MLB Player News

Washington manager Davey Martinez had De La Cruz's bat checked prior to his first at-bat in Wednesday's 9-2 win over the Nationals, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

De La Cruz uses a rubber sleeve over the knob of that bat, which normally houses an electronic telemetry device used as a swing tracker in batting practice. Umpires ordered him to remove the sleeve for his first at-bat, which ended in a strikeout. The Reds received clearance from MLB for De La Cruz to use the rubber housing, sans electronics, but that was not communicated to the umpiring crew prior to the game. Once MLB cleared the use of the sleeve, De La Cruz launched a home run that traveled 455 feet in his next at-bat and added two doubles.

Machado went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, two walks and three total RBI in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Angels.

Machado hit the lone homer of the contest for the Padres, swatting a 401-foot solo shot in the sixth inning. The third baseman also singled in a run in the third and produced another RBI with a bases-loaded walk in the eighth. Machado has registered four multi-hit performances over his five games so far in July, going 9-for-20 with three homers and eight RBI over that stretch. That follows a mostly uneventful June during which he posted a .262/.292/.431 slash line with four homers over 26 contests.

Madrigal underwent imaging scans Wednesday which revealed a moderate right hamstring strain, Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network reports.

Madrigal was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday and won't be cleared to resume baseball activities until the strain is fully healed. He's eligible to be activated right after the All-Star break, but it sounds like his absence could extend into late July. Christopher Morel and Patrick Wisdom are expected to share playing time at third base for the Cubs in the meantime.

Milwaukee activated Anderson (personal) from the paternity leave list Wednesday.

Anderson was away from the Brewers for a couple of days as he welcomed a new addition to his growing family. The 30-year-old returns Wednesday to a .227/.318/.374 batting line with nine home runs and 37 RBI through 80 games.

Segura went 2-for-3 with two walks, a run scored and a steal in Tuesday's victory over St. Louis.

Segura now has hits in six out of seven games since returning from the IL. He's gone 8-for-26 (.308) with a home run in that span. The 33-year-old Segura is slashing .203/.273/.255 with two homers, 20 runs scored, 14 RBI and six stolen bases across 254 plate appearances this season.

Senzel started in right field and went 1-for-5 with a three-run home run in Tuesday's 8-4 win over Washington.

Senzel, making his first start since June 26 in Baltimore, gave the Reds a 5-0 lead in the third inning with his sixth home run of the season. He's been lost in the shuffle as an influx of young prospects pushed him to the bench. In addition to the competition, Senzel's playing time took a hit due to an unproductive bat. He batted just .143 (6-for-42) with two RBI and a .448 OPS for the month of June.

Machado went 3-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored in Tuesday's victory over the Angels.

Machado delivered his third multi-hit effort in his past four contests, and it's also his sixth three-hit game of the season. The 31-year-old largely hasn't looked himself at the plate this year with a .254/.296/.414 slash line, though he's performed better over his past 27 games with a .301 average, six homers, 19 RBI and 18 runs.

Longoria is not in the lineup Tuesday versus the Mets.

Longoria caught fire toward the end of June while taking over as the Diamondbacks' primary third baseman, but he'll grab some rest Tuesday as Emmanuel Rivera gets a turn at the hot corner.

De La Cruz went 4-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored and a steal in Tuesday's win over Washington.

It's already the 10th multi-hit effort for De La Cruz through 25 MLB games and his second four-hit performance. After a fast start to his career, De La Cruz had cooled off slightly, going 5-for-36 (.139) with one extra-base hit over his previous eight games. With his big game Tuesday, the 21-year-old infielder boosted his slash line back up to .308/.348/.490 with three homers, 23 runs scored, 13 RBI and 10 steals through 112 plate appearances this season.

The Cubs placed Madrigal on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a right hamstring strain, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports.

Madrigal suffered the injury in Monday's series opener against the Brewers and will be sidelined through at least the end of the All-Star break. Christopher Morel is starting at third base Tuesday and Patrick Wisdom (wrist) is back from the IL to help out at the hot corner.