MLB Player News

Cubs reliever Pedro Strop has been activated from the disabled list Friday.

Strop has been dealing with a strained groin. He was expected to go on a rehab assignment, but that may no longer be the case. Hector Rondon was placed on the paternity list in order to make room for Strop. 

Diamondbacks pitcher Daniel Hudson will resume throwing bullpen sessions, according to azcentral.com.

Hudson is recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, and has been throwing bullpens over the past few weeks. Hudson took a short break from the throwing sessions, but had been playing catch and long toss. He's ready to resume throwing out of the bullpen again, and will likely do so within the week. 

Pirates reliever Mark Melancon was back in his setup role Thursday against the Dodgers, after Jason Grilli was given back his closer's job prior to the game.

Melancon worked a perfect eighth inning with the Pirates up. He set the Dodgers down in order on 13 pitches, while striking out two batters. The Pirates went on to win, 6-3.

Melancon went 10 for 12 as the Pirates closer, and will now continue to team with Grilli to give the team a formidable late-inning duo. He has a 2.16 ERA in 25 innings of work. 

Braves closer Craig Kimbrel was called on to stem the bleeding late in Thursday's game against the Red Sox, but the defense behind him let him down in a 4-3 loss.

Kimbrel entered a tied game in the eighth innings with runners on first and second, after the Red Sox rallied to tie the game. He got out of the inning with ease, and came back out for the bottom of the ninth with the game tied, in an attempt to send it to extra innings.

Kimbrel walked the first two batters he faced in the innings, but seemed like he might have gotten nearly out of a jam with a groundball to third. Unfortunately, second baseman Tommy La Stella had trouble fielding a potential double play ball, which allowed the runner to advance from second home, scoring the winning run.

Kimbrel took his first loss of the season in the outing, while allowing one run and recording one out. The game raised his ERA nearly half a run, to 2.41. 

Against the Yankees Wednesday, Shelby Miller stunk again, allowing seven runs on nine hits with two walks and only one strikeout in five innings. Same old, same old, right?

Except his comments after the game revealed something new:

"I gave up some big hits on curveballs, two of them were first-pitch," Miller said. "I don't know if I was tipping it or not."

Let's ignore for a minute the possibility of him tipping his pitches. What encourages me is the use of his curveball.

It's a pitch that helped distinguish Miller as a prospect coming up through the minors and a pitch he threw about a quarter of the time in his first 15 starts last year, when he had a 2.35 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings. But perhaps because the 15th of those starts wasn't his best, he's shied away from it since, resulting in a 3.90 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and 7.2 strikeouts per nine innings in 27 starts.

He's gotten back to throwing it close to 20 percent of the time in his last three starts, which had resulted in improved strikeout and walk rates until this latest start.

Maybe he's on the right track and we just don't know it because he is, in fact, tipping his pitches. Given his upside, he's worth stashing for a start or two more just to be sure.

Aside from the high walk rate, Cardinals starting pitcher Shelby Miller's problem seems to be hitters are doing a good job with in-game adjustments against the right-handed hurler.

Opponents are batting .161 in their first plate appearance against Miller, but that number jumps significantly to .358 with a .448 on-base percentage, .667 slugging percentage and 1.115 OPS in their second plate appearance.

Miller also seems to struggle in the third and fourth inning. In the third inning, batters have a slash line of .341/.473/.545/1.018 against Miller, while posting a .362/.392/.723/1.116 slash line in the fourth inning.

It also seems Miller is at his best when he gets extra rest. He is 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in six starts on four days rest, as opposed to 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with five days rest.

For as disappointing Miller has been compared to what was expected, he hasn't been totally useless in Fantasy. From Week 3 through Week 7, he averaged 24.6 Fantasy points. Though, through the other four scoring periods, including Week 9, he's totaled minus-2 Fantasy points.

I can see Fantasy owners benching Miller during a one-start week for a two-start pitcher or a one-start pitcher with a more favorable matchup. But by no means am I giving up on Miller. He clearly has the potential to turn it around.

Reds closer Aroldis Chapman delivered a 1-2-3 ninth inning Wednesday, striking out two while preserving his team's 3-2 win over the Dodgers.

Chapman's fifth save since returning from the disabled list was much like his previous appearances, as he was able to notch multiple strikeouts for the sixth time in seven appearances. He owns a 2.25 ERA and 14:3 K:BB ratio in seven innings to go with his five saves.

Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller was hammered in a loss Wednesday, giving up seven earned runs on nine hits and two walks in five innings while striking out one in his team's 7-4 loss to the Yankees.

Miller (6-4) has now recorded back-to-back losses after a quality stretch in which he went 6-0 in seven starts. He wasn't hit hard Wednesday, as eight of the nine hits he surrendered were singles, but the Yankees were able to score four runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth.

Miller owns a 3.94 ERA and 46:32 K:BB ratio in 61 2/3 innings. He's on track to face the Royals Monday.

Giants pitcher George Kontos emerged with a win Wednesday after striking out two in 1 1/3 perfect innings in his team's 5-0 win over the Cubs.

Kontos (1-0) began the sixth inning having inherited a no-hitter from starter Tim Lincecum, and he was able to record four outs before handing the no-hitter over to another reliever, who spoiled the no-hit bid. Kontos has yet to allow a run on four hits and no walks in six innings while striking out six.

Cubs pitcher Pedro Strop is getting close to being sent on a rehab assignment, MLB.com reports.

Strop has been on the disabled list since May 7 due to a strained groin. He is currently rehabbing at the team's spring-training complex in Arizona.