MLB Player News

Duran (oblique) threw on flat ground from 105 feet Saturday and said afterward that he no longer has pain in his oblique, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Duran said that it's been "a lot of days" since he's felt pain in his oblique, but he's still unsure of what his return timeline will look like. A better picture likely won't come into focus until he's further along in his throwing progression. Griffin Jax has the Twins' lone save so far this season in Duran's absence.

Thielbar (hamstring) threw a 20-pitch live session Saturday and is progressing towards a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Thielbar started the season on the 15-day injured list after missing spring training action due to a left hamstring strain. In 2023 with the Twins, Thielbar posted a 3.23 ERA, 0.95 ERA and 36:6 K:BB over 30.2 innings.

The Guardians recalled Strzelecki from Triple-A Columbus on Saturday, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

He was called up with the Guardians placing Shane Bieber (elbow) on the 15-day injured list, with the ace pitcher set to undergo Tommy John surgery. Cleveland acquired Strzelecki from Arizona on March 28 after the Diamondbacks designated the right-hander for assignment. Strzelecki split time between the Diamondbacks and Brewers last season and finished with a 4.38 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 37:12 K:BB over 37 innings.

Smith (1-0) collected the win Friday in a 3-2 victory over the Reds, giving up two hits and striking out one in a scoreless inning.

The right-hander entered a 1-1 tie with two outs and two on in the sixth inning and got Luke Maile to pop up, before running into trouble himself in the seventh and getting bailed out by Brooks Raley. Smith has made an appearance in four of the Mets' first seven games, posting a 4:2 K:BB over four innings without getting charged with an earned run, and he's picked up a win and a hold along the way. The 30-year-old hasn't recorded more than 14 holds in a season, but he could easily top that number in 2024 given his fairly high-leverage role for New York.

Manager Oliver Marmol said Saturday that Middleton (forearm) has yet to resume his throwing program, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Middleton had been scheduled for mound work earlier in the week, but a setback prevented him from throwing. He will meet with the Cardinals' staff Saturday to discuss the next steps of his rehab process, but it appears the right-hander's absence will extend further into the season than originally expected.

Garcia (1-0) was credited with the win in Friday's victory over the Yankees, striking out one in two-thirds of a scoreless inning of relief.

He entered a 0-0 tie with one out in the sixth inning and needed only seven pitches to retire Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Garcia was then rewarded with the win when Ernie Clement put the game's first run on the board with a solo shot in the top of the seventh. The right-hander has been kept in a high-leverage setup role while Jordan Romano (elbow) has been sidelined, with Chad Green collecting the Blue Jays' first save of the season Friday, and Garcia has yet to allow a run in 2.1 innings with a 2:0 K:BB.

Johnson (2-0) picked up the win Friday, walking one and striking out two in a scoreless 10th inning as Atlanta downed the Diamondbacks 6-5.

He walked a batter for the third straight appearance, but it's mostly been a strong start to the season for Johnson. The right-hander sports a 2.25 ERA and 5:3 K:BB through four innings as part of the high-leverage bridge to closer Raisel Iglesias, and Johnson has seen the most usage of any Atlanta reliever so far. After recording eight holds in 24 appearances for the team last season, he may not have to wait too much longer for his first hold of 2024.

Smith was removed from a save situation Friday against the White Sox. He allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one batter in one-third of an inning.

Called upon to protect a one-run lead, Smith struck out Yoan Moncada but then allowed a double and a walk to the next two batters he faced. That was enough for manager Matt Quatraro, who replaced Smith with James McArthur. The right-handed McArthur came through with a double play to secure the save, and with that, we may have witnessed a changing of the guard in the ninth inning for Kansas City. There have been no formal announcements in that regard, but Smith already had two losses, one blown save and six earned runs allowed in 2.2 innings this season before Friday's messy outing.

Foley (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts to earn the win in Friday's 5-4 victory over the A's.

Foley now has two wins across five appearances after recording only three wins in 70 games last season. While he likely won't be able to sustain his current vulturing pace, the righty does seem to be Detroit's top option for saves at the moment, though the likes of Alex Lange, Andrew Chafin and Shelby Miller are also in the mix in a fluid Detroit bullpen. Foley leads the team with two saves so far, while Lange has one and no one else has any.

Chafin recorded two outs in the ninth inning of Friday's 5-4 win over the A's, but he also walked two batters and was pulled for Alex Lange, who recorded the save.

Chafin was close to recording his first save of the season, but the Tigers opted for the righty vs. righty matchup of Lange against Zack Gelof to close things out with two runners on base. Detroit has a fluid bullpen at the moment, with Chafin, Lange, Jason Foley and Shelby Miller all in the back-end mix. That could limit the value of all the pitchers, though Chafin should still have the opportunity to record holds and possibly a few saves moving forward.