MLB Player News

Villalobos was already in the minors, but this clears a spot on the 40-man for Xavier Edwards. Villalobos made his MLB debut for the Marlins earlier this month, allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings out of the pen. He has strikeout ability with his slider and splitter, but he’s pretty wild and he’s also been homer-prone in the minors.

Lowe is at designated hitter and batting second on Saturday after coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter during Friday’s showdown. The 29-year-old second baseman is making his first start since last weekend when he suffered a fractured right toe. He’ll continue playing as long as he can manage the main.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told reporters Edman fielded grounders on Friday without any ankle issues, and will progress to a rehab assignment with either Double-A Springfield or Triple-A Memphis in the coming days, assuming he gets through the rest of the weekend without a setback. The 29-year-old center fielder is working his way back from offseason wrist surgery and figures to be ready to return at some point in July.

Not good. Romano is heading for further evaluation with Dr. Keith Meister to determine his next steps. It’s the second time that Romano has been shut down during his rehabilitation process due to elbow discomfort. At this point, it’s possible the 31-year-old veteran closer could wind up requiring season-ending surgery. There should be an update on his status at some point in the coming days, but he’s nowhere close to returning at this point. It’ll continue to be Chad Green closing for Toronto until Yimi García (elbow) returns from the injured list.

Zastryzny continues his tour of the NL Central by joining Milwaukee’s bullpen mix ahead of Saturday’s game against the Cubs with fellow southpaw Jared Koenig headed to the injured list due to left forearm tendinitis. The 32-year-old journeyman lefty has made 45 appearances (two starts) in the big leagues dating back to 2016.

Koenig has been an unexpected revelation this season for Milwaukee, recording seven victories in relief to accompany a sparkling 1.66 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 36/11 K/BB ratio across 38 innings (29 appearances, five starts). No word yet on how long he’ll wind up sidelined.

Roller got into one game earlier this season for Milwaukee and finds himself off the club’s 40-man roster to make room for veteran reliever Rob Zastryzny in advance of Saturday’s game against the Cubs. The 27-year-old outfielder has batted just .198 with two homers and six steals in 43 games this season in the minors.

Hamilton has hit a bit of a rough patch over the last few days with just four hits in 20 at-bats over his last seven games. He does have one homer and three steals during that span. The 26-year-old speedster has been one of the more unexpected first-half breakout performers from a fantasy standpoint with five homers and 21 steals in 55 games after batting .121 in a brief 15-game cameo last year in Boston.

This certainly qualifies as a welcome surprise for fantasy managers following Springer’s early exit from Friday’s game against the Yankees after being hit on his left hand by a 93.5 mph fastball. The positive news here is that precautionary X-rays came back negative for any fractures and the fact that he’s already back in the lineup means that the swelling isn’t bad enough that it’s preventing him from gripping a bat. It’s been a down year offensively for the 34-year-old veteran outfielder, but the Blue Jays need his bat in the lineup if they’re going to have any shot at turning things around before the trade deadline.

Fraley is back in right field and batting cleanup on Saturday afternoon following a three-game absence due to a right calf issue. It doesn’t sound like he’s going to wind up missing any additional time, but we’ll see.

As expected, Candelario is sitting out Saturday’s contest due to right knee tendinitis, but there’s optimism he’ll be ready to return for Sunday’s series finale.