MLB Player News

Pivetta will start Friday against the Nationals, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Pivetta gets another start with Aaron Nola still sidelined with a lower-back strain. He'll face a tough challenge against the explosive Washington offense.

Melancon threw a scoreless inning and converted his sixth save in a 4-1 win over the Dodgers.

The Giants' closer received a couple days of rest after seeing heavy usage at the end of April. His return to the mound was a successful one -- he worked around a couple of singles for his sixth save in eight chances. Melancon has been the victim of an inflated .374 BABIP early on, leading to an uncharacteristically-high 1.31 WHIP. Outside of that, the rest of his ratios are at, or above, the impressive marks he posted with the Pirates.

Estevez was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday.

Estevez was sent down after an up-and-down start to the season, making room on the 25-man roster for Mike Dunn, who was recently activated from the disabled list. The 24-year-old struggled to a 7.94 ERA through 13 games (11.1 innings), though he only allowed earned runs in three of those games. He'll head back to Albuquerque for some more seasoning, but he should get another look sometime in 2017.

Pint, 19, has a 3.07 ERA and 10:12 K:BB through 14.2 innings for Low-A Asheville.

The Rockies are certainly going to be cautious with their prized pitching phenom, as Pint has struggled to locate his pitches during the early portion of his professional career. He will likely be on a strict innings limit in 2017, and though he remains an elite pitching prospect, Pint won't see the majors for at least a few years.

Mets manager Terry Collins confirmed that Montero would be called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to start Friday's game against the Marlins, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

The Mets are expected to make the transaction official in the hours leading up to Friday's series opener. Montero will get the first crack at entering the rotation in place of Noah Syndergaard (back), who could miss nearly three months, pending the results of the second opinion he was scheduled to receive Wednesday. Collins hasn't committed to starting Montero beyond Friday, however, so it will be up to the 26-year-old to prove that he's deserving of extended run in the rotation. Montero's track record at the big-league level probably won't warrant a speculative pickup outside of most NL-only leagues, as he owns a 5.51 (5.00 FIP) and 5.8 BB/9 rate over 80 career innings.

Wittgren was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans on Wednesday.

Edinson Volquez (thumb) was placed on the disabled list after the Marlins determined he would miss his next turn in the rotation Sunday against the Mets, so Wittgren should help fortify the bullpen at least until the team needs to recall a starter from Triple-A to replace Volquez. Wittgren has made three appearances with the big club this season, giving up two runs in 6.2 innings and striking out seven batters.

Moore was knocked around for nine runs on six hits and five walks over 3.1 innings in a loss to the Dodgers on Tuesday. He struck out three.

After taking a step forward in his previous outing, Moore took two steps back against Los Angeles. Moore was behind in counts throughout most of the night, issuing first-pitch strikes to just 10 of 20 batters faced. With a homer allowed to Franklin Gutierrez, Moore has now served up at least one home run in each of his last five starts and seven home runs in total in 33.1 innings this season. He's in line for a road matchup against the Mets his next time out.

Manager Pete Mackanin said Neris would not have been used to close out Tuesday's game had a save chance arisen, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia reports.

Mackanin said he eventually wants to get Neris back into a save situation, but first wants him to right himself in a setup role. Neris, who blew a save Saturday, tossed a scoreless eighth inning in a loss to the Cubs on Tuesday. Neris remains the most likely guy in the Phillies' pen to secure the closing role, but Joaquin Benoit would have been the choice to close Tuesday had there been a need.

Rodney collected his seventh save of the season in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Nationals.

Rodney blew his last two saves while giving up eight runs in just 1.2 innings, but he retired the side with a three-run lead behind him in this one. He received a vote of confidence from manager Torey Lovullo as the team's closer over the weekend, but he still has a grotesque 11.45 ERA to go along with a 2.09 WHIP on the season. Rodney should retain his grasp on the closer's role for the short term, but he is likely on thin ice if he struggles again.

Melancon was given a scheduled day off Monday after pitching four of the Giants' last five games, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Melancon wasn't used in Monday's 4-3 win over the Dodgers, but it wasn't in response to Sunday's blown save against the Padres or an injury of any kind. After the game, manager Bruce Bochy insisted that his closer was fine, citing the recent heavy workload as the reason he didn't use the 32-year-old in a tight divisional matchup. Outside of two blown saves, Melancon has been effective with his new club, converting five save opportunities while posting a 2.79 ERA and a 10.0 K/BB ratio.