MLB Player News

Ohtani (3-2) allowed four hits and two walks while striking out eight over seven shutout innings to earn the win over the Giants on Wednesday.

Ohtani's Cy Young-caliber season continues after a 105-pitch effort (71 strikes). It's his third scoreless outing of the season and the fourth time he's logged at least eight strikeouts. Through seven starts, he has a superb 0.82 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 50:11 K:BB across 44 innings. Ohtani is expected to get a full day off Thursday for the series finale versus San Francisco, but he should be back in the lineup as a hitter Friday as the Dodgers face his former team, the Angels, for a three-game series over the weekend. The 31-year-old has yet to get his bat going in May with a .150/.261/.250 slash line through 10 games as a hitter this month.

Ohtani is starting as a pitcher Wednesday against the Giants but is not in the Dodgers' starting lineup as the designated hitter.

Per Sonja Chen of MLB.com, Ohtani could be available as a pinch hitter Wednesday but will only start as a pitcher. Although his batting stats this season have taken a noticeable hit -- particularly in May with a .532 OPS through 11 games -- Ohtani continues to be one of the best pitchers in baseball, with the right-hander sporting a 0.97 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 42:9 K:BB across 37 innings this season.

Torrens will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Tigers.

With Francisco Alvarez (knee) suffering a right meniscus tear in Tuesday's win and likely to miss at least a month, Torrens is poised to step in as the Mets' new No. 1 backstop. While serving in a part-time capacity through the first seven weeks of the season, Torrens has made a limited impact at the dish, slashing just .208/.255/.292 with no home runs, no steals, eight RBI and five runs over 52 plate appearances. Even with his playing time set to increase, Torrens isn't expected to warrant much fantasy attention outside of NL-only leagues or deeper mixed leagues that start two catchers.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani will be used only as a pitcher during Wednesday's game against the Giants, and the two-way star will remain out of the lineup for Thursday's series finale but will be available to pinch hit, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.

After Ohtani went 0-for-5 at the dish in Monday's 9-3 loss in the series opener, Roberts indicated that the four-time MVP would get a day off from hitting either Wednesday or Thursday. Though Ohtani broke out of an extended funk at the plate by going 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Tuesday's 6-2 loss, Roberts won't deviate from his plan to rest the 31-year-old superstar during the Giants series. In fact, Ohtani now looks set to be out of the hitting lineup for both of the final two games of the series, though he'll take his normal turn through the rotation Wednesday. While he hasn't lived up to his incredibly high standard as a hitter so far this season with a .797 OPS -- his lowest mark since the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign -- Ohtani is on his way to a career-best season as a pitcher. He'll head into his seventh start of the season having maintained a 0.97 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 42:9 K:BB in 37 innings.

Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and a second run scored in Tuesday's 6-2 loss to the Giants.

Ohtani was the only Dodger to log multiple hits in this contest. This ended a run of 11 games without a long ball for the superstar. He has just three multi-hit efforts -- and more notably, seven hitless games -- over his last 12 contests, going 9-for-47 (.191) in that span. Overall, he's batting .240 with a .797 OPS, seven homers, 17 RBI, 27 runs scored, seven doubles and five stolen bases across 42 games as a hitter this season. Ohtani is scheduled to pitch Wednesday, but he will be getting a day off from hitting either Wednesday or Thursday, so fantasy managers will want to keep an eye on the Dodgers' lineup cards in the coming days.

Manager Dave Roberts said after Monday's 9-3 loss that Ohtani will be held out of the lineup for one of the final two games of the Dodgers' four-game series versus the Giants, Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Ohtani went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts Monday, extending a rough stretch at the plate to begin the month. Through his nine games as a hitter so far in May, Ohtani has gone just 4-for-36 with a 4:10 BB:K, bringing his OPS down to .767 for the season. Ohtani has made up for his uncharacteristically lagging bat by looking as dominant as ever on the mound; he'll take a 0.97 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 22.8 K-BB% into his next start Wednesday. The Dodgers could look to give him a break from hitting that day -- something they've already done for three of his first six starts as a pitcher -- or wait until Thursday's series finale to rest him in what would be his first proper off day of the season.

Harper (migraine) will start at first base and bat third in Sunday's game against the Rockies, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Harper developed a migraine early in Saturday's 9-3 win, prompting the Phillies to pull him from the contest before he made a plate appearance. The 33-year-old appears to have recovered overnight and has been given the green light to play in the series finale.

Harper was removed from Saturday's game against the Rockies due to a migraine, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Harper was taken out of the game in the first inning before recording a plate appearance. If he ends up needing to miss additional time, Felix Reyes would be next up to start at first base for the Phillies.

Vientos went 2-for-4 with a double, a solo home run, two RBI and one run scored in Friday's 3-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

Vientos led off the top of the second inning with a solo shot, his fifth of the season, taking Ryne Nelson deep on a slider. He then led off the top of the 10th inning with what proved to be a game-winning RBI double. Vientos has three long balls and eight RBI in six games this month and is slashing .240/.287/.440 with five homers, 16 RBI, 11 runs scored and a 7:24 BB:K across 108 plate appearances this season.

Ozuna went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Friday's 5-2 loss to the Giants.

Ozuna has gone 9-for-27 (.333) with two homers, six RBI and a 4:5 BB:K over his last seven games. The slugger is still digging his way out of a cold start to the season, but he's had fairly steady playing time at designated hitter to do that. He's batting .198 with a .593 OPS, four homers, 14 RBI, 11 runs scored and three doubles across 32 contests this year.