Giants ship Ryan Walker back to Triple-A

Walker heads back to the minors to open a spot in San Francisco’s bullpen for waiver claim Joel Kuhnel. The 30-year-old former high-leverage reliever is arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason and could wind up being a non-tender candidate.

Burnes, who reportedly hit 93 mph during this latest session, has continued steadily increasing his pitch count after making a minor league rehab start for Triple-A Reno last weekend. The 31-year-old is roughly 15 months removed from Tommy John surgery and a teres major muscle strain that cropped up during his rehabilitation process. There’s a chance he returns to the majors to take the ball at some point during Arizona’s three-game series against the Royals next week. There should be additional clarity on his next steps before the end of the weekend. Simply put, he’s close. Given his track record, Burnes is worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues.

Montes underwent precautionary X-rays that came back negative for any fractures after crashing into the right-center field wall during Friday’s contest against the Athletics. The 21-year-old rookie slugger, who is hitting .273 (3-for-11) with one homer and three RBI in three games since being called up earlier this week, appears to have avoided serious injury, which is the most encouraging news here. He’s likely to receive some additional time off to rest and recover this weekend.

Ryan, who threw 42 pitches during a minor league rehab start for Triple-A St. Paul earlier this week, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday. MLB.com’s Matthew Leach notes that Minnesota’s pitchers typically throw a bullpen session two days before their next start and Monday is an off-day in the minors. He’s been out with a glute strain since early August and would likely be on a strict pitch count in his return. There should be a definitive update on Ryan’s next steps at some point this weekend, but it certainly sounds like he could get the ball on Monday at Comerica Park. The club hasn’t announced their rotation plans for the series. Connor Prielipp would be in line to start if Ryan doesn’t come off the shelf.

The exact timing remains unclear with Shelton adding that they’re trying to figure out a way for Buxton to contribute at some point before the regular season concludes. It certainly sounds like Buxton, who has been battling lingering hip issues for the past few months, can be safely dropped in all redraft fantasy leagues. There should be a definitive update regarding the exact type of procedure and recovery timeline at some point in the early stages of the offseason.

It’s a significant step towards Crochet returning to Boston’s pitching equation as a one or two-inning relief option for the postseason. The 27-year-old fantasy ace made just six starts before hitting the injured list with a shoulder issue in late April. It won’t help fantasy managers down the home stretch, but it qualifies as a positive that Crochet managed to avoid surgery and is making real progress with his throwing program. He should be healthy for the start of next spring, lockout permitting, after a normal offseason.

Dobbins is likely to miss all of next season while recovering from the elbow ligament replacement operation given the timing of the procedure. It was the second Tommy John procedure of his career. The 27-year-old hit the injured list with forearm tightness in late August. He posted a 3.67 ERA and 52/24 K/BB ratio across 54 innings for the Cardinals this season.

It’s a break for Los Angeles that they were able to sneak Rortvedt through waivers as emergency catching depth. Hopefully they won’t need him down the home stretch, but he’ll be an option if anything happens to Will Smith, Hunter Feduccia or Dalton Rushing.

Cameron went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. The 29-year-old journeyman outfielder went 5-for-24 with one home run during an eight-game stint with Toronto.

Cosgrove allowed 16 runs over 16 1/3 innings of work across 18 appearances for the Nationals prior to being designated for assignment earlier this week. He’ll stick around as organizational relief depth for the home stretch.