MLB Player News

Kurtz went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and a hit-by-pitch in Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Cardinals.

After going 15 games without leaving the yard, Kurtz lifted his second homer in as many days by leading off the bottom of the first inning with a 442-foot solo shot off Michael McGreevy. The young first baseman continues to flash the same elite bat he showed during his 2025 stint, as over his last 25 games Kurtz is batting 31-for-94 (.330) with a 1.025 OPS. On the year he's now slashing .275/.428/.477 with seven homers, eight doubles, 26 RBI, 27 runs scored and five stolen bases across 194 plate appearances.

Kurtz went 2-for-4 with a grand slam, a double and a second run scored in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the Cardinals.

Kurtz had been a bit quiet on the power front, going 15 games without a homer despite batting .271 (16-for-59) in that stretch. He ended the drought in a big way Wednesday, taking Matthew Liberatore deep in the fifth inning to give the Athletics all the offense they needed to win. Kurtz is batting .267 with an .871 OPS, six homers, 25 RBI, 26 runs scored, five stolen bases, eight doubles and one triple over 41 contests this season. He hasn't come close to his pace from last year -- 36 homers in 117 games -- but there's still plenty of upside in the 23-year-old's bat.

Walker went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 4-3 extra-inning win over the Mariners.

Walker has a pair of extra-base hits over the last two games following an 0-for-15 stretch at the plate. He's up to 10 homers this season, including three over 12 contests in May. The first baseman has had a couple of shaky stretches but has been mostly reliable with the bat so far in 2026, hitting .275 with an .871 OPS, 29 RBI, 25 runs scored, 10 doubles and no stolen bases over 44 contests.

Diaz went 2-for-5 with an RBI in Wednesday's 5-3 loss to Toronto.

Diaz put forth his 11th multi-hit game of the season Wednesday and his second of the month of May thus far. The veteran infielder has been effective as Tampa Bay's full-time designated hitter in 2026, slashing .297/.375/.432 with 10 extra-base hits, 24 RBI, one stolen base and 20 runs scored across 176 plate appearances. Diaz is stuck in a bit of a power rut, however, having logged just two extra-base hits in his last 13 games.

Pasquantino went 1-for-4 with a two-run single during the Royals' 6-5 loss to the White Sox on Wednesday.

Pasquantino tied things up at 3-3 in the fifth inning, when his single to center field brought home both Bobby Witt and Lane Thomas. It was the fourth time this season that Pasquantino has logged two RBI in a game, and his 21 RBI are second most on the Royals behind only Witt (22).

Caglianone is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the White Sox.

With southpaw Noah Schultz on the bump for Chicago, the Royals will stock up on some extra right-handed bats. Caglianone will hit the bench along with fellow left-handed hitters Michael Massey, Kyle Isbel and Carter Jensen.

Schanuel is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Guardians, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Though he's typically included in the lineup against southpaws like the Guardians' Parker Messick, the left-handed-hitting Schanuel will be given a breather while the Angels wrap up their series in Cleveland with a day game after a night game. Vaughn Grissom will step in at first base in place of Schanuel, who slashed .318/.333/.409 with four runs and one RBI while starting each of the Angels' first 11 games of May.

Manzardo is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Angels, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.

With lefty Reid Detmers on the hill for the Angels, the left-handed-hitting Manzardo will get a break after he had started in each of the Guardians' last four games. Rhys Hoskins will step in for Manzardo at first base and will bat cleanup.

Aranda went 2-for-3 with a home run, two total runs and three total RBI in an 8-5 win over Toronto on Monday.

Aranda got the scoring started with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, added a run-scoring single in the second and swatted a solo homer in the fifth. The 27-year-old had gone 11 games without a long ball coming into Monday, but he's otherwise been hot at the plate, slashing .469/.526/.594 with seven RBI through 10 games in May. Aranda has eight homers through 40 contests on the campaign, putting him well on pace to surpass the career-high 14 long balls he hit across 106 regular-season games in 2025.

Rice went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in a loss to the Orioles on Monday.

Rice got the Yankees going with a two-run blast in the third inning. Those ended up being the only runs the team would score, and Rice finished with two of New York's five total hits. The powerful first baseman went 0-for-13 in his prior three contests after returning from a four-game absence due to a hand injury, but Monday's homer suggests the issue is a thing of the past.