Player Notes

Matt Belisle tossed a scoreless inning of relief in Tuesday's victory over Arizona.
Advice: The veteran has notched a 3.86 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 21/7 K/BB rate in 21 games. He's also sixth in the National League with eight holds.

Wade Davis allowed three runs over five innings but escaped with a no-decision as the Royals beat the Astros on Tuesday.
Advice: Davis was fortunate to hold the Astros to just three runs, as he gave up eight hits and four walks on the night. After a strong start to the season, Davis now owns a 5.91 ERA and has won just one start since April 17. Fortunately for Davis, the Royals don't have any better options to replace him in the rotation at this point. His next start will come Sunday against the Angels.

Casey Fien struck out two in a perfect inning of relief Tuesday against the Braves.
Advice: The 28-year-old right-hander has a 4.19 ERA over 11 appearances. After getting pounded in limited run for the Tigers between 2009-2010, Fien has rejuvenated his career up north, posting a stingy 2.87 ERA and 1.01 WHIP over 56 games since the Twins called him up on the Fourth of July, 2012.

Rafael Soriano took his third blown save after giving up a run in the ninth against the Giants on Tuesday.
Advice: Soriano also took a blown save on Friday, but that was aided by a Ryan Zimmerman throwing error and he ended up notching the win in the 10th. Soriano still has nothing to worry about as far as job security -- he's more trustworthy than Drew Storen right now -- but the Nationals can't afford to continue being let down by their pen when their offense has been so poor.

J.P. Howell's first season in Los Angeles is off to a strong start, as the left-hander has a 2.89 ERA through 19 appearances for the Dodgers.
Advice: Coming off a stellar 2012 campaign, having posted a 3.04 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 42/22 K/BB ratio in 55 appearances for the Rays, Howell inked a one-year, $2.85 million contract with the Dodgers. Howell is allowing a few more base runners this season (1.34 WHIP compared to 1.21 in 2012), but his strikeout rate is slightly up and, more importantly, he hasn't surrendered a home run yet.

Troy Patton holds a 4.05 ERA over 18 appearances.
Advice: The left-hander put up a 2.43 ERA over 54 appearances last season in his first full year in the majors. His encore isn't going as smoothly due to an increased rate of walks (more than double what it was last season) and decreased strikeouts (he's punching out 3.4 less batters per nine innings). Being increasingly hittable doesn't help either. After a 1.02 WHIP in 2012, Patton sits at 1.55 today.

Matt Guerrier struck out a pair over two scoreless innings of relief Tuesday against the Rockies.
Advice: He entered the contest with just four punch outs, so last night's performance qualifies as an outburst. Guerrier used to be a holds machine for the Twins, but he's posted just 19 over the past three seasons for the Dodgers, four less than he had in his last year in Minnesota. An elbow injury cost the veteran most of last season. He owns a 3.45 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and ugly 6/6 K/BB rate over 18 appearances.

Padres reliever Anthony Bass was charged with four runs in his second inning of work Tuesday against the Cardinals.
Advice: Bass was ripped off tonight. The first hitter to reach against him did so on a strikeout/wild pitch. The second had a clean single, but Yadier Molina followed with a double-play ball, only Everth Cabrera vacated second base way too early on the relay and wasn't given credit for the out. With runners on second and third with one out, Bud Black had Bass intentionally walk Jon Jay, and Daniel Descalso followed with a grand slam. That was certainly a mistake for Bass, but he could have been out of the inning before then and he didn't deserve for his ERA to jump from 2.60 to 3.64 tonight.

Glen Perkins blew his first save of the season in Tuesday's 5-4, extra-innings loss to the Braves.
Advice: Minnesota is having about as much success in Atlanta as they did during the 1991 World Series. Perkins was summoned in the ninth inning and recorded two quick outs before Evan Gattis blasted a 412-foot bomb over the left-field fence. The 30-year-old lefty remains a lighthouse in the dark night that is Minnesota's pitching corps. Perkins saved 16 games last year while registering a 2.56 ERA and now has eight saves, a 3.45 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 25/5 K/BB rate over 16 appearances in 2013.

Andrew Miller is proving his 2012 breakout was no fluke, posting a 3.86 ERA and 24/8 K/BB rate over 20 appearances.
Advice: The sixth overall pick in 2006 has successfully saved his career in Boston's bullpen. Miller went 21-29 with a 5.79 ERA between 2006-2011, mostly as a starter for the Tigers, Marlins and Red Sox. He hasn't started a game in the last two seasons and has rewarded Boston with a 3.48 ERA over 73 appearances. Miller's current strikeout rate is by far the best of his career.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said either T.J. McFarland or Jake Arrieta will start on Thursday in Toronto.
Advice: The O's decided to send down Jair Jurrjens in order to activate Miguel Gonzalez, so they'll need a fifth starter until Wei-Yin Chen (oblique) is ready. Arrieta is more stretched out since he's been used as a starter this season, but Showalter thinks McFarland would be able to throw 75-90 pitches. Neither pitcher would be worth streaming against the Blue Jays.
More: MLBlogs.com

Jim Henderson earned his ninth save of the season as the Brewers beat the Dodgers 5-2 on Tuesday.
Advice: Henderson's save capped off a total of 5 2/3 scoreless innings from the Milwaukee bullpen. He surrendered a hit and a walk but struck out the other three batters he faced and now boasts a 0.95 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 23/5 K/BB ratio in 19 innings this season. The right-hander has been a waiver wire gem so far and should be a steady fantasy closer all year.

Giants recalled RHP Sandy Rosario from Triple-A Fresno.
Advice: He'll provide a fresh arm for the bullpen with Santiago Casilla (knee) headed to the disabled list. Rosario appeared in one game with the Giants earlier this month and owns a 3.33 ERA and 28/8 K/BB ratio over 24 1/3 innings this season in Triple-A.

Red Sox prospect right-hander Rubby De La Rosa was scratched from Tuesday's start with Triple-A Pawtucket for precautionary reasons after he tweaked a muscle in his side.
Advice: It's evidently not a major concern, but the Red Sox didn't want to risk him making things worse. De La Rosa has a 3.65 ERA and 29/14 K/BB ratio in 24 2/3 innings across eight starts this season in Triple-A and should make an impact with the big club before long.
More: Brian MacPherson on Twitter