MLB Player News

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper made his return to the starting lineup Monday against the Rays after sitting out Sunday due to a knee injury. He was in the lineup Monday as the team's DH.

Harper has hit safely in five straight games and continues to thrive offensively in June. He is batting .415 with a .732 slugging percentage and 1.252 OPS in 12 June games. He also has three home runs, four doubles, eight RBI, six runs and eight walks.

Don Mattingly has finally confirmed what has been assumed for a while - that Justin Turner is the starting third baseman for the Dodgers.

"It's pretty much Justin," Mattingly told the Orange County Register.

Turner has been the man since Juan Uribe was traded to Atlanta, though he lost a few games with a knee ailment. He has hit safely in each of his last six starts and owns a fine slash line of .316/.388/.493.

Cubs right fielder Jorge Soler began throwing as a part of his rehab process on Sunday, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports.

Soler, who is one the 15-day disabled list, will be able to remove the protective boot he's been forced to wear on his ankle soon. He has not begun hitting yet.

Soler is hitting .265 with four home runs and 19 RBI in 189 at-bats this season.

Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon hit his eighth home run of the season in Sunday afternoon’s 4-1 win against the Marlins.

Blackmon, hitting leadoff, crushed Dan Haren’s seventh pitch of the game over the right field wall for a solo home run in the top of the first inning. Blackmon finished the game 1 for 4 from the plate.

Blackmon is hitting .282 in his last 10 games and now has 21 RBI for the year.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is not in the lineup for Sunday's series-finale against the Brewers. 

This wasn't expected to happen after Harper took a 95 mph fastball to his knee late in Saturday's game. The hit by pitch came after a superb performance that saw Harper reach base five times. 

"It hurts," Harper told The Washington Post on Saturday. "Really bad. … Squared me up pretty well. 95 to the knee don't feel very good. We'll see what happens (Sunday) and see if it feels good."

Filling in for Harper in right field will be Clint Robinson. He will be reevaluated Monday. 

"It was good that we were able to get him a day off [Sunday] and get some treatment on it," manager Matt Williams said, per The Washington Post.

The Phillies announced that they have recalled outfielder Domonic Brown from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, who will be available for Sunday afternoon's game against the Pirates. 

The corresponding move was to swap him out with outfielder Darin Ruf, who will head down to Lehigh Valley. 

Brown began the year with an Achilles injury and was demoted to Triple-A following the completion of his rehab. With Lehigh Valley, Brown hit .257/.307/.352 with two home runs and 26. 

He'll start in right field with the Phillies. 

Outfielder Andrew McCutchen drove in two runs without hitting the ball out of the infield as the Pirates picked up a 4-1 victory over the Phillies on Saturday. 

McCutchen got the Bucs on the board in the first inning with an RBI fielder's choice to third and drove in the team's final run in the second with an infield single. 

McCutchen has been hitting well in June, with nine RBIs in the month so far, a big reason why the Pirates have made a move in the standings. 

The Phillies have optioned outfielder/first baseman Darin Ruf to Triple-A Lehigh Valley following Saturday's game, according to MLB.com.

Ruf had been getting intermittent playing time lately for the Phillies, but he had been swinging the bat well when he got the chance. Ruf has six hits in 14 at-bats this month, including the 0-for-1 effort on Saturday.

"You never know with things like this," Ruf said, per MLB.com. "Hopefully I can go down and swing the bat well."

Overall this season, Ruf is batting .235 with three home runs.

"It is what it is," Ruf said. "Everyday at-bats don't really matter if I'm just going to come up and resume the same role."

His demotion opens up a roster spot for outfielder Domonic Brown, who will be recalled from Triple-A on Sunday.

Outfielder Bryce Harper had a big day at the plate Saturday in the Nationals' 7-2 victory over the Brewers, but the bigger concern was his knee after he was hit in the ninth inning with a fastball right near the quad muscle.

"It hurts," Harper told The Washington Post. "Really bad. … Squared me up pretty well. 95 to the knee don't feel very good. We'll see what happens tomorrow and see if it feels good."

Manager Matt Williams removed Harper immediately after the injury, and the outfielder said that if his knee didn't improve, he would not play Sunday. He has started all but one game this sason for the Nats. 

Prior to getting hit, Harper was 3-for-3 with a walk and drove in two runs to help Washington end a two-game skid. The Nationals slugger is now hitting .343 with 51 RBIs on the season. 

It was the Giancarlo Stanton show for the Marlins on Saturday, as the slugging right fielder hammered his MLB-leading 23rd home run and drove in all four runs in the team's 4-1 victory over the Rockies. 

In the first inning, Stanton crushed a double to the deepest part of the stadium to give Miami a 2-0 advantage and in the sixth, closed out the scoring with a 393-foot, two-run homer. Stanton now has seven home runs in his last 10 games. 

The slugger now has a league-leading 59 RBIs and is on pace for a 59 homer, 152 RBI season.