CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs placed reliever Gavin Hollowell on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation before their series opener against the New York Yankees on Friday and recalled left-hander Antoine Kelly from Triple-A Iowa.
Manager Craig Counsell said injured closer Daniel Palencia will throw a live bullpen session in Chicago on Saturday and is nearing a return. Palencia, who led the Cubs last season with 22 saves, has been out since June 16 with a mild right elbow flexor strain.
Hallowell’s injury flared during the Cubs' series in St. Louis earlier this week. He has a 2.51 ERA over 14 1/3 innings in 14 games this season, striking out 13 and walking eight while not factoring into a decision.
Kelly was 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA in 19 1/3 innings over 13 games with Iowa since the Cubs acquired him for cash from the Dodgers on June 6. The 26-year-old from suburban Park Ridge, Illinois, has yet to pitch in the majors.
Palencia has been limited to 19 games and 16 2/3 innings this season and is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA and three saves.
Counsell said that pending the outcome of Palencia’s bullpen session, the righty could move on to a rehab assignment in the minors.
“He’s probably ready to start making appearances in games,” Counsell said. “Daniel’s coming back. He’s throwing live, which means you’re healthy. You’ve just got to build up some volume.”
Meanwhile, injured starter Justin Steele, out since April 2025 following Tommy John surgery — then an April 2026 setback with a left flexor strain — played catch at Wrigley Field on Friday.
“Made like 85 throws today, 80 throws, and then tomorrow do a lot more throws, and then get on the mound for 20 pitches,” Steele said.
The 31-year-old left-hander, however, has no idea when he might resume pitching at some level, even if he said he “feels good right now.”
“Just finishing the the protocol or whatever it is that’s in front of me,” he said.
Steele was an All-Star starter in a breakout 2023 season when he was 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA. Injuries limited him to 24 games in 2024 when he was 5-5 with a 3.07 ERA in 24 games.
In 2025, Steele pitched just four games with a 3-1 record and 4.76 ERA before he got hurt in an April 7 win over Texas.
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Chicago Cubs' Gavin Hollowell delivers a pitch during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Monday, July 27, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)
CAIRO (AP) — Hamas confirmed Friday that it will disarm in a potential breakthrough for ending the war in Gaza, but major obstacles remain. There were no U.S. strikes on Iran overnight, but Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it had struck another two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, and Kuwait said it intercepted drones.
Here are the most important developments across the Middle East today:
Hamas said it will begin disarming as part of a deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump that also requires Israel to end its strikes and withdraw from Gaza.
Hamas also said that laying down its heavy weapons, which would come later in the process, was contingent on the creation of a Palestinian state, something Israel’s current government adamantly rejects.
Reflecting the hurdles of the potential disarmament, a series of Israeli airstrikes shook Gaza again on Friday, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding at least four, including a child, according to officials in hospitals near the attacks. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the agreement, calling it the only good news in recent days from a troubled region. The deal must be implemented “without any questions, skepticism, or determination to undermine it,” he told reporters.
Israel has not officially commented on the Hamas deal, which is part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced last October. That agreement called for Hamas to disarm and hand over power to an independent Palestinian administration. Israel was to withdraw and an International Stabilization Force was to be deployed.
But progress stalled, with Israel saying everything hinged on Hamas disarming, and Hamas accusing Israel of violating the agreement by continuing to carry out regular strikes on Gaza.
The war in Gaza began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry says.
The Associated Press is tracking the progress of Trump's plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.
No U.S. strikes were reported in Iran on Friday. Iran fired drones at Kuwait, a Gulf country hosting U.S. forces, and said it had also fired at oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil and gas shipments, which has been largely closed by the fighting.
Associated Press writer Fatma Khaled contributed to this report from Cairo. Becatoros contributed from Athens, Greece.
A Palestinian man rides his bicycle by the rubble of buildings that were destroyed during the Israel Hamas war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
