MLB Player News

Payamps had one strikeout and didn't allow a baserunner during a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save Saturday against the Pirates.

The 29-year-old picked up his second save of the season Saturday, as manager Craig Counsell opted to stay away from closer Devin Williams after his busy finish to June. Payamps has earned his way into the setup job for the Brewers and has 15 holds with a 2.11 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 42:8 K:BB over 38.1 innings, and he hasn't given up an earned run in his past eight outings.

The Reds reinstated Law (elbow) from the 15-day injured list Sunday.

Law will rejoin the Reds ahead of their series finale against the Padres after he had been on the shelf for the past six weeks with a mild flexor mass strain. Cincinnati gave Law the green light to rejoin its bullpen after he struck out four batters over three scoreless innings across his three rehab appearances in the minors.

Assad tossed three scoreless innings of relief in Saturday's 6-0 loss to the Guardians. He allowed a hit and a walk while striking out five.

Assad looked sharp in the long-relief appearance and recorded a season high in strikeouts. The 25-year-old has pitched well lately, allowing one run over eight innings in his last three appearances. However, he's not pitching that frequently, as he's taken the mound just five times since the start of June. Assad has some talent, but his current role isn't particularly fantasy friendly.

Jansen picked up a save in Saturday's 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays. He allowed one run on three hits while striking out three over 1.1 innings.

It wasn't pretty, but Jansen managed to get the job done Saturday to record his 17th save of the season. The right-handed reliever entered the game with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and got Cavan Biggio to go down on strikes. He then struck out Kevin Kiermaier to open the ninth before giving up back-to-back hits and eventually allowing one run to come home for Toronto, making it a 7-6 ballgame. However, Bo Bichette was thrown out at home on a single from Vladimir Guerrero as Boston escaped with the win. Jansen has now allowed a run in each of his last three appearances, increasing his ERA to 3.45 on the season.

Farmer allowed three runs (two earned) on two hits over one inning in Saturday's 12-5 loss to San Diego.

Farmer allowed back-to-back homers to Juan Soto and Manny Machado, giving him six runs and three home runs allowed in the last two outings. Prior to that, Farmer had been effective out of the bullpen, posting a 2.56 ERA over his first 37 appearances, including 1.75 since May 3. Manager David Bell has had to lean on relievers during a stretch in which a thin rotation is not getting deep into games, and Farmer hasn't pitched a clean inning since June 7.

Duran picked up the save Saturday against the Orioles after he allowed a hit and no walks with no strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning.

Duran surrendered a one-out single and allowed the tying run to get into scoring position on a stolen base, but he still needed just eight pitches to retire the side. The 25-year-old is 12-for-14 in save chances this year and has yet to allow more than a single run in any of his 29 appearances. He's again been one of the best relievers in the league this season with a 1.41 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 42:14 K:BB over 32 innings.

Smith retired the lone batter he faced in Saturday's 5-2 win over Houston.

Smith entered a non-save situation with two outs in the ninth inning after Joe Barlow gave up a two-run home run to Kyle Tucker. Smith needed the work after not pitching since June 23. Lots of fantasy eyes are on Smith, who emerged as Texas' closer but could lose save opportunities to the recently acquired Aroldis Chapman. Rangers general manager Chris Young told Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that whether Chapman is used as a closer is up to manager Bruce Bochy, but the GM wouldn't rule out that possibility.

Fujinami (4-7) got the extra-inning win over the White Sox on Saturday, firing a scoreless 10th frame during which he recorded two strikeouts and hit a batter.

His plunking of Zach Remillard with two outs aside, it was a momentous 13-pitch outing for Fujinami overall. Not only did he secure his fourth win, he also recorded swinging strikeouts of Yasmani Grandal and Andrew Benintendi, posted a third consecutive scoreless appearance and was trusted in a high-leverage scenario with positive results. The big right-hander continues to find life as a reliever much more welcoming than as a member of the rotation, and he now carries a 2-1 record, 2.38 ERA and one hold over the 11.1 innings covering his last 10 appearances.

Ottavino walked one in a scoreless ninth inning Saturday to record his sixth save of the season in a 4-1 win over the Giants.

David Robertson had worked each of the previous two days and blew a save Friday, so Ottavino got the call in this one and got the job done. It was his first save since May 26, and Ottavino's recent control issues don't suggest he's going to supplant Robertson in the closer role any time soon -- over his last four appearances, he has a 3:6 K:BB while also hitting one batter and firing two wild pitches. On the season, Ottavino has a 4.01 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 35:15 K:BB through 33.2 innings, adding eight holds to his ledger.

Barlow earned a save against the Dodgers on Saturday, allowing one walk and striking out one batter over 1.1 innings.

Barlow blew his previous save opportunity against Cleveland on Tuesday, but he bounced back against the Dodgers. The right-hander entered in the eighth frame with two runners on, two outs and Kansas City up by two runs, and he walked Mookie Betts to load the bases before getting Freddie Freeman to end the inning with a groundout. Barlow followed with a 1-2-3 ninth to notch the save. The veteran now has 10 saves on the campaign after registering a career-high 24 last season.