MLB Player News

Minter (lat) will begin a rehab assignment with Single-A St. Lucie on Thursday, Michael Mayer of MetsmerizedOnline.com reports.

It will be the first game appearance for Minter since he underwent surgery on his left lat last May. Given how long the layoff has been, Minter is going to require a handful of rehab appearances before rejoining the Mets' bullpen. The veteran lefty will eventually slot into a setup role but could be eased into high-leverage situations.

The Rays optioned Scholtens to Triple-A Durham on Thursday, Ryan Bass of Rays.tv reports.

The 32-year-old righty was recalled from Triple-A on Wednesday to give Tampa Bay an extra bullpen arm while Drew Rasmussen was away on paternity leave. Scholtens delivered a strong performance with the Rays, firing 4.2 shutout innings against the Cubs on Wednesday, but his stint in the majors will last just 24 hours, suggesting that Rasmussen will rejoin the team to start against the Yankees on Friday.

Herget will be the Rockies' opening pitcher in Thursday's game at San Diego.

The Rockies aren't revealing their pitching plans for Thursday post-Herget, but Chase Dollander is likely to cover the bulk of the innings. Herget is off to a fine start this season, yielding just one run with a 6:0 K:BB over six innings.

The Athletics optioned Kelly to Triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday.

Kelly has allowed three runs with a 4:4 K:BB in his first 4.1 innings this season. He'll look to get reset at Las Vegas and earn another chance later this summer.

Naughton suffered a left arm injury during an appearance with Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, Kyle Reis of MLB.com reports.

Naughton immediately grabbed his pitching arm after delivering a pitch and walked off the field with the trainer. There's no word yet on the details, but it looked like another serious arm injury for the southpaw. Naughton missed all of 2025 and most of 2024 due to a pair of elbow surgeries.

Ferguson (oblique) will throw a bullpen session Thursday, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati reports.

It appears to be the first time Ferguson has thrown off a mound since he suffered a right oblique strain in mid-March. Ferguson will need a rehab assignment before rejoining the Reds' bullpen.

The Marlins activated Fairbanks from the paternity leave list Thursday.

Fairbanks missed the first three games of the series against the Reds as he welcomed a new addition to the family, but he'll be available for the series finale Thursday. The veteran closer has permitted three runs with a 6:1 K:BB over his first four innings this season, collecting a pair of saves along the way.

Soriano could be considered for high-leverage chances in the Cardinals' bullpen moving forward, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Soriano earned his first win as a Cardinal in his last appearance Tuesday versus the Nationals, retiring all six batters he faced (three via strikeout) in the eighth and ninth innings in St. Louis' extra-inning win. The righty's velocity is up throughout his repertoire -- which includes a changeup that topped out at 92.8 mph Tuesday -- and he's incorporated a new gyro slider. Soriano was acquired via trade from the Nationals just before the start of spring training.

Funderburk walked one and hit one batter while not allowing a hit or a run in two-thirds of an inning to earn the save in Wednesday's 8-6 win over the Tigers.

Funderburk made things interesting, but he managed to get the job done for his first save of the season. The Twins utilized Justin Topa and Cole Sands earlier in the contest, and Taylor Rogers may have been unavailable after pitching three times in the previous four days, leaving the bullpen short staffed. This was a fifth straight scoreless outing for Funderburk, who has pitched three hitless innings while issuing four walks in that span. He has a 3.18 ERA and 6:6 K:BB over 5.2 innings while adding a 1-1 record and three holds so far in 2026. While he may continue to see some high-leverage work, his early performance suggests his pitching will cause some stress. Funderburk is the fourth Twins pitcher to log a save this season, leaving no clarity to who will handle the bulk of the closing duties.

Kuhnel struck out one in a perfect inning to earn the save in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Yankees.

This was Kuhnel's second appearance of the season, and he was trusted with a one-run lead that the Athletics had earned in the top of the ninth inning. He got the job done on 12 pitches (eight strikes), finishing with a strikeout of Ryan McMahon. Mark Leiter had the Athletics' first save of the campaign, but he also leads the team with two blown saves, one of which was Tuesday. Scott Barlow and Hogan Harris were both utilized earlier in the game Wednesday while the score was tied at 2-2. The closer job could very well be up for grabs, but it's unclear if Kuhnel will be a serious contender for ninth-inning duties. With most of the Athletics' relievers getting hit hard early in the campaign, simply pitching at an average level could help Kuhnel at least secure high-leverage work.