MLB Player News

Ozuna (wrist) will serve as Atlanta's designated hitter and No. 5 batter in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader with the Tigers.

For the second game in a row, Ozuna went unused off the bench in Atlanta's 10-7 win in the opening contest of the twin bill, but he's shown enough improvement with his bruised right wrist to re-enter the lineup for the nightcap. Ozuna will hope the minor injury won't derail what's been a strong start to June. He's recorded at least one hit in all nine of the games he's played in this month and is slashing .414/.485/.724 with five extra-base knocks overall.

Canha is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees.

Canha will take a seat for the series finale after a stretch of four consecutive starts during which he went 5-for-14 with three doubles, a walk, four RBI, two runs and a stolen base. Mark Vientos will fill in for Canha at first base, the position that Canha has been seeing most of his playing time of late with Pete Alonso (wrist) on the shelf.

Winker (neck) has gone 5-for-13 with three solo home runs and four walks through the first five games of his rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville.

Even before he landed on the injured list May 30 with a cervical strain, Winker was enduring a rough first season in Milwaukee, slashing just .204/.315/.231 with a 24.4 percent strikeout rate over 127 plate appearances. Not only has Winker looked healthy during his rehab assignment, but he's finally started to show the power that he's been missing all season, as he's now left the yard three times with Nashville after failing to do so with Milwaukee. Though the quality of competition has certainly helped Winker find some success of late, the productive run at Triple-A along with his prior track record at the big-league level may be reason enough to scoop up the 29-year-old off the waiver wire on speculation if he was dropped in deeper leagues. He'll likely be back with Milwaukee for its weekend series with Pittsburgh and should quickly reclaim primary designated-hitter duties from Jonathan Singleton.

Astros general manager Dana Brown said Wednesday in his radio appearance with Sportstalk 790 Houston that Alvarez (oblique) is expected to remain on the 10-day injured list for at least four weeks.

Specifically, Brown noted that Alvarez isn't expected to resume baseball activities for at least another three weeks, and the general manager implied that the slugger would likely require another 1-to-3 weeks after that to reach a point in his rehab program that he's ready to play in games. Based on the rough timeline laid out by Brown, Alvarez can be expected to remain out through the All-Star break, and his absence will most likely bleed into the start of the Astros' second-half schedule. Before he was deactivated Friday due to the right oblique strain, the 25-year-old had been in the thick of the American League MVP discussion after slashing .277/.388/.589 with 17 home runs, 55 RBI and 41 runs over 57 games.

Pederson is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cardinals, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

As usual, the lefty-hitting Pederson will duck out of the starting nine while the opposition brings a southpaw (Jordan Montgomery) to the hill. Wilmer Flores will serve as the Giants' designated hitter in place of Pederson.

Astros general manager Dana Brown suggested Wednesday that Alvarez (oblique) is likely at least three weeks away from resuming baseball activities, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

Brown previously implied Sunday that Alvarez would be shelved for beyond the minimum 10 days due to the right oblique injury, but the general manager went into more specifics regarding the slugger's timeline for a return during a radio appearance with Sportstalk 790 Houston. Based on the three-week estimate to resume activities that Brown laid out for Alvarez, the Astros could be leaning toward holding the 25-year-old out through the All-Star break in mid-July. With both Alvarez and Michael Brantley (shoulder) out for the foreseeable future, the Astros are likely to rotate a number of players at designated hitter, as three different players have occupied that spot in the lineup over the past three contests.

Stanton went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 7-6 win over the Mets.

Stanton opened the scoring with a 408-foot shot off Max Scherzer, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Stanton had gone just 1-for-14 in five games prior to Tuesday's matchup. He's now slashing .234/.289/.519 with six homers, 10 runs scored and 13 RBI through 83 plate appearances this season.

Ozuna (wrist) is not in the starting lineup for Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader with the Tigers.

Ozuna will take a seat for Wednesday's matinee and miss a second consecutive contest as he nurses the bruised wrist he sustained in Monday's series opener with Detroit. It's unclear whether he'll be available for Game 2 on Wednesday, but Eddie Rosario will slot in at designated hitter while Kevin Pillar enters the lineup in left field and bats eighth in the day game.

Harper went 2-for-5 with a walk, two RBI, a run and a stolen base in Tuesday's 15-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Harper notched his second multi-hit effort and his second steal over his last three games. He has four RBI over that span and seven RBI in his last eight games. Harper has been making consistent contact at the dish but has clubbed just three home runs in 36 games, with his last one coming May 25. For the year, he's slashing .299/.396/.440 with 13 extra-base hits, 15 RBI, 25 runs, five steals and a 23:37 BB:K over 159 plate appearances.

Ford went 3-for-4 with two homers, three RBI and three runs scored in Tuesday's win over the Marlins.

Ford had just three hits in 19 plate appearances this season heading into Tuesday's game and went on to double his hit total. The 30-year-old journeyman went deep in the second and eighth innings for his second two-homer game as a major leaguer. Ford does not have a track record of hitting MLB pitching, but has been impactful for the Mariners early on, slashing .273/.333/.818 with four homers, five RBI, six runs and a 1:6 BB:K over 24 plate appearances. He should continue to get looks in the lineup against right-handed pitchers.