MLB Player News

Dixon went 2-for-4 with a homer in the afternoon portion of Saturday's doubleheader against the Twins.

Dixon's homer, his second of the season, was a two-out solo shot in the second inning off Michael Pineda. He's now hitting .294/.314/.529 in 35 plate appearances but is striking out 42.9 percent of the time.

Cooper (hand) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Saturday.

Cooper will hope his latest return from the injured list goes better than the previous one, when he appeared in just one game before bruising his hand. He'll head straight into the starting lineup Saturday, batting fifth and playing right field against the Mets, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports. Peter O'Brien (ribs) landed on the injured list in a corresponding move.

Bell went 2-for-4 against St. Louis on Friday, lifting his season batting average to .300.

He also made a key defensive play to help keep the Cards from scoring. Bell ranks eighth in baseball with an average exit velocity of 94.4 mph. He's hit nine homers, something that took him until Sept. 7 to accomplish last year. In fact, the first baseman didn't collect his ninth homer until the last day of May during his 26-homer rookie campaign in 2017. Provided he can stay healthy, the switch hitter is on course to set career highs across the board.

Goldschmidt went 3-for-5 in a loss to the Pirates on Friday.

Goldschmidt accomplished the relatively unlikely feat of generating a second consecutive 3-for-5 performance, a two-game surge that's already served to raise his season average 23 points to .263. The veteran's mini-breakout was a long time coming, as Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports Goldschmidt's second-inning run-scoring single Thursday snapped a run of 60 straight plate appearances without an RBI and his ground-rule double later in that contest ended a 13-game stretch without an extra-base hit. Part of the slugger's problems this season have stemmed in a drop in solid contact, with Langosch also relaying that prior to Thursday, his barrel rate (13.0 percent), average exit velocity (89.4 mph) and hard-contact rate (38.9 percent) were all down as compared to 2018.

Votto went 0-for-2 but drew two walks and scored a run in Friday's win over the Giants. He's hitting .206/.333/.333 in 150 plate appearances so far this season, despite hitting the ball with the same exit velocity as he has in the last two seasons, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Votto's hard-hit rate is actually up to 36.1 percent, but he's also striking out 23.4 percent of the time, well above his previous rates. He had two hard-hit balls in the no-hitter by Mike Fiers earlier in the week, including a possible home run stolen by Ramon Laureano. "I really like how I've swung the bat in May, despite getting very few results," he said. "Sometimes that's how the luck goes. I felt I swung the bat very poorly at the very beginning of the year. I started transitioning to what I feel is an everyday, repeatable approach."

Gurriel went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Friday's 3-0 win over Texas.

Gurriel and Robinson Chirinos went back-to-back in the eighth inning, giving the Astros insurance runs. The homer extended Gurriel's hitting streak to seven games (11-for-27), a stretch that raised the first baseman's average from .234 to .269. The trick for Gurriel now is to start hitting with men in scoring position. He batted .403 in such situations in 2018 but has dropped to .107 this season, which has limited him to just 12 RBI in 35 games.

Abreu went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Friday's 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays.

Abreu's first-inning, run-producing double gave the White Sox an early lead and was his 35th RBI of the season. White Sox manager Rick Renteria has done a good job of putting the team's hottest hitters in front of Abreu, whether that be Tim Anderson or Yoan Moncada, giving him plenty of opportunities to drive in runs. Abreu currently is in a 19-game stretch during which he's driven in 25 runs and hasn't gone more than two games without an RBI.

Cooper (hand) will take his rehab assignment to Triple-A New Orleans on Saturday, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Cooper began his minor-league stint with High-A Jupiter on Wednesday, and he's evidently feeling healthy enough to advance to a higher level of competition. A concrete timetable for his return has yet to be revealed, but it would appear as though he's closing in on his activation from the injured list.

Solano started at the keystone Thursday, going 1-for-3 with an RBI in a 12-11 loss to the Rockies.

Solano appears to have stepped right into the the role Yangervis Solarte occupied prior to his release, starting against southpaws and making most of those appearances at second base. The 31-year-old slashed .322/.392/.437 over 97 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento prior to his callup, but he has shown little to no power or speed throughout his career, leaving him well off the fantasy radar.

Olson went 2-for-4 with a double in a loss to the Reds on Thursday.

Olson managed the only multi-hit effort of the night for the Athletics in a game during which their offense was thoroughly stymied. The young infielder has now put together a pair of two-hit tallies in his three games since returning to action following his hand injury, with Thursday's two-bagger serving as his first extra-base hit of the season. Olson is still in the process of getting his timing back at the plate, however -- he's struck out two times apiece in each of his first three games since returning.