Rome: Astros interested in Nootbaar

Hancock remained in the contest to allow five runs over five innings after tweaking his left groin while making a diving tag in the first inning of Friday’s start against the Blue Jays. It certainly appears that the physical issue adversely impacted his performance. It sounds like there’s optimism the issue isn’t serious and that he’ll be able to make his next against the Red Sox on Wednesday. There should be a better idea of his status coming out of the weekend.

Taillon came out of Friday’s 48-pitch minor league rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo without any issues. He’ll throw a bullpen session next week before the Blue Jays determine his next steps. The 34-year-old veteran hit the injured list with forearm tendinitis earlier this month after just two starts with Toronto.

González receives his first opportunity with Miami after being claimed off waivers from the White Sox earlier this month. The 24-year-old didn’t end up pitching for Chicago this season after posting a respectable 2.66 ERA and 25/12 K/BB ratio across 20 1/3 innings over 16 relief appearances as a rookie last year. He was designated for assignment after struggling for a couple months at Triple-A to open the year.

Monteverde returns to the minors after allowing four runs over four innings during a long relief outing against the Nationals on Friday. The 28-year-old figures to make it back to Miami at some point in the final month.

Mautz provides St. Louis with some length out of the bullpen after losing a pair of starters in Hunter Dobbins (forearm) and Andre Pallante (elbow) to the injured list recently. The 25-year-old made one relief appearance for the Cardinals back in late May. He’s posted a pedestrian 3.78 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 89/65 K/BB ratio across 85 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this season.

St. Louis is moving on from Ferguson after he allowed eight runs over 8 1/3 innings after coming over from the Reds at the trade deadline earlier this month. The 30-year-old lefty has made 368 appearances in the big leagues since 2018 and should be able to latch on somewhere to close out the season.

Mickey Moniak and Jordan Beck are in the outfield corners with Cole Carrigg in center field. Veen has started just nine times in 17 games since being called up earlier this month, hitting .250 (7-for-28) with two homers, seven RBI and one steal. The 24-year-old prospect figures to continue sitting against left-handed starters, but he should do enough damage against right-handers to be useful in deeper fantasy leagues, especially when the Rockies are at home.

The pitcher they affectionately call “Tugboat” draws the starting assignment for the front-end of Saturday’s doubleheader at Oracle Park. The 23-year-old allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings across a pair of appearances earlier this month. He misses enough bats to be interesting from a long-term standpoint, but he’s not a recommended fantasy option at this stage of his career.

Lonsway, a sixth-round pick from the 2021 draft, figures to operate in middle relief for San Francisco after receiving his first call-up to the big leagues. The 27-year-old has posted an underwhelming 6.00 ERA, 1.85 WHIP and 49/45 K/BB ratio across 72 innings at the Triple-A level this season. He can be ignored for fantasy purposes.

Bivens heads back to the minors after allowing eight runs over three innings during a pair of relief appearances earlier this week. The 32-year-old could return as middle relief depth at some point in the final month of the season.