MLB Player News

Rodriguez (back) is expected to join Triple-A Durham for a rehab assignment Sunday, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

Rodriguez has been on the injured list since Sept. 3 due to a lower-back strain. If all goes well on his assignment, the right-hander should return to Tampa Bay before the end of the season. He's unlikely to be a factor in fantasy leagues at this point but should bolster the playoff-bound Rays' bullpen during the postseason.

Helsley (elbow) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday, Matt Betts of MLB.com reports.

Helsley has been on the 15-day injured list since late June with right elbow discomfort, and the right-hander threw 24 pitches in live batting practice Tuesday. The rehab outing will be his first game action in over two months, so he'll likely need to get a few appearances under his belt before becoming an option to rejoin the Orioles. A return before the end of the season remains in the cards, though.

Cruz earned the save in Friday's 3-2 win over Boston, striking out one batter in a scoreless ninth inning.

With Nate Pearson holding firm in the eighth inning, the Royals turned to Cruz to close things out in the ninth, with the latter promptly doing so on only 10 pitches (six strikes) and ending the frame by striking out Roman Anthony. It was the seventh save of the season for Cruz, all of which have come since the All-Star break, and the 27-year-old right-hander has a 4.04 ERA and 1.24 WHIP across 55.2 innings this season.

Sears has joined the Tigers in Detroit and is likely to be recalled from Triple-A Toledo to start Saturday's game against the Rockies, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

With Jack Flaherty (forearm) due back from the injured list next week, Sears may be in line for just one start for Detroit before either heading to the bullpen or reporting back to Triple-A.Sears has made one start and two relief appearances with the Tigers this season, authoring a 4.38 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 8:3 K;BB over 12.1 innings.

The Athletics designated Rashi for assignment Friday.

The transaction frees a spot on the 40-man roster for the addition of waiver claim Hunter Bigge. Rashi was a waiver claim himself in August and has allowed five earned runs with a 5:3 K:BB over 5.2 frames between the Diamondbacks and Athletics this season.

The Athletics claimed Bigge off waivers from the Rays on Friday.

It's not a surprise that Bigge didn't make it through waivers after he collected a 2.51 ERA and 36:10 K:BB over 32.1 innings in his first two major-league seasons. He's regressed in 2026 with a 6.98 ERA and 14:14 K:BB over 19.1 innings with the Rays and a 6.14 ERA and 37:20 K:BB over 29.1 frames with Triple-A Durham. However, Bigge is under team control for several more seasons and could turn into a high-leverage reliever with some adjustments.

The Yankees recalled Hanner from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday.

Hanner permitted three runs with a 6:0 K:BB over four innings during an earlier stint with the big club. He will provide manager Aaron Boone with a fresh bullpen arm.

Fedde (8-9) was tagged with the loss versus Pittsburgh on Thursday, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out one batter over 5.1 relief innings.

Rookie Hagen Smith drew the start for Chicago, but he ended up working just two innings as the opener. Fedde took over in the third and logged a starter's workload with 81 pitches across 5.1 frames. The veteran right-hander did fine in keeping the White Sox in the game, but he was stuck with the loss since the Chicago offense wasn unable to score. It remains to be seen if Fedde will again work behind an opener or go back to a traditional starting role moving forward, but either way he's projected to next take the mound in Cleveland early next week.

Smith tossed two scoreless innings in a no-decision against Pittsburgh on Thursday, allowing two hits and striking out three batters.

Smith made his first big-league start, but he ended up working a short stint as the opener for Erick Fedde, who followed with 5.1 frames of bulk relief. Smith looked great during his brief time in the game, notching five whiffs on his 33 pitches and keeping Pittsburgh out of the scoring column. The rookie left-hander has thrived as a big leaguer so far, yielding just one earned run through 18 innings spanning 11 appearances while posting a 26:10 K:BB. He worked mostly as a starter in the minors, but Chicago may hold him to shorter outings given his success in that role so far.

Munoz recorded a save against the Rangers on Thursday, walking two batters in a hitless and scoreless inning. He did not record a strikeout.

Seattle stormed back from a three-run deficit by scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Munoz entered for the top of the ninth tasked with holding a one-run lead. He threw only 11 of 25 pitches for strikes and issued consecutive two-out walks to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but the veteran closer recovered by getting Jake Burger to hit into a game-ending fielder's choice. Munoz notched a save for the second consecutive day and for the third time over the past five days. He's working on a five-game scoreless stretch, though Thursday's outing snapped a streak of 22 straight relief appearances in which he notched at least one punchout.