MLB Player News

Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen escaped a rough outing with the save Friday night against the Diamondbacks.

Jansen surrendered a run-scoring single to Aaron Hill in the ninth inning to cut the lead in half. He permitted one run on two hits and one walk while striking out two over one inning of a 4-3 victory. He is 18 of 20 in save chances with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP in 27 innings of relief.

Reds closer Aroldis Chapman struck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect ninth inning to secure the save Friday night against Milwaukee. The right-hander is 11 for 12 in save chances with a 1.13 ERA and a 0.56 WHIP in 16 innings of relief.

Pirates pitcher Jeanmar Gomez (1-2) logged four innings of work in extras to secure the win Friday night against Miami.

Gomez surrendered one hit and one walk while striking out four in an 8-6 victory. He owns a 3.65 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in 37 innings of relief.

Braves closer Craig Kimbrel struck out two of the three batters he faced for the save Friday night against the Angels. Kimbrel needed only 13 pitches to retire the side in order. He is 19 of 22 in save chances with a 1.75 ERA, a 0.94 WHIP and 47:11 K:BB ratio over 25 2/3 innings.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said pitcher Joe Kelly should return by July at the latest, MLB.com reports.

"I don't know how close I am, I've only thrown twice and jogged a few times," Kelly said. "Nothing even strenuous or anything, so I don't know a timetable for when a rehab assignment would be."

The Nationals have recalled left-hander Xavier Cedeno from Triple-A Syracuse and optioned right-hander Blake Treinen to Syracuse, the team announced Friday.

Mets reliever Carlos Torres struggled again in extras Thursday night against the Brewers. The right-hander was charged with the loss after surrendering four runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out two in an inning of work in a 5-1 defeat. He owns a 3.54 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP in 40 2/3 innings of relief.

Nationals pitcher Blake Treinen pitched well but was unable to pick up his first win of the season Thursday afternoon against the Giants in San Francisco, dropping to 0-3 in his team's 7-1 defeat. The right-hander permitted two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out two in five innings of work.

Over his last two starts covering 11 innings, Treinen has permitted four earned runs. He will likely return to the bullpen moving forward. He owns a 2.08 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP in 30 1/3 innings.

Reds closer Aroldis Chapman allowed the tying run to hit Thursday against the Dodgers, but his strikeout pitch bailed him out.

Chapman yielded a walk and single, but struck out the last two batters he faced in fanning the side to register his 10th save of the season. He has not given up a run in his last 10 appearances dating back to May 19. He has struck out 19 in his last 10 innings pitched.

The Brewers may well stick with Marco Estrada in their starting rotation, but if they remove him, as manager Ron Roenicke hinted they may Tuesday, Jimmy Nelson would be a big reason why.

I gave my complete take on the situation in this week's Prospects Report, so you can check it out there, but to summarize, Nelson is a prospect on the rise with the way he's pitched at Triple-A Nashville of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. In 12 appearances, including 11 starts, he has a 1.51 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

He did come up for a spot start in late May, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings at the Marlins, but if you don't pay much attention to one-and-done types and don't play in a league that emphasizes prospects, you may not have heard of Nelson until now. And look, nobody's saying he's another Taijuan Walker, but he is a prospect by some definition whose biggest flaw, his control, he appears to have eliminated at a level where flaws are usually exposed.

I could see him making a Marcus Stroman-like impact whenever he gets the call. He may even one-up him in Head-to-Head points leagues, where his relief pitcher eligibility will help set him apart.