MLB Player News

Managar Dusty Baker said after Sunday's 5-2 win over Atlanta that Pressly wasn't available to pitch, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

The 34-year-old threw 22 pitches and picked up his first save of the season Friday in Atlanta, so it's curious Bryan Abreu was called upon in save situations both Saturday and Sunday. Pressly remains the favorite for saves going forward and is assumed to be healthy since Baker didn't mention an injury, but the right-hander now has just one of Houston's five saves this season.

Bednar picked up the save in Sunday's 2-0 win over the Reds, striking out a pair in a scoreless ninth inning.

Bednar worked around a two-out Wil Myers single to earn his eighth save on the season and his fourth in Pittsburgh's last six games. Bednar moved past Jordan Romano to claim sole possession of the MLB lead in saves. Bednar has allowed just one run in 11 innings this season, good for a 0.82 ERA. He's 2-0 with 14:1 K:BB.

The Giants released Hildenberger on Thursday.

Hildenberger was in the midst of his third season in the Giants organization after re-signing on a minor-league deal in February. After Hildenberger served up 12 runs (10 earned) in 5.2 innings over five relief appearances for Triple-A Sacramento, however, the Giants decided to cut ties with the right-hander. The 32-year-old last appeared in the majors in 2021, when he made two appearances for the Mets.

Brash (2-2) got the win against the Cardinals on Saturday, firing a scoreless seventh inning during which he hit a batter and struck out the side.

Brash's occasional control issues surfaced when he plunked Alec Burleson during what would have otherwise been a perfect inning. Beyond that blip, the right-hander was stellar while picking up his second win, notably erasing the trio of Lars Nootbaar, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado on swinging strikeouts. The clean frame marked Brash's fourth scoreless effort in his last five trips to the mound and came in the wake of an ugly one-inning appearance against the Brewers on Wednesday when he allowed three earned runs.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday that Phillips (personal) will rejoin the team in Pittsburgh in advance of the team's three-game series with the Pirates, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Phillips was placed on the paternity list Thursday and has already spent the maximum three games away from the Dodgers. The right-hander should return to a high-leverage role and handle the bulk of the available save chances once he's formally reinstated from the paternity list.

Padres manager Bob Melvin confirmed prior to Saturday's 5-3 win over the Diamondbacks that Martinez will shift to the bullpen following Joe Musgrove's (toe/shoulder) return from the 15-day injured list, Bill Center of MLB.com reports. "We'll have Nick ready in the bullpen pretty quick, too. The very earliest is [Sunday]," Melvin said.

Even though Martinez lowered his ERA and WHIP to 4.01 and 1.22, respectively, after tossing seven scoreless frames and allowing just five baserunners in a win over Atlanta on Wednesday, the return of Musgrove means that the Friars won't have room in the rotation for Martinez or Ryan Weathers, who had also excelled through his first three starts of the campaign. While it's possible the Padres expand their rotation back to six men at some point and look to Martinez to fill the opening, the team will get by with a five-man setup for now with two off days on tap during the upcoming week. Martinez brought some value in a relief role in 2022 -- he accrued a 2.67 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 15.6 K-BB% while notching eight saves in 54 innings -- but most of those save chances came when the Padres' bullpen situation was more fluid and/or while Josh Hader battled command issues. Hader has righted the ship thus far in 2023 and has re-emerged as one of the game's elite closers, so Martinez doesn't look like he'll offer much more than ratio stabilization in his impending return to the bullpen.

Weathers recorded his first hold of the season after striking out one and allowing one hit over a scoreless seventh inning out of the bullpen in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

With Joe Musgrove (toe/shoulder) returning from the 15-day injured list and working five innings in his season debut, Weathers moved into a relief role despite turning in a 2.81 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over his first three starts of the campaign. Though the southpaw is just 23 years old and would be deserving of a spot in nearly any other team's rotation, Weathers will have to settle for bullpen work while the Padres have all of their key starters at full strength. Due to a pair of off days during the upcoming week, the Friars will move from a six-man rotation to a five-man setup, so Nick Martinez is also in line to join Weathers in the bullpen.

Vest tossed two scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts in Saturday's loss to the Orioles.

Vest was recalled from Triple-A Toledo earlier in the day and immediately looked comfortable in the MLB bullpen. The righty posted a 4.00 ERA with a 63:22 K:BB over 63 innings last season for the Tigers, so it was a bit of a surprise that he didn't make the Opening Day roster despite some struggles in spring training. He could stick around now, however, with Detroit lacking in established bullpen options.

Tate (forearm) said Sunday that he'll need to make 5-to-6 minor-league rehab appearances before he's able to return from the 15-day injured list, Dan Connolly of The Athletic reports.

Tate is set to begin his rehab assignment Tuesday with Single-A Aberdeen. In addition to making five or six appearances before being activated, Tate added that he'll need to pitch on consecutive days for the Orioles to feel comfortable about his availability out of the big-league bullpen. He should have a chance to return from the IL in early May if he experiences no setbacks in his recovery from a right flexor strain.

Sborz allowed one run on one hit and struck out four over two innings in Saturday's 18-3 win over the Athletics.

He was also part of a rarity, getting an at-bat against a position player -- he struck out looking against Oakland third baseman Jace Peterson. If it's a blowout, Sborz is likely to make an appearance. He entered Saturday with Texas leading by 14. Since coming off the injured list April 14, the right-hander has made four appearances, all in mop-up situations with the Rangers winning or losing by a significant margin.