MLB Player News

Nelson (3-1) gave up four runs on 10 hits and a walk Wednesday against the Twins, but struck out six over 6.2 innings and came away with his third straight win.

This wasn't Nelson's most inspiring outing, but he did cut down on the walks after issuing four in each of his last two starts. A consistent strikeout-per-inning man in the minors, Nelson hasn't been close to replicating that sort of success in the big leagues, but the 26-year-old is at least a credible lower-end fantasy starter with upside to be much better than that if he can harness his outstanding raw stuff.

Pomeranz (2-1) struck out a career-high 10 batters Wednesday while allowing just an unearned run on four hits and three walks in an 8-2 win against the Pirates.

Three starts into his Padres tenure, Pomeranz is looking like a strikeout machine -- how's 25 in 17.2 innings sound? He's still walking a few too many batters, but has been awfully hard to hit and appears set to benefit from pitching in Petco Park. It looks like there's a legitimate breakout in the offing here, assuming his health holds up.

Maurer gave up two hits and one earned run in the eighth inning of the Padres' 5-4 victory over the Pirates on Tuesday.

Maurer has struggled early on, as he carries a 6.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP over six innings so far. However, the Padres seem comfortable with him as their eighth inning guy as he's now been used in that role three times in the past five days. The 25-year-old righty will likely continue to work in late-inning situations until outings like Tuesday's become more commonplace.

Iglesias (1-1) allowed two runs on five hits, struck out eight and walked one over 6.2 frames in a no-decision against the Rockies on Wednesday.

He left the game with the tying run on second base, but when reliever Blake Wood recorded the final out of the seventh, Iglesias was in line for the win. Unfortunately, the Reds' bullpen blew up the following inning and left Iglesias with a no-decision. With the weak Cincinnati bullpen, that might happen a lot this summer, but at least Iglesias has looked good while on the mound. He has 22 strikeouts and five walks with a 3.09 ERA in 23.1 innings.

Hoover will not be the sole closer for the Reds after manager Bryan Price decided that the Reds will go with a closer by committee for the time being, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Hoover's hold on the closer role was in question after he gave up nine earned runs in just 5.1 innings of work, and this ends his time as the only closer for the Reds for now. There's a chance that he'll get the ball in the ninth inning if he can put together a couple good outings in the near future, but he'll lose some of those opportunities now to Tony Cingrani, Caleb Cotham, and Blake Wood.

Manager Walt Weiss revealed that Castro is dealing with right shoulder inflammation, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

Some people were wondering why Castro wasn't used in the ninth inning of Wednesday's game against the Reds when the game was tied, and it now appears to be injury-related. The Rockies are expected to make a decision on whether or not he'll require a disabled list stint or not within the coming days, so a timetable for his return should become clearer once the team makes that decision.

Hoffman is 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA and 14 strikeouts through three starts this season.

Hoffman was the prize piece in the deal that sent Troy Tulowitzki to the Blue Jays, and it's now very clear why the Rockies wanted him so badly. The right-hander has shown good control so far, only walking six batters in 16.2 innings, which should bode well for him going forward. If Hoffman can keep up this torrid start, he could force his way onto the major league roster before the conclusion of the 2016 season.

Manager Bryan Price is still thinking over what he plans to do with the closer role going forward, but Hoover will be unavailable for Wednesday's game after pitching in back-to-back games to start the week, WCPO.com's John Fay reports.

All signs point to Hoover being finished, or close to finished as the Reds' closer, as he has allowed runs in four of his eight appearances this year. He has also allowed three home runs, while walking four and striking out four in 5.1 innings, so disaster has seemingly been around every corner. Tony Cingrani, Caleb Cotham and Blake Wood figure to be the top options if Price decides to make a change, but Cingrani is the only lefty in the bullpen, and has also allowed five walks in 5.2 innings, while Cotham has just 17.2 MLB innings on his resume and Wood has a career K-rate of just 17.9 percent, so there are no ideal options for the ninth inning right now in Cincinnati.

Weber (1-0) earned the win in his first appearance of the season Tuesday against the Dodgers, as he allowed just one run and three hits over 3.2 relief innings. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.

Weber was nasty, as he induced seven swinging strikes in just 47 pitches. He started five games for Atlanta last season and recorded a 4.76 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. Weber was pitching in a relief role for Triple-A Gwinnett to begin the season, where he didn't allow a run in 8.1 innings. It's unclear if Weber will get a chance to move into the rotation or will remain in a long relief or swingman type of role, but performances like this will certainly help him earn a starting spot.

Manager Bryan Price said after Tuesday's win against the Rockies that he would sleep on the decision about whether to remain with Hoover as the team's closer, the Cincinnati Enquirer's C. Trent Rosecrans reports.

Hoover is on very thin ice at the moment, after allowing a two-run homer before getting the final two outs of Tuesday's win against the Rockies. Tony Cingrani leads the Reds with four holds, and would figure to be the likely replacement if Price decides to switch things up. However, Cingrani has also walked five in 5.2 innings. Caleb Cotham could be a dark horse candidate, as he is second on the team with three holds and has not allowed a run in eight innings.