MLB Player News

Muller (shoulder) allowed an earned run on two hits and two walks over 1.1 innings in a relief appearance for Triple-A Las Vegas against Sacramento on Friday. He struck out one.

Muller's second rehab outing didn't go quite as smoothly as his first, when he fired a scoreless frame against the River Cats on Tuesday. Nevertheless, the veteran southpaw was able to work up to 31 pitches, and although he located only 17 for strikes, he seemingly corroborated his shoulder is capable of handling a normal relief workload. Consequently, Muller may not be much longer for his rehab assignment, with the potential to be activated at some point in the coming days if he doesn't experience any residual effects from Friday's volume.

Bido fired 4.2 scoreless relief innings in a loss to the Diamondbacks on Saturday, allowing two hits and three walks while recording two strikeouts. He also uncorked a wild pitch and hit a batter.

Bido's control was an issue at times, as his final line indicates; otherwise, the young right-hander delivered his second effective innings-eating performance of the past week, this time preserving the rest of the bullpen after starter Hogan Harris was chased in the fourth inning. Bido ended up throwing nearly as many pitches (62) as Harris' 73, so the former is likely to be unavailable until the middle of the week at the earliest. However, the 28-year-old may be carving out a legitimate niche for himself in Oakland's relief corps for the time being after struggling over 2.2 innings against the Rangers in his one major-league start this season on May 8.

The Mets optioned Young to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday.

The left-hander was recalled by the Mets last weekend and made four appearances during the brief stint in the majors, allowing six runs on six hits with a 4:2 K:BB over 3.1 innings. Young has a 5.11 ERA across 13 outings with the big club this year.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday that Bednar is making progress in his recovery from a left oblique strain, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Though Cherington struck an optimistic tone about Bednar's health, the two-time All-Star doesn't appear to have a concrete timeline to return from the 15-day injured list. Bednar is first eligible for activation next weekend, but because he has yet to resume throwing since landing on the shelf, he doesn't appear to be on track for a return in the minimum amount of time.

Banda issued one walk and struck out two batters over one scoreless frame in Saturday's extra-innings victory against San Francisco.

Banda entered in the seventh frame and preserved a 6-6 tie with his scoreless inning. The lefty reliever has been excellent since joining Los Angeles in mid-May, posting a 0.98 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 17:9 K:BB over 18.1 innings of mostly low-leverage work. Those numbers are a stark contrast to the 5.69 ERA and 1.64 WHIP he caried over 118.2 frames across his first seven major-league campaigns.

Little (3-1) tossed a scoreless inning of relief to earn the win in Saturday's 5-3 victory over the Brewers. He allowed two hits and struck out one.

Little retired the first two batters of the seventh inning, then made things interesting by allowing consecutive hits. However, he escaped the frame when Andruw Monasterio was caught attempting to steal home. The lefty then earned the win when the Cubs scored two in the top of the eighth to break open a 3-3 tie. Little has been back and forth between Triple-A and the majors, though he's been fairly effective when called on by Chicago, posting a 3.80 ERA and 26 strikeouts across 23.2 innings.

Pressly struck out one and allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth inning to earn a hold Saturday against the Mets.

Pressly struggled significantly to begin the season, but he's now turned in seven straight scoreless appearances. He's picked up five holds and a save while maintaining a 6:1 K:BB in that span. Even with that stretch, Pressly has a 4.40 ERA with a 1.43 WHIP overall on the campaign.

Okert allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one over a scoreless inning in Saturday's 5-1 victory over the Mariners.

Okert started the season somewhat slowly with a 3.97 ERA and six walks in 11.1 innings in his first 13 outings. He's since posted a 2.57 ERA with just four walks in 14 innings since May 11. While his 8.5 K/9 is down from an 11.2 K/9 last season, he's still been productive with a low 2.6 BB/9 and 1.11 HR/9. He's become a steady setup man for the Twins but isn't used in many high-leverage situations to earn holds or saves.

Alcala allowed a hit while striking out two over a scoreless inning Saturday against Seattle. He reached a career-high 101.2 mph on the radar gun, Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Alcala has been an impact setup man for the Twins since returning from his inexplicable demotions to Triple-A in May and April. Alcala has a 1.05 ERA with a 19:7 K:BB over 17.2 innings since returning to the majors in late May.

Neris earned a save against the Brewers on Saturday, allowing one hit and issuing one walk while striking out two batters over one scoreless inning.

Neris entered in the ninth inning with Chicago holding a two-run lead and got into a bit of hot water when two of the first three hitters he faced reach base. However, the veteran reliever bounced back to strike out the final two batters of the frame. Neris secured his 11th save of the season and recorded his third straight scoreless outing. That may have helped him steady his grip on the closer role to some extent after he blew two saves and gave up seven earned runs across 2.2 frames over three appearances between June 11 and June 17.