sunday's win against the Mets.

Hoffman gave up four runs for the second consecutive start but walked away with a victory after the Rockies put up nine runs by the end of the fourth inning. The right-hander had a relatively smooth afternoon and was able to get out of jams besides home runs by Lucas Duda and Asdrubal Cabrera in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively. Hoffman continues to provide a sturdy presence on the mound for Colorado and has been a reliable starter during his road starts away from Coors Field this season. His next scheduled start projects to be Friday against the Pirates at home.

Vizcaino (finger) will make a rehab appearance Monday, followed by a possible return to Atlanta by the end of next week, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Vizcaino tossed a bullpen session Sunday, which marked the second one in the past three days, and appears to be on the verge of activation. The reliever will likely be able to rejoin the team prior to the series against the Dodgers, barring any setbacks during his rehab appearance.

Robles was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday, Marc Craig of Newsday reports.

Robles heads back to New York after spending the better part of the last two months down in Triple-A. He has appeared in 21 games for the Mets this season, allowing 15 earned runs in just 21.2 innings of work. The main problem for Robles has been giving up free bases, with 13 walks handed out to opposing batters. In a corresponding move, the team demoted Chasen Bradford back to Las Vegas.

Ramirez owns a 1.36 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 38:18 K:BB over 53 innings out of the bullpen for Double-A Biloxi this season.

Ramirez's numbers would be excellent for any reliever, but they're even more impressive when considering that he first began converting from first base to pitcher last fall. The 27-year-old doesn't have a spot on the 40-man roster and likely won't surface with the Brewers this season, but he certainly has a clearer path to the big leagues than he did as a position prospect.