MLB Player News

The 27-year-old left-hander came over from the Pirates in a trade this offseason along with Johan Oviedo. Samaniego had a good spring, throwing 5 1/3 shutout innings while allowing just one hit and striking out six. However, he has minor league options left, and the Red Sox have three other left-handed relievers in their bullpen, so they opted to send Samaniego to the minors and kept Ryan Watson on the team. Watson is a Rule 5 pick, so he would have needed to be sent back to the Athletics if he didn’t make the Opening Day roster.

Jung hasn’t resumed baseball activities in over a week as his progress from a left calf strain has been much slower than anticipated. It seems unlikely that he’ll be able to ramp up in time to make it back before the end of August.

Lawlar kicked off a minor league rehab assignment last week and will get a couple additional contests under his belt before returning to Arizona. The 24-year-old former top prospect has shown some flashes this season, but he’s been plagued by injuries, which have limited him to just 12 games.

The Dodgers could certainly use Smith back since they’re rolling with Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia as their catching tandem with Dalton Rushing (elbow) on the injured list. The 31-year-old franchise backstop resumed baseball activities in late July and figures to make it back to Los Angeles by the end of August. He’s going to need a minor league rehab assignment given how much time he’s missed.

Halvorsen provides Los Angeles with a fresh arm heading into Monday’s series opener against the Royals after being acquired from the Rockies in a small trade last month. He’s posted eight strikeouts over 6 1/3 scoreless frames at Triple-A Oklahoma City since the deal. The hard-throwing 26-year-old posted a pedestrian 4.31 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 66/38 K/BB ratio across 71 innings for the Rockies over the last three years.

Barnes gives the Dodgers some additional long relief depth. The well-traveled 30-year-old surrendered 11 runs over 13 innings during five appearances in the majors earlier this year.

Hurt returns to the minors after compiling a respectable 4.46 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 46/21 K/BB ratio across 38 1/3 innings this season. The 28-year-old has made a career-high 37 relief appearances and also picked up his first career save.

Hernández loses his roster spot after registering an underwhelming 6.45 ERA across 22 1/3 innings for the Dodgers this season. The 30-year-old figures to pass through waivers unclaimed and head to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Norby gets his first opportunity with the Rockies after coming over from the Marlins in the Victor Vodnik trade last week. The 26-year-old figures to see time between several spots, most likely at second base, with Willi Castro moving to the outfield while Tyler Freeman (back) is on the injured list.

Freeman is dealing with a back issue that will probably keep him out for a couple weeks. He’s hit .247/.317/.314 with three homers and six steals in 288 plate appearances this season.

The Padres are obviously proceeding with an abundance of caution and will wait to see how Pivetta responds before determining his next steps. The 33-year-old set off alarm bells when he abruptly exited a minor league rehab start, but appears to have avoided serious injury. There’s a chance he’s back in San Diego at some point in the final few weeks of the year. He’s been out since mid-April due to a flexor strain in his elbow.