MLB Player News

Underwood cleared waivers and accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Underwood was designated for assignment last Saturday. The right-hander has produced an inflated 5.18 ERA and 1.44 WHIP with 14 punchouts over 24.1 innings in 20 appearances with the Pirates this season and will look to use his time with Indianapolis to reset after he allowed 10 earned runs over 10.2 innings in May.

The Rays designated Heller for assignment Friday, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.

Just over a week after being selected from Triple-A Durham, the 31-year-old righty will lose his spot on the Rays' 40-man roster following the acquisition of Robert Stephenson from Pittsburgh. Heller holds a 3.95 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in Triple-A this season through 27.1 innings and could be claimed by another team in need of organizational bullpen depth.

Armstrong (neck) is expected to be activated from the injured list sometime this weekend, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Armstrong has been out all season with a neck injury, but he's looked ready on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham, holding a 2.00 ERA and 8:2 K:BB over nine innings of work. The 32-year-old is on the 60-day IL, so the Rays will have to clear a spot on the 40-man roster in addition to the 26-man roster.

Morgan (2-1) allowed one run on one hit and two walks in one-third of an inning Thursday, taking the loss versus the Twins.

After a rough May in which Morgan was scored upon in five of his nine appearances, his June didn't get off to a better start. He loaded the bases with no outs before allowing a sacrifice fly by Willi Castro to bring in the decisive run. In addition to allowing too many runs in May, Morgan failed to record a save or a hold during the month, which suggests he's on the verge of losing what little high-leverage work he had. For the season, he still has a solid 1.93 ERA, but a 1.29 WHIP and a 3.58 FIP are both indicators that his numbers could regress further.

The Rays acquired Stephenson from the Pirates on Friday in exchange for minor-league infielder Alika Williams, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

Stephenson has a 5.14 ERA for the Pirates this season and a 5.38 ERA over 76 relief appearances since the beginning of 2022. However, the 2011 first-round pick still has pretty good stuff and can miss bats, particularly with his slider. It's the kind of profile the Rays usually get the most out of, but Stephenson can be expected to work in low-leverage situations initially.

Harris will serve as a bulk reliever behind opening pitcher Shintaro Fujinami in Friday's game in Miami, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Oakland had previously been listing Harris as its starter for the series opener, but he'll instead handle a bulk-relief role in his second straight turn through the Athletics rotation. Harris will attempt to deliver a performance on par with what he provided last Saturday, when he blanked the Astros over five innings while striking out five and allowing only two baserunners.

Harvey gave up a hit and struck out two over two scoreless innings Wednesday to record his third save of the season in a win over the Dodgers.

Kyle Finnegan entered the game in the seventh inning with the Nationals ahead 5-4 and blew the lead, but a three-run rally in the top of the eighth set Harvey up for the save. The former Oriole had a roller-coaster May, blowing four of his seven save chances with a 4.20 ERA in 15 innings, but he also picked up two wins and four holds with a 19:3 K:BB. Harvey figures to remain in the high-leverage mix with Finnegan even if he doesn't become Washington's full-time closer.

Solomon cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Reno on Thursday.

He's no longer on the Diamondbacks' 40-man roster but will remain in the organization. Solomon has posted an ugly 12.15 ERA over five relief appearances at the major-league level this season.

The Mets have acquired Nittoli from the Cubs, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Nittoli had opted out of his minor-league contract with the Cubs but got shipped to another organization before reaching free agency. He will be on the 40-man roster, but it's not clear whether the Mets intend to put him on the big-league roster or assign him to Triple-A Syracuse. Nittoli holds a 3.48 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 20.2 innings this season at the Triple-A level.

Pressly allowed one hit and struck out one batter over a scoreless inning Thursday to earn a save against the Angels.

Pressly blew his first save of the campaign against the Twins in his previous appearance, but he was able to get back on track. The veteran closer allowed a one-out double, though that didn't provide extensive stress given that he was protecting a three-run lead. Pressly has 11 saves in 12 chances since April 21, posting a 1.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 18:2 K:BB over 16 innings during that span.