MLB Player News

Rubby De La Rosa was among the worst starters in baseball through early June. He has since transformed himself into one of the better ones.

The latest and best example was Saturday night against visiting Milwaukee. De La Rosa emerged with his finest performance of the season for the Diamondbacks, throwing eight shutout innings. He allowed just two hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

De La Rosa survived three errors that tested him early. He yielded just one hit following the first inning and earned a standing ovation from the home crowd after the eighth.

He has lowered his ERA to 4.52 in surrendering just 15 runs over his last 51 1/3 innings pitched.

Reds closer Aroldis Chapman appeared to have a night off, with his team holding a 5-0 lead heading into the ninth inning, but reliever Jumbo Diaz allowed two runs, forcing Chapman to make a quick entrance and a quicker save, retiring one batter to close out Cincinnati's 5-2 win over the Rockies. 

Three days after taking a loss against the Cubs, Chapman only needed three pitches to get the job done Saturday, getting one ground-ball out to finish the contest. Chapman has now reached at least 20 saves for the fourth straight season. 

Shelby Miller continued to be thwarted by a lack of run support, as the Braves starter pitched well put took the loss in a 1-0 pitcher's duel against the Cardinals on Saturday. 

Miller went 7 1/3 innings, and allowed just two hits while striking out four hitters, but lost his fifth straight decision to drop to 5-7 despite holding an ERA of 2.27.

According to FOX Sports, it's the ninth time this year Miller has not received a single run of support during one of his starts. 

Padres closer Craig Kimbrel racked up another save on Friday, closing out the 3-1 win over the Marlins. Kimbrel worked a scoreless ninth inning to record his 27th save of the season.

Kimbrel has converted 18 consecutive save chances and has been scored upon once in his past 11 appearances. 

Brewers right-hander Jimmy Nelson was excellent in his start against the Diamondbacks on Friday night. The young hurler held the D-Backs scoreless over seven innings. He allowed five hits and three walks while striking out five in the 2-1 victory.

Nelson (8-9) did a good job of working around trouble all night as he kept Arizona off the scoresheet through his seven innings of work.

The strong outing lowered his season ERA to 3.97. Nelson is 5-1 with a 2.54 ERA over his last six starts.

Pirates closer Mark Melancon worked around a pair of hits to nail down his 31st save of the season in Friday's 7-5 win over the Nationals. Melancon has allowed just one earned run over his past 39 innings of work. 

The right-hander has now converted 29 straight save opportunities, which is a club record. His 31 saves are tops in the big leagues.

The Reds understand they have a hot commodity in closer Aroldis Chapman, and if another team wants to claim him the price will be high, according to ESPN.com.

The price for obtaining probably the best closer in baseball is apparently too high for comfort. One American League executive told ESPN that the Reds' price tag on Chapman was "exorbitant."

Chapman has a 1.74 ERA with 74 strikeouts and 23 walks in 41 1/3 innings this season. He has also recorded 19 saves.

Cardinals pitcher Matt Belisle is progressing from his forearm issue, but was unsure when he'll be able to return, reports MLB.com.

"We're just progressing each day to ensure that we don't take any steps back," Belisle said Wednesday. "I think we've pinpointed a little bit more the source of the issue, and I have a much better idea of how to attack the protocol to get me back pitching more quickly. In the interim, this extra bit of rest, although it's tough to do, is going to get me back quicker."

Belisle is dealing with a mild strain of a ligament near a joint in the forearm, but there are no structural issues.

"From what they're looking at, the medical team is confident that by biting the bullet a little bit longer on the rest, I'll be better off," Belisle said. "My whole mindset is just to take care of the minutes and the hours and the days and not look at anything past that. Everybody wants to know when [I'll be back], but it's better just to bracket it into days and weeks and make sure I'm seeing an improvement."

Reeling Rockies closer John Axford took another step back Wednesday. The result was his third defeat of the season.

Axford blew the game in the ninth after his team rallied with a four-run eighth to tie it. Two walks and a single were followed by a two-run hit by Elvis Andrus. After another walk, he was removed from the game.

The right-hander has allowed nine runs on 15 hits over his last nine innings covering 11 appearances. His ERA has skyrocketed to a season-worst 3.18.

It remains to be seen if his job is in jeopardy.

The Pirates recalled infielder Pedro Florimon from Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday. Florimon, who was acquired in the offseason, will be making his season debut for the Pirates on Wednesday, as he is batting ninth and starting at shortstop against the Royals.

The light-hitting infielder was batting .254 with two homers and 18 RBI at Triple-A. 

He is taking the roster spot of Wilfredo Boscan who was optioned to Indianapolis on Wednesday.