MLB Player News

Ohtani (elbow) will next throw to live hitters Monday in San Diego, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Ohtani was on schedule to throw to hitters this weekend in St. Louis, but with rain in the forecast and day games both Saturday and Sunday, the Dodgers are opting to push the session back a few days in order to take advantage of better weather and timing. In Ohtani's previous sim game, he threw 29 pitches and topped out at 97 mph with his fastball while deploying his full arsenal. Ohtani is loosely slated to throw to hitters each weekend, and it's unclear how moving this session to Monday will impact his throwing schedule moving forward.

Ramirez went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's loss to the Rays.

The rookie backstop took Zack Littell deep in the fourth inning to get the Marlins on the board. While Ramirez has slowed down at the plate since a blistering start to his career, he's avoided any prolonged slumps -- the 23-year-old hasn't gone more than two straight games without a hit since the beginning of May, slashing .244/.308/.429 over his last 30 contests with five of his eight homers and 14 of his 19 RBI.

McCutchen is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Phillies.

McCutchen's streak of seven consecutive starts comes to an end Friday, as he'll yield to Bryan Reynolds at DH. McCutchen is 0-for-11 with six strikeouts over his last three outings.

Bell is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Rangers.

Bell will get a breather Friday after making nine consecutive starts, as he cedes DH duties to Alex Call while Nathaniel Lowe starts at first base. During his nine-game starting streak, Bell went 11-for-33 (.333) with three homers and a 4:2 BB:K.

Marte went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, a double, a walk and two runs scored during Thursday's 6-5 loss to the Dodgers.

Marte picked up his first multi-hit game since May, reaching in four of five plate appearances Thursday. That included his fourth home run of the season and first in June. The 36-year-old, who entered the game with just four hits in his last 17 at-bats, will hope this game can get him going as his current batting average of .240 in 104 at-bats is on track for the lowest of his career.

Herrera went 3-for-7 with a two-run home run and a walk as the Cardinals split Thursday's doubleheader versus the Royals.

Herrera was the designated hitter for both games, which continues to be his main place in the lineup. The matinee was his first multi-hit effort since May 20, ending a stretch of 11 contests where he went a meager 6-for-38 (.158). For the season, Herrera is at a .333/.417/.578 slash line with six homers, 28 RBI, 18 runs scored and one stolen base over 30 contests. Even though he's slowed down with the bat in recent weeks, his spot as a near-everyday member of the lineup appears to be safe.

Young is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Dodgers.

Young had started in each of the Mets' previous three matchups with right-handed pitchers, but he'll hit the bench against righty Landon Knack while Starling Marte replaces him at designated hitter. Since getting called up from Triple-A Syracuse on May 24, Young is batting .167 with two extra-base hits and a 35 percent strikeout rate. He could be at risk of a demotion if he's unable to turn things around quickly.

Flores is absent from the lineup for Thursday's contest versus the Padres, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Flores had a three-home run game back on May 16, but he hasn't gone deep since then while producing a .552 OPS. He'll get a breather for Thursday's day game in order to regroup. The Giants will go with Heliot Ramos at designated hitter and Jerar Encarnacion in left field Thursday.

Sheets went 2-for-5 with a triple and four RBI in a loss to San Francisco on Wednesday.

Sheets got the scoring started with a two-run triple -- just the second three-bagger of his career -- in the first inning. He added a two-run single in the fifth to give the Padres a 5-0 lead, but those were the final runs the team scored. Sheets was pulled early from Sunday's game against Pittsburgh after colliding with the outfield wall, but he seems to be fine now, as he's started the Padres' past two contests. He's up to 38 RBI through 57 games this year, just 15 short of the career-high 53 RBI he produced across 124 contests in 2022 with the White Sox.

Sheets (head) will serve as the designated hitter and bat fifth in Tuesday's game against the Giants.

Sheets missed a start Monday after colliding with the outfield wall Sunday, though he appeared as a pinch hitter during Monday's game. Now fully recovered, he'll aim to bounce back after going 2-for-18 across his last seven games.