MLB Player News

The Twins designated Castillo for assignment Wednesday.

He'll give up his spot on the 40-man roster and 26-man active roster to right-hander Brock Stewart (shoulder), who was reinstated from the 60-day injured list prior to Wednesday's game against the Phillies. After getting a call-up from Triple-A St. Paul on July 14, Castillo appeared in just four games while going 2-for-6 with a double, two walks, three runs and two RBI.

The Twins activated Stewart (shoulder) from the 60-day injured list Wednesday, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Stewart is finally ready to rejoin the Twins bullpen after being sidelined since early May with right shoulder tendinitis. He's been a lockdown reliever for Minnesota when healthy, collecting a 0.66 ERA and 56:17 K:BB through 41 innings since the start of the 2023 season. Stewart will help out the Twins in high-leverage situations.

The Twins recalled Festa from Triple-A St. Paul on Wednesday.

Festa started in his two appearances with the Twins earlier this season back on June 27 and July 3, giving up 12 earned runs while striking out eight batters over 10 innings. Though the Twins have an opening in the rotation for Wednesday's game against the Phillies after Chris Paddack (forearm) landed on the injured list, Festa looks set to work as a bulk reliever rather than a traditional starter, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Reliever Steven Okert will start the contest and likely work an inning or two before giving way to Festa, who owns a 4.06 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 93:28 K:BB over 64.1 innings at Triple-A this season.

Arozarena went 0-for-2 with two walks, a run scored and a stolen base in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.

The 29-year-old outfielder opened the scoring in the second inning by drawing a walk, stealing his 15th bag of the season and then coming home on a Josh Lowe single. Arozarena has reached base in 15 of 17 games this month, posting a .270/.352/.556 slash line in July with six doubles, four homers, five steals, seven RBI and eight runs as he digs his way out of an early-season hole. Even with the slow start, he's one of nine players so far to accumulate 15 homers and 15 steals in 2024.

Fairbanks worked a perfect ninth inning Tuesday to record his 19th save of the season in a 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.

The right-hander needed 11 pitches (eight strikes) to set down Toronto's 5-6-7 hitters. Fairbanks dealt with an arm issue early in the year, but since coming off the IL in mid-May he's posted a 1.88 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 23:8 K:BB through 28.2 innings while converting 16 of 17 save chances.

Benintendi went 1-for-4 with a solo home run during Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Rangers.

Benintendi led off the ninth inning with a solo shot off Josh Sborz, bringing the White Sox one run shy of a tie. However, they couldn't pull off the comeback despite Benintendi's efforts. The 29-year-old outfielder is slashing .199/.256/.313 with eight homers on the year and is 6-for-20 (.300) at the plate over his last five starts.

Alexander (3-3) picked up the win Tuesday, allowing three hits over three scoreless innings of relief in a 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays. He struck out four without walking a batter.

The southpaw entered the game in the third inning after Shawn Armstrong gave the Rays two scoreless innings as the opener, and Alexander kept the goose eggs coming to lower his ERA on the season to 5.88. It was his first appearance in the majors since May 30, but Alexander's latest stint as a bulk reliever figures to be a short one with both Jeffrey Springs (elbow) and Ryan Pepiot (knee) expected to rejoin the rotation in late July or early August. Alexander will likely get one more turn, however, and lines up for an outing at home against the Reds this weekend.

Gilbert (6-6) took the loss to the Angels on Tuesday, allowing five runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk while striking out eight over 6.2 innings.

Gilbert retired the first 12 batters he faced before things completely unraveled in the fifth. He allowed three base hits in the inning, and two throwing errors played a part in the Angels tacking on all five of their runs in the frame. Still, it was his third straight start of more than six innings, a span during which he's compiled a 24:2 K:BB in 21.1 innings. Gilbert only has one win over his last five starts despite posting four quality starts over that timeframe. He now has a 2.72 ERA (fifth lowest in MLB) and an 0.86 WHIP (lowest in MLB) to complement a 132:26 K:BB in 139 innings and lines up to face the Red Sox on the road to begin next week.

Yates picked up the save Tuesday against the White Sox, striking out one batter in a perfect two-thirds of an inning.

Yates took over with the Rangers leading 3-2 after Josh Sborz yielded a solo home run to Andrew Benintendi to start the ninth frame. Yates only needed six pitches to strike out Gavin Sheets and get Eloy Jimenez to fly out, earning his 18th save of 2024. The 37-year-old hasn't blown a save this season and holds a sparkling 1.22 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 37 innings.

Torres went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Mets.

The second baseman took Jose Quintana deep in the second inning, snapping a 15-game homerless drought. Torres is still struggling to find his power stroke -- Tuesday's long ball was his ninth of the year, after he slugged 49 homers over the last two seasons combined -- but his overall performance at the plate has improved somewhat in July, as he's slashing .255/.352/.340 through 55 plate appearances on the month.