MLB Player News

Twins outfielder Oswaldo Arcia returned to the lineup for Saturday's game against the White Sox. Arcia, who had been held out of the lineup each of the last two games, was batting seventh and playing right field. 

Torii Hunter was moved to designated hitter on Saturday as Kennys Vargas was given the day off. Arcia is currenlty riding a four-game hit streak, entering play on Saturday. 

Cubs manager Joe Maddon swapped Dexter Fowler and Jorge Soler in the batting order on Saturday against Mike Fiers and the Brewers, per the team's official website.

Soler, who has only four hits in his last 30 at-bats with 17 strikeouts, moved to the leadoff spot for the first time in his career, while Dexter Fowler was dropped to the No. 2 hole in the order. Soler went 2 for 4 on Friday. Fowler is hitting .440 (11 for 25) with a walk, a double and two RBI over his last seven games played.

Chicago is favored (-166) at Wrigley Field, per VegasInsider.com.

Indians left fielder Michael Brantley went 2 for 5 with a two-run home run in Friday night's victory over the Blue Jays. Brantley also singled and scored twice on the evening. Brantley's fourth-inning bomb broke a 4-4 tie, and the Indians went on to win 9-4.

This was Brantley's first home run of the year, after hitting 20 last season. However, Brantley is still hitting well, with a slash line of .455/.486/.697 over his last eight games. 

Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson broke open Friday's game against the Diamondbacks when he hit a grand slam off Rubby De La Rosa in the second inning to help send the Dodgers to a 8-0 win.

It was Pederson's fifth home run of the season. He finished the game 1 for 3 and is now batting .300 on the season. The four RBI were a season high for Pederson.

Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna was a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate during Friday's 4-3 win over the Phillies.

Ozuna's biggest hit came in the ninth inning when he drove in Giancarlo Stanton on a double for the game-winning run. The four hits were a season high for Ozuna. Prior to Friday's game, he had yet to collect more than two hits in any game this season.

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon is set to sit Friday for only the second time this season. Drew Stubbs is manning the position while DJ LeMahieu will lead off.

Blackmon, who is 4-for-18 in his career against Padres starter Ian Kennedy, was hitless in his last game after four straight multi-hit performances.

The Giants are going with Matt Duffy and Andrew Susac in Friday night's lineup for their game against the Angels. 

Duffy has been alternating starts at second base with Joe Panik and has been tabbed for this one. Susac is getting the start at catcher, meaning Buster Posey will play first base.

Brandon Belt is not starting as Nori Aoki is in the lineup and playing in left field. 

With Jose Reyes on the disabled list and Devon Travis getting his second day off this season, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons decided to shake up his lineup Friday against the Indians.

Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion all moved up one spot in the lineup, which meant Donaldson moved into the leadoff spot. It was the first time in Donaldson's career he hit leadoff.

Russell Martin moved into the cleanup spot, which is usually where Encarnacion bats. He was followed by Kevin Pillar, Michael Saunders, Dalton Pompey, Ryan Goins (who started for Travis) and Jonathan Diaz.

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper ended the month of April in style, cranking out a bases-clearing double in Thursday's 8-2 win over the Mets at Citi Field. Harper, who is not a stranger to fast starts, closed the month leading the Nationals in home runs (five), RBI (15), runs scored (18) and on-base percentage (.440).

"Hopefully, I keep going. That's all I want to do," Harper said, per MLB.com. "I just want to stay in the lineup, stay healthy all year and hopefully play 150, 160 games. That's all I care about. As long as we are winning ballgames, it's huge for us. I love playing in April. I don't know why. I'm very comfortable in April. Hopefully, I can feel comfortable the next five months, too."

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter was the team's leadoff man for 329 straight starts in the last three seasons. He revealed that manager Mike Matheny approached him earlier in the week and brought up to the idea of moving him to the No. 2 spot moving forward, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"He didn't actually mention putting me there," Carpenter said. "He just said I would fit that hole well, but that 'we don't want to move you out of that leadoff spot.'

"The very next day, he decided to go with it."

Since taking over the second spot in the batting order on Tuesday, Carpenter has hit .364 (4 for 11) with two doubles, a triple and three RBI in three games.

"I'm a fan of it," Carpenter said. "I think it worked this week and I think it's going to continue to work."