MLB Player News

Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's loss to Seattle.

The two-way star's solo shot in the third inning wasn't cheap -- it went 463 feet to right field. The long ball was Ohtani's league-leading 33rd of the season and 16th in his past 21 games. Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Ohtani is only the seventh player in MLB history to accomplish that feat, and the first American Leaguer. Needless to say, he is paying huge dividends for fantasy managers who plugged him into their lineup as a hitter this season.

Martinez went 2-for-3 with a home run, four RBI and two walks in Friday's 11-5 win over Philadelphia.

The designated hitter put Boston ahead for good with a three-run homer in the second inning. Martinez added a ground-rule double in the third to cap off a four-run rally that solidified Boston's lead. The 33-year-old is 8-for-26 (.308) with two homers, eight RBI and five runs scored through seven games in July. That's right about in line with his .303/.372/.562 slash line through 358 plate appearances overall.

Soler went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Friday's 2-1 loss to Cleveland.

The 29-year-old's first homer since June 10 tied the game at 1-1 in the eighth inning, but that was all the offense Kansas City could muster. Soler has put together a disappointing campaign so far, posting a .185/.280/.321 slash line with seven long balls, 15 doubles, 30 RBI and 26 runs scored through 304 plate appearances, and he's seen Ryan O'Hearn begin to carve into his playing time at DH.

Ramirez will sit Friday against the Royals.

Ramirez sits after starting 14 straight games. He's in the middle of his best big-league season to date, but his .269/.316/.445 slash line still isn't anything particularly exciting. Daniel Johnson will be the right fielder in his absence.

Collins is not starting Friday against the Orioles.

Collins is in line to get the bulk of the starts behind the plate going forward with Yasmani Grandal (knee) out for at least the next month. He'll get a breather Friday as Seby Zavala catches Dallas Keuchel.

Reyes went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer and a walk in Thursday's win over the Royals.

Reyes took Kansas City reliever Greg Holland deep with two out in the bottom of the ninth, snapping Cleveland's nine-game losing streak. It was the 14th homer of the season for Reyes, who has gone 8-for-21 (.381) with a pair of dingers and six RBI since returning from the injured list July 2.

Soler will sit Thursday in Cleveland, Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports.

Soler has now found himself on the bench for three of the Royals' last five games. He'll be a free agent this winter, so the rebuilding team may not see too much reason to give him regular at-bats down the stretch given that he's hitting just .183/.279/.309 on the year. Jarrod Dyson will be the right fielder Thursday, with Ryan O'Hearn serving as the designated hitter.

Canha (hip) won't be reinstated from the 10-day injured list until after the All-Star break, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Canha has been progressing well in his rehab recently, and manager Bob Melvin indicated earlier in the week that the right fielder had a slight chance to return this weekend. However, the Athletics will give the 32-year-old additional time to recover rather than rushing him back prior to the break. Assuming Canha remains on track in his recovery, he could be available for the first game after the break, which is July 16 against Cleveland.

Jimenez (pectoral) will begin a rehab assignment with High-A Winston-Salem on Friday.

Jimenez underwent surgery in late March on a ruptured left pectoral tendon and was expected to miss four-to-five months. The best-case return date was thought to be late-July/early-August, so it sounds like this will be a best-case scenario if he avoids setbacks. It's unclear how long the rehab assignment will be, but as a position player, it may only take Jimenez a couple weeks to get up to speed.

Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Wednesday's 5-4 win over Boston.

The 27-year-old extended his major-league leading homer total to 32 with a go-ahead solo shot in the fifth inning. Ohtani hasn't gone more than two games without a long ball since June 15. The two-way superstar is slashing .279/.364/.700 with 69 RBI, 63 runs scored and 12 stolen bases through 330 plate appearances.