MLB Player News

Pomeranz didn't factor into the decision Monday in San Francisco despite pitching seven innings of two-hit shutout ball with four walks and four strikeouts.

Pomeranz was dominant all night, but never really had a chance to win with Padre-killer Johnny Cueto pitching a two-hit, complete-game shutout for the opposition. The only negatives about the 27-year-old's performance were his four walks, as they built up his pitch count to 111 even though he largely cruised through seven innings. He deserves better than a 4-4 record based on his 1.70 ERA, but such is life for pitchers in San Diego. Pomeranz will look for better luck Sunday in Arizona.

Johnson (back) will throw live batting practice tomorrow before going to Arizona to continue his rehab, Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register reports.

The timetable for his return to the rotation at Triple-A Iowa is unknown, but it seems likely that he'll be out until at least early June given that the Cubs want to send him to Arizona before he rejoins his teammates in the Pacific Coast League.

Alvarez has been designated for assignment by the Mets.

The move was made to clear a 40-man roster spot for Ty Kelly. If he clears waivers, Alvarez could stick in the Mets' organization at Triple-A, but he's posted a 9.98 ERA and 2.12 WHIP through 17 appearances at Las Vegas in 2016.

Castro tossed a scoreless inning in the Rockies' loss to Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon.

After spending a month at Triple-A, Castro has come back to fire a pair of scoreless frames for the Rockies. With a 9:2 K:BB over eight innings, he's quickly becoming one of the more reliable options in the Colorado bullpen. As a result, it would hardly be surprising to see him used in higher-leverage situations in the coming weeks.

Melancon recorded the final two outs of Monday's win over Colorado to earn his 15th save of the season.

Jared Hughes started the inning, but he allowed a run on two hits before exiting. Melancon allowed one hit before closing the door, but the appearance lowered his season ERA to 2.33. He's now 15-for-16 in save chances this season.

Boscan earned his first career win Monday after tossing four innings out of the bullpen against the Rockies.

Making his second MLB appearance, Boscan took over in the third inning after Ryan Vogelsong was hit in the face by a pitch during his at-bat in the bottom of the second inning. Boscan struck out two and walked one, while holding the Colorado offense to two runs in his four frames. He also chipped in his first hit with a two-out RBI single. Boscan will continue to work in long relief for the Bucs as Juan Nicasio will take the ball for Saturday's game at Texas since Vogelsong's start was only spot duty to rest Nicasio for a few extra days.

Maurer allowed a run on a solo homer to Howie Kendrick in the Padres' win over the Dodgers on Sunday.

He was working the eighth inning with a one-run lead at the time of the long ball, as Maurer appears to be the preferred setup option (along with Ryan Buchter) to San Diego closer Fernando Rodney right now. Despite having 29 strikeouts in 22 innings, Maurer has struggled at times this season thanks to inconsistent control (12 walks) and a pair of homers allowed in his last two outings, which have pushed his season ERA from 3.60 to 4.50.

Estevez possesses a 4.05 ERA and 9.5 K/9 through 13.1 innings with the Rockies this season.

Although the ERA is nothing to call home about, Estevez hasn't allowed a run in his past four appearances. He also only walked one batter and gave up one hit while amassing seven strikeouts over that 4.1 inning span. The 23-year-old's success is hardly sustainable considering his gaudy .229 BABIP he's allowing in addition to his rough 5.4 BB/9, but he could be in line for more work in the short term if he continues to success against major league hitters.

Rusin will have his turn in the Rockies rotation skipped Tuesday, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports.

Outside of a rough start earlier in May where he allowed seven runs on 13 hits in only 4.1 innings pitched, Rusin filled in the rotation admirably while Jorge De La Rosa (groin) was on the disabled list. However, it seems that the Rockies saw enough out of De La Rosa during his rehab assignment that they wanted to place him back in the rotation upon activation. This seemingly will bump Rusin back into the long relief role that he filled to begin the season, which naturally reduces his value in the short term. That being said, the 29-year-old will likely be the first one back in the rotation if someone gets hurt or is sent down, especially now that Christian Bergman (oblique), the Rockies other long reliever, is on the disabled list, so he could be worth a stash for patient owners in NL-only leagues.

Jansen was pegged with his second consecutive blown save Sunday versus the Padres, allowing an inherited runner to score on the lone hit he allowed in 1.1 innings.

Jansen came on with a one-run lead in the eighth inning and two outs, but a Melvin Upton triple brought Wil Myers around to tie the score. Jansen proceeded to retire the next three hitters he faced, but the game lasted eight extra innings before the Dodgers finally prevailed. His two blown saves have come on the heels of 13 consecutive conversions, and his 1.50 ERA and 0.61 WHIP suggest this is but a small blip on the radar.