MLB Player News

Taillon (1-1) picked up the win Saturday, allowing one run on five hits and three walks over six innings in a 4-2 victory over the Mets. He struck out four.

The veteran right-hander delivered his second quality start of the season on 100 pitches (61 strikes), and the only blemish on his line was a Mark Vientos solo shot in the second inning. Taillon has given the Cubs six innings in three straight trips to the mound, and he'll take a 3.97 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 21:9 K:BB through 22.2 innings into his next outing, which is set to come on the road next weekend against the Dodgers.

Sosa isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Sosa's 0-for-3 performance Friday ended what had been a seven-game hitting streak. The Blue Jays will give him a break Saturday, providing Eloy Jimenez with an opportunity to work as the DH.

Loperfido (quadriceps) is not in the Astros' starting lineup against the Cardinals on Saturday.

Loperfido injured his right quad during Friday's series opener. He'll rest up Saturday in hopes that he is cleared to return to the lineup for Sunday's series finale. Houston will instead start Yordan Alvarez, Taylor Trammell and Cam Smith in the outfield from left to right.

Alvarez went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Friday's 9-4 loss to the Cardinals.

Alvarez's solo shot off right-hander Kyle Leahy in the bottom of the third inning was Alvarez's eighth long ball of the season, matching Jordan Walker and Aaron Judge for the league lead. The lefty slugger's longest home run drought is three games this season. He also has six doubles on the year. Alvarez has started all 21 games to this point and is slashing .333/.479/.750 with the eight homers, 19 RBI, 17 runs scored, one stolen base and an 18:10 BB:K across 94 plate appearances. In addition to home runs, Alvarez also leads the majors in RBI and walks.

Harper went 3-for-4 with a triple in Friday's 9-0 loss to Atlanta.

The three-bagger was Harper's first of the season and the 25th of his career. After starting the season in a 2-for-20 cold spell during March, the All-Star first baseman is tearing the cover off the ball in April. Over 50 at-bats on the month so far, Harper is batting .360 with 10 extra-base hits, nine RBI, eight walks and one stolen base.

Vientos is absent from the lineup for Friday's contest versus the Cubs.

For the second straight game, the Mets will utilize Brett Baty at first base and MJ Melendez at designated hitter. Vientos is hitless over his last seven games and has seen his season OPS drop from 1.236 all the way down to .596 over that span.

Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a walk and a three-run home run during Thursday's 8-7 loss to the Nationals.

Ozuna has been mired in a big slump to start the season, but he seems to be shaking that off and heating up as of late. The 35-year-old crushed his first home run of the season Thursday, a three-run homer in the fifth that allowed the Pirates to match a four-run inning by the Nationals with one of their own. After having just two hits in the first 10 games, the 14-year veteran has five hits as part of a four-game hit streak.

Pederson is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics.

Pederson will take a seat for the second time in the series and has now hit the bench for all five of the Rangers' matchups with left-handed starting pitchers this season. Platoon mate Andrew McCutchen will replace Pederson in the lineup at designated hitter and will bat sixth.

Jimenez is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Brewers.

After being called up from Triple-A Buffalo on Sunday for his first big-league action since 2024, Jimenez served as Toronto's designated hitter in the team's ensuing two games and went 2-for-7 with a walk. Following the Blue Jays' acquisition of Lenyn Sosa from the White Sox earlier in the week, however, Jimenez will now hit the bench for the second straight game. Even with George Springer's (toe) recent move to the injured list leaving a regular lineup spot open, the Blue Jays may be content to rotate a number of players at DH rather than leaning exclusively on Jimenez.

Ohtani (2-0) allowed one run on two hits and two walks while striking out 10 over six innings to earn the win Wednesday over the Mets.

Ohtani didn't hit Wednesday, as he is still dealing with some residual effects of a hit-by-pitch from Monday's game. Whatever issue is there didn't impact his pitching, as he continues be nearly unhittable this season. The lone run against him came on MJ Melendez's ground-rule double in the fifth inning. Across three starts (18 innings), Ohtani has a 0.50 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and 18:6 K:BB. His next pitching start is tentatively projected to be at San Francisco next week, but Ohtani should be able to get back into the lineup as a hitter before then.