MLB Player News

Armstrong (3-2) earned the win Sunday over the Twins, retiring both batters he faced.

Armstrong has been moderately effective in a middle-relief role since joining the Cardinals, allowing four runs over 11.1 innings across 10 appearances. He's added an 11:2 K:BB in that span. For the year, Armstrong has a 4.97 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 61:21 K:BB, one save and three holds over 58 innings between the Cardinals and the Rays. Given the success of St. Louis' high-leverage relievers, Armstrong is unlikely to move up the hierarchy.

Montas (6-9) took the loss Sunday, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks over six innings against Oakland. He struck out seven.

Montas was coming off a one-hit, zero-run effort over seven innings in his last start and mowed down the A's the first time through the order Sunday. However, he ran into issues in the fourth, allowing the first five batters to reach base with four of those eventually coming around to score. Montas was not rocked in this start, with all five hits against him being singles. He also collected at least seven punchouts for the fifth time this season. Montas' next start is currently slated to be against his former club, the Reds, in his first game in Cincinnati since joining the Brewers at the trade deadline.

The Padres will recall Vasquez from Triple-A El Paso to start Monday's game in St. Louis, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

After a two-week stint in the minors, the 25-year-old will rejoin the big-league rotation as a replacement for the struggling Matt Waldron, who was optioned to Triple-A on Thursday. Before his demotion, Vasquez had settled in nicely as a serviceable back-end rotation arm for San Diego, going 2-2 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.31 WHIP over his last eight starts spanning 39 innings. Many of Vasquez's advanced metrics (5.06 SIERA, 7.4 K-BB%) over that eight-start stretch were far less impressive, so fantasy managers should have some level of skepticism of him being able to maintain a sub-4.00 ERA in his subsequent outings with the Padres.

Helsley picked up the save Sunday, allowing one hit over a scoreless ninth inning against the Twins.

Helsley worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to secure his major-league leading 40th save. Helsley has seen a bit of a decline in his peripherals this season, posting his lowest K/BB and K/9 rates along with his highest ERA and WHIP since 2021. That said, he remains one of the best relievers in the game and has been lights-out in the ninth, closing the door on all but three save chances this season.

Fedde did not factor into the decision Sunday, allowing one run on two hits and three walks over six innings against the Twins. He struck out seven.

Fedde tossed his most effective game as a Cardinal, putting together his first quality start in five starts since joining the club. A leadoff homer in the bottom of the first by Willi Castro was the only run Fedde allowed and one of only two hits the Twins could muster off the veteran righty. However, he was also provided little run support and when he was removed, the game was tied at one. Fedde's ERA since joining the Cardinals now stands at 4.23 over 27.2 innings. His next start is scheduled to take place in the Bronx against the Yankees.

Wicks (oblique) struck out four batters over 4.2 scoreless innings in his rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Iowa. He scattered three hits and one walk.

Between his first two rehab outings at Iowa, Wicks surrendered four home runs and walked four batters while covering just 3.2 innings, but he's been much more dialed in his subsequent two starts for the Triple-A club while increasing the volume of his pitches. He built up to 73 pitches Sunday and looks like he'll be ready to return from the 60-day injured list to make his next start with the big club, providing he experiences no setbacks with his oblique coming out of his next throwing session. The Cubs have yet to confirm their plans for Wicks, but he'll presumably either be part of a six-man rotation or replace Kyle Hendricks as the club's No. 5 starter.

Mervis (hand) was reinstated from Triple-A Iowa's 7-day injured list Tuesday and has gone 4-for-17 with five walks since rejoining the lineup.

Mervis missed about six-and-a-half weeks with a hand injury and didn't require a rehab assignment before being activated. The 26-year-old has spent the majority of the season at Iowa, slashing .238/.332/.463 with 13 home runs and two stolen bases over 60 games.

General manager Ben Cherington acknowledged Sunday that there is a range of innings that the Pirates don't want Skenes to surpass this season, which could lead to the right-hander's starts becoming more abbreviated over the final month of the campaign, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.

Cherington didn't offer up a firm number in terms of a potential innings limit for Skenes, but a workload-management plan already looks to be in place for the phenom rookie. As Stumpf notes, Skenes was lifted after six scoreless innings in his most recent outing Thursday against the Reds, despite having thrown just 87 pitches while exhibiting no signs of wearing down. The 87 pitches were Skenes' fewest in a start since his MLB debut back on May 11, and a workload around that level could become the norm for the 22-year-old down the stretch if the Pirates choose not to shut him down. Across his 17 starts in the majors, his seven starts at Triple-A Indianapolis and his two Grapefruit League appearances, Skenes has thrown 134.1 innings in 2024. He covered 129.1 innings in 2023 between his college season at LSU and his brief time in the minors upon getting selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft.

Merryweather allowed four runs on five hits and a walk across an inning of relief in Sunday's 7-2 loss to the Marlins.

While starter Javier Assad took the loss as he allowed three runs across seven innings, Merryweather didn't do the Cubs any favors in an effort to keep the team in the game. The righty reliever saw his ERA climb from 4.50 to 6.60 in the process. Merryweather has overpowering stuff when he's on, as evidenced by his 98 strikeouts across 72 innings last season, but he's yet to find consistent success from year to year at the MLB level. His fantasy appeal is limited at the moment due to his up-and-down play and lack of save opportunities behind Jorge Lopez and Porter Hodge in Chicago's bullpen.

Jones went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Sunday's 10-3 loss to the Yankees.

Jones has gone 5-for-22 (.227) with two doubles and four RBI over six games since he returned from a back strain. The outfielder had not logged a stolen base since June 15, and he hadn't attempted one since July 11, which was one game before his second stint on the injured list with back issues this year. He's now at a .205/.304/.314 slash line with three home runs, 18 RBI, 19 runs scored and four steals across 215 plate appearances, a far cry from the .297/.389/.542 line with 20 homers and 20 steals he posted in his breakout campaign a year ago.