MLB Player News

Drury went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run Friday against the Padres.

The 23-year-old outfielder remains hot with hits in four of the past five games. Even though he hasn't showcased much power of late with only three extra-base hits in the last 10 games, he remains tied with Paul Goldschmidt for the franchise's lead in homer runs this year with eight.

Espinosa was 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a losing effort against the Cardinals on Friday night.

It wasn't enough to overcome a five-run Cardinals' third inning. Regularly hitting near the bottom of the Nationals' order, he sports a weak .203 average but does provide a little pop with five home runs and 18 RBI.

Marte (thumb) will likely resume baseball activities over the weekend, Jessamyn McIntyre of ESPN 710 reports.

The young shortstop had gotten into a groove at the plate before he suffered a thumb injury in Saturday's game against the Reds, which led to him landing on the DL. However, the expectation is that he'll be able to recover quickly, and that is certainly underlined by the fact that he'll resume baseball activities over the weekend. The earliest Marte will be able to be activated off the DL will be June 6 when the Mariners host the Indians.

Merrifield is in the lineup and batting second for Thursday's game against the White Sox, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

Merrifield has three consecutive mult-hit games and will look to stay hot Thursday against the White Sox. He is hitting .348 since being called up and will likely remain in the lineup as long as he keeps performing.

Forsythe (shoulder) is targeting a mid-June return, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Forsythe hit the DL back on May 14 with a hairline fracture in his left shoulder blade. He's set for further evaluation at the end of the month, but Forsythe said he's already feeling better, and he took groundballs Wednesday afternoon. The infielder remains without a firm timetable, but at this point he's targeting a return sometime during the Rays' next homestand, which spans June 10-19.

Solarte went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and two strikeouts Wednesday against the Giants.

The 28-year-old switch hitter has posted a paltry .176 average during May, but he's gone 3-for-8 in his last two games, so things might improve for him in the near future. He also recorded his first extra-base hit since April 8.

Tomlinson went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI Wednesday against the Padres.

Tomlinson drove in his first run since May 3, and he has been seeing the ball pretty well of late going 6-for-14 in his last seven games. The 25-year-old has hit an impressive .344 with an OPS of .782 in 57 at-bats this year.

Motter is in the lineup and batting eighth for Wednesday's game against the Marlins, Roger Mooney of The Tampa Tribune reports.

Motter will continue to see starts against left-handed pitching in a platoon with Brad Miller. The 26-year-old is 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored, and two RBI against lefties on the season.

Renda has a .281/.331/.419 line after playing 44 games at Double-A Pensacola.

After being acquired from the Yankees in the Aroldis Chapman trade, Renda has shown his value to the Reds organization by posting his best Double-A numbers to date. Renda's 13 doubles, three triples, and home run have contributed to his career best slugging percentage of .419. Before hitting a rough patch in mid-May, he'd been sustaining a batting average above .300. Pensacola would especially like Renda to recover from his slump, for he's a threat while on base and has yet to be caught stealing this season.

Beckham is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Brewers.

This appears to be a normal day off for Beckham, although it could be a nice mental break as well considering the third baseman is hitless in his last three games. Chase d'Arnaud will take over for him at the hot corner Wednesday.