MLB Player News

Pirates pitcher Jeanmar Gomez, who was thrust into a start Tuesday against the Mariners after James McDonald (shoulder) was placed on the disabled list, will start again Sunday against the Mets, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Gomez, who tossed five shutout innings Tuesday, is 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA and .182 opponents' batting average in two starts this season.

Diamondbacks closer J.J. Putz is headed for further evaluation Wednesday after leaving Tuesday's game with elbow stiffness. If Putz has to miss extended time, then the Diamondbacks would need to replace his absence in the closer's role.

Heath Bell, who recorded his second save after replacing Putz Tuesday, believes the Diamondbacks would use a two-closer committee, involving David Hernandez and himself, if Putz needs a stint on the disabled list.

"They brought me in to help out if J.J. needed a day off or if David needed a day off," Bell said. "I mean, you never want to see anybody hurt. But unfortunately, if he has to take some time on the DL, I think myself and David can fill in real nicely."

In just five weeks of action, Braves closer Craig Kimbrel already has allowed as many home runs as he did all of last year -- three -- the same number of blown saves he had in both seasons. It is especially discouraging that all three have come in his last five apperances.

Is it time to start worrying about Kimbrel, the consensus top closer in the game entering the season?

Kimbrel allowed a pair of home runs as he blew his third save of the season Tuesday, but there does not appear to be any physical issues underlying his stumble. Kimbrel hit 96 mph n eight of 11 fastballs Tuesday, and he is averaging 96.1 mph on his fastball for the season, so there is little reason to think he is struggling through an injury. He is still striking out 14.18 batters with just 2.03 walks per nine innings, but he has had some bad luck with home runs.

The only significant change in Kimbrel's line is he is allowing more flyballs to come off the bats of opposing hitters. Tuesday, he allowed two fly balls and two home runs, pushing his percentage of flyballs that have gone over the fence to 25 percent on the season. That number was just 9.7 last year and 5.3 the previous year, so we can probably assume this is just a small blip.

Long story short, there is nearly no reason for Fantasy owners to panic right now. The 24-year-old is still blowing batters away with filthy stuff and pinpoint control. One out of four flyballs will almost certainly not keep leaving the yard for him, so all signs still point to Kimbrel dominating from this point on. This is not a controversial opinion, but I would not expect Kimbrel to keep struggling. 

Braves closer Craig Kimbrel could not hang on to a late lead as he gave up back-to-back solo home runs and blew his third save of the season Tuesday night against the Reds.

Kimbrel (0-1) entered the ninth inning with a one-run advantage. He served up a solo home run to Devin Mesoraco to tie the game and a walkoff solo shot to Shin-Soo Choo. Kimbrel surrendered two runs, two hits and struck out two in two-thirds of an inning.

He has converted just two of his last five save opportunities and has watched his ERA rise from 0.00 to 3.38 over that span.

Pirates pitcher Jeanmar Gomez pitched five shutout innings while making a surprise spot start Tuesday against the Mariners. Gomez, who didn't find out he would be starting in place of the injured James McDonald until about 90 minutes prior to the first pitch, limited Seattle to two hits.

He was pulled after throwing 66 pitches -- 41 strikes -- and finished with two walks and five strikeouts, while improving to 2-0 with 2.38 ERA.

Gomez made the roster as a long reliever but has made two straight starts for the Pirates. With McDonald on the 15-day disabled list, the right-hander is tentatively scheduled to face the Mets Sunday in New York.

In my latest Reality Check, I looked at DL players and ranked the 25 most worth owning in Fantasy. Predictably, the comments section became a list of who I left out, but one name in particular caught my attention: Daniel Hudson.

To be honest, I didn't give the Diamondbacks' right-hander much thought. At last check, he's aiming to come back in early July, which puts him not far behind fellow Tommy John victim Brandon Beachy, but I'm just not as excited about the prospect of him returning.

For one thing, we still don't know how good he can be. Beachy was looking like an ace at the time of his injury last year while Hudson was getting pummeled, and while Hudson's 2011 season was significantly better, he allowed nearly a hit per inning even then.

Obviously, if I had a free DL spot, I'd stash Hudson, but I'm not so convinced he'll make a big impact right away that I'm willing to invest a bench spot in him outside of NL-only leagues.

After blowing the save his last time out, Braves closer Craig Kimbrel was able to get back on track in Monday's series opener against the Reds. He entered in the ninth inning with a three-run lead and worked around two singles to make it through the unscathed.

Kimbrel struck out one while earning his 10th save in the 7-4 win.

After winning four times in April, Rockies starting pitcher prospect Drew Pomeranz struggled in his first May start for Triple-A Colorado Springs Sunday. Pomeranz was tagged for five runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings, while striking out six.

It was the second time in six starts Pomeranz allowed five or more runs, but he's allowed one or no runs four times. He's 4-0 with a 3.51 ERA and .242 opponents' batting average. He also has 40 strikeouts to 12 walks in 33 1/3 innings. His 40 strikeouts are tied for second in the Pacific Coast League with Mets' prospect Zack Wheeler.

Brewers reliever John Axford took another step back as he failed to make it out of the eighth inning Sunday afternoon against the Cardinals.

Axford gave up a single and walked the next two batters before surrendering a one-out, run-scoring single to Tony Cruz.

"Mechanically, the ball felt good coming out," Axford said. "Today was one of those days where I just didn't physically feel like myself."

The right-hander watched his ERA rise from 9.49 to 9.95 after Sunday's abysmal outing. Manager Ron Roenicke has not considered sending him down to minors to work on his mechanics, according to MLB.com.

"No, it's not [under discussion]," Roenicke said. "We feel he can get it back together. We saw him do it last year, and still feel that he can do it. … It's the same thing that he was in [last season], whether it's confidence, whether it's mechanical. If it's mechanical, Rick [Kranitz, the pitching coach] and Lee [Tunnell, the bullpen coach] will figure it out."

Reds reliever J.J. Hoover collected his second save of the season during Sunday's series finale against the Cubs.

Hoover stepped up for Aroldis Chapman, who was unavailable. He needed 28 pitches as he worked his way around a base hit to secure a 7-4 victory.

Hoover has a 3.07 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP through 15 appearances.