MLB Player News
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Shohei Ohtani DH | LAD
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Set to face hitters Saturday
Ohtani (elbow) will face hitters in a bullpen session Saturday, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.
Ohtani also threw some breaking pitches in his lighter mid-week bullpen session Wednesday, Chen added. It's all a major step in his rehab from elbow surgery, and facing hitters this weekend might be the biggest step of them all to this point. The Dodgers don't anticipate Ohtani going out on a rehab assignment due to his role as a hitter and will instead build him up through simulated games. Ohtani's mound debut with the Dodgers remains to be determined.
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Yordan Alvarez DH | HOU
Astros' Yordan Alvarez: Progressing through injury
Alvarez (hand) hit off a pitching machine in the batting cage and participated in baseball drills on the field Friday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
Alvarez has been on the 10-day injured list since May 5 due to right hand inflammation. The recovery time has taken longer than initially hoped, and there's no clear timeline for his return, but Alvarez may not need a rehab assignment before being reinstated from the IL. He was slashing .210/.306/.340 with one steal, three home runs and 18 RBI in 121 plate appearances prior to his injury.
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Anthony Santander DH | TOR
Blue Jays' Anthony Santander: Remains out Friday
Santander (hip) remains out of the lineup for Friday's contest in Tampa Bay.
Santander's left hip has bothered him off-and-on over the past week, and this will be his second straight day out of the lineup after he had to exit Wednesday's game versus the Padres. George Springer will be at designated hitter for the Blue Jays on Friday, while Jonatan Clase and Nathan Lukes will hold down the corner outfield spots.
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Andrew McCutchen DH | PIT
Pirates' Andrew McCutchen: Walks three times
McCutchen went 1-for-2 with three walks and a run scored Thursday against the Brewers.
McCutchen is hitting only .203 across 19 games in May and has not had a multi-hit effort since April 27. While he still has a .342 on-base percentage in that span, McCutchen has been limited to only two RBI and three runs scored for the month.
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Tyler Heineman C | TOR
Blue Jays' Tyler Heineman: Stays hot offensively
Heineman went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in Thursday's 7-6 win against the Padres.
Heineman continues to swing a hot bat, picking up his sixth multi-hit game Thursday. His slash line is now an impressive .396/.412/.542, albeit in a limited 51 plate appearances on the season. Despite the offensive production, the 33-year-old is firmly entrenched as the backup catcher behind Alejandro Kirk, which likely means he won't see much of an uptick in playing time.
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Christian Yelich DH | MIL
Brewers' Christian Yelich: Posts 11th career multi-homer game
Yelich went 2-for-3 with two home runs, four RBI, three runs scored and a walk in Thursday's 8-5 win over the Pirates.
Thursday marked the 11th career multi-homer game for Yelich, who matched a season high in RBI. The veteran outfielder has struggled mightily at the plate overall this season, and he's batting just .136 with four big flies, seven RBI and 10 runs scored over his last 81 at-bats. Yelich has made just six appearances in the outfield this year, which should help keep the slugger healthy, and his strong 47.6 percent hard-hit rate on the campaign offers cause for optimism. However, he's currently being dragged down by a 63 percent groundball rate, which is the highest in the league among qualified batters by over five percentage points.
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Marcell Ozuna DH | ATL
Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Goes yard, reaches four times
Ozuna went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk, two total RBI and two runs scored in Thursday's 8-7 extra-inning loss to Washington.
Ozuna went back-to-back with Matt Olson in the first inning. This was Ozuna's third homer in the last four games, a span in which he's gone 7-for-15 (.467) with six RBI and a 4:4 BB:K. The designated hitter struggled for power in late April and early May with a 14-game homerless stretch, but he seems to have bounced back. He's now batting. 278 with a .913 OPS, nine homers, 24 RBI, 24 runs scored, six doubles and no stolen bases across 46 contests.
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Brent Rooker DH | ATH
Athletics' Brent Rooker: Homer, three hits Thursday
Rooker went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a double in Thursday's 10-5 loss to the Angels.
Rooker opened the scoring in the first inning with a two-run, 440-foot blast off Tyler Anderson, his 11th homer of the year. It's the first long ball in 10 games for Rooker, who'd gone just 6-for-38 (.158) in that span. He's now slashing .245/.313/.456 with 25 RBI, 31 runs scored and a pair of stolen bases across 224 plate appearances this year.
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Gavin Sheets LF | SD
Padres' Gavin Sheets: Monster five RBI performance
Sheets went 3-for-5 with two home runs and drove five RBI during Thursday's 7-6 loss to the Blue Jays in 11 innings.
Sheets put the team on his back Thursday and nearly led the Padres to a win by knocking in five of the team's six runs, including a game-tying, two-run home run in the top of the ninth to push the game to extras. The 29-year-old has shown a penchant for getting RBIs in bunches, with Thursday being his fourth game of three or more RBI, accounting for 16 of his 28 on the season. The fifth-year big-leaguer is well on his way to shattering his previous career high of 53 RBI, which he set in 2022.
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Masataka Yoshida DH | BOS
Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida: Moves to 60-day IL
The Red Sox transferred Yoshida (shoulder) to the 60-day injured list Thursday, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.
Yoshida has been on the injured list all season while working his way back from a right shoulder procedure he underwent in October. He restarted his throwing program earlier this week and is still likely several weeks away from beginning a rehab assignment, so his move to the 60-day IL doesn't impact his return timeline. It does, however, open up a spot on Boston's 40-man roster for Ryan Noda, who was acquired from the Angels on Thursday.