MLB Player News

The Red Sox optioned Campbell to Triple-A Worcester on Thursday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Campbell's stay with the Red Sox lasted for just three days, with the right-handed reliever getting tagged for three earned runs while recording just one out in his lone appearance during Monday's 7-6 win over the Blue Jays. The 26-year-old has been effective in his 11 appearances with Worcester this season, logging a 2.19 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 12.1 innings. Despite his lack of success in the big leagues this season, Campbell should still rank near the top of the list for a call-up when the Red Sox require an extra bullpen arm.

The Red Sox optioned Heineman to Triple-A Worcester on Thursday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

As expected, Heineman's stay with the Red Sox was a brief one. Boston called him up from Worcester on Monday to provide another option at catcher while Connor Wong (personal) was away from the team on paternity leave, but Heineman will head back to the minors after Wong was activated Thursday. Heineman picked up one at-bat during his latest stint in the majors.

The Red Sox reinstated Wong (personal) from the paternity list Thursday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Wong missed the maximum three games while on paternity leave and will rejoin the Red Sox ahead of Friday's series opener versus the Padres. Tyler Heineman was optioned to Triple-A Worcester to clear room on the active roster for Wong, who should settle back in as Boston's No. 1 catcher while Reese McGuire serves as the backup.

The Twins selected Festa's contract from Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday.

Festa is set to make his major-league debut with a road start Thursday versus the Diamondbacks. The right-hander has posted a 3.77 ERA and 87:24 K:BB over 59.2 innings during his time with St. Paul this season, reaching 10 punchouts in a game on three occasions. Festa is taking the rotation spot vacated by Chris Paddack (arm) and will have the opportunity to make additional starts beyond Thursday's debut if he pitches well.

The Twins optioned Henriquez to Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday.

Henriquez will head back to the minors as the Twins clear a spot on the 26-man active roster for right-hander David Festa, who was called up from St. Paul to start Thursday's game in Arizona. During his two-day stay with the Twins, Henriquez made one appearance, tossing a scoreless inning and striking out a batter in Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Alvarez went 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs in a loss to the Angels on Wednesday.

Fresh off a three-hit night Tuesday, Alvarez drew a second consecutive start and continued contributing in small-ball fashion Wednesday. The 29-year-old rookie's stolen base was a nice bonus, as he's not been very prolific in that category throughout his long minor-league career (28-for-42 across 709 games). Alvarez's encouraging play could continue to allow him to carve out semi-regular playing time around the infield for the time being, with Abraham Toro's (hamstring) recent placement on the IL being the primary catalyst for the former's long-awaited arrival in the big leagues.

McCann went 1-for-2 with two walks in a loss to the Angels on Wednesday.

McCann made one of his relatively infrequent appearances in the starting nine and once again contributed, qualifying as the only Athletics batter to reach safely on three occasions. However, he was part of an unfortunate sequence in the second inning, when he stumbled and failed to touch home plate when attempting to score and was subsequently called out due to Armando Alvarez making contact with him in an attempt to steer McCann back to the plate. That gaffe notwithstanding, the rookie backstop has now reached safely in four consecutive games dating back to June 16, and he sports a .278 average and .804 OPS across 91 plate appearances (30 games) this season.

Thornton recorded the first save of his MLB career in a win over the Rays on Wednesday, firing a perfect ninth inning.

Ryne Stanek worked the eighth and Andres Munoz faltered with the save opportunity to open the ninth, failing to record an out and leaving Thornton to inherit a bases-loaded jam. The right-hander deftly managed the dangerous scenario, inducing a fielder's choice groundout from Richie Palacios that allowed Josh Lowe to score but then retiring Amed Rosario on a game-ending double play. The one run went on Munoz's tab, affording Thornton his sixth scoreless outing in his last eight trips to the mound -- including his third straight -- as well as his first career save.

Wendzel started at third base and went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to Milwaukee.

With Corey Seager resting, Josh Smith started at shortstop, opening up third base for Wendzel. Prior to Wednesday, that used to mean Ezequiel Duran would play the hot corner, but the Rangers optioned the underperforming Duran to Triple-A Round Rock amid a mini roster shakeup. Wendzel is 6-for-40 with a home run, two doubles and two RBI over 23 games this season. Eventually, Josh Jung (wrist) will return to solidify third base.

Hill started in center field and went 1-for-4 in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the Brewers.

Hill was part of a roster shakeup Wednesday; he replaced Ezequiel Duran, who was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock. Rangers general manager Chris Young is trying to right the ship of the 2023 World Series champs. "It'll be performance-driven," Young told Kenndi Landry of MLB.com. "The reality is that anybody who is performing in Triple-A, there will be an opportunity here and we're gonna go with the team that helps us win games, the guys who are hot." Hill slashed .351/.416/.617 over 42 games at Round Rock and seemingly will be given an opportunity to dig the Rangers out of a hole, though he didn't help himself Wednesday as an ill-advised dive in the outfield led to an inside-the-park homer for Jackson Chourio.