MLB Player News

Ramirez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Atlanta, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Even though the Rays will play without Josh Lowe (personal) for the second straight day to close out their first-half slate, Ramirez will remain relegated to a bench role Sunday. Ramirez has started in only two of the Rays' last six games and appears to be stuck in the short side of a platoon at designated hitter.

Harper (elbow), who is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins, could be available to hit off the bench, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

Harper is sitting out the Phillies' final game before the All-Star break after he was hit on his surgically repaired right elbow during Saturday's loss to Miami, but he's apparently dealing with nothing more than soreness after X-rays returned negative. The Phillies will most likely stay away from Harper if they can help it Sunday, affording him a full five days off to rest before the team opens up its post-break schedule Friday versus the Padres. According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, the injury scare hasn't deterred the Phillies from getting Harper some exposure to first base at some point during the second half of the season. He's made all 56 of his starts to date as a designated hitter.

Belt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Tigers.

The lefty-hitting Belt will bow out of the starting nine in the series finale with a southpaw (Tarik Skubal) on the bump for Detroit. With Belt on the bench, the Blue Jays will have room in the lineup for both of their catchers (Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk), as Jansen will draw the start at designated hitter.

Rooker went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to the Red Sox on Saturday.

Rooker's 15th homer of the season -- a 375-foot shot to left center in the sixth inning -- marked his second time leaving the yard in July. The 28-year-old has hit safely in six of his last eight games as well, but a massive 42.3 percent strikeout rate has helped lead to just a .250 average and a .269 on-base percent during that sample.

Harper (elbow) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins.

The 30-year-old was hit by a pitch in the right elbow Saturday and won't play in Philadelphia's final game before the All-Star break, but he appears to have avoided a serious injury as X-rays came back negative. Harper had an underwhelming first half in his return from Tommy John surgery, finishing with a .786 OPS and just three homers in 56 games. He'll have a nearly a full week to rest his elbow before the Phillies return to action Friday versus the Padres.

Martinez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk against the Angels in a 10-5 win Saturday.

Martinez went deep for the second straight game, launching a solo shot to center field in the sixth inning. Of the veteran's past five hits, three have been homers and one has been a double, and he's added three walks along with six RBI during that four-game span. Martinez is just eight long balls away from his first 30-homer campaign since 2019.

Meneses went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBI in Saturday's 8-3 win over the Rangers.

He went back-to-back with Jeimer Candelario in the first inning against Andrew Heaney, helping the Nationals jump out to a 4-0 lead. Meneses has suddenly re-discovered his power stroke, going yard three times in the last two games after managing only two homers in his first 80 contests of the season.

Stanton went 2-for-3 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs scored in Saturday's victory over the Cubs.

Stanton wasted no time getting the Yankees on the board, launching a 447-foot solo home run to left field in his first at-bat. He walked his next time up before coming around to score on a Harrison Bader double, and then added a two-run shot in the fifth to give New York a commanding lead. The outfielder had not homered through his first six games in July and is now up to just long balls on the season following Saturday's performance.

Soler went 1-for-2 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in Saturday's 5-3 victory over Philadelphia.

Soler got the Marlins' offense going early, taking Ranger Suarez yard for a solo homer in the first inning and then knocking in Dane Myers with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. The performance extended his hit streak to six contests, a stretch in which Soler is batting .421 with eight runs scored and four RBI.

Ohtani went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run, a triple and three total RBI in Saturday's 10-5 loss to the Dodgers.

Not only did Ohtani extend his major-league lead in homers with his 32nd of the year, he also took sole possession of first place in triples with his sixth three-bagger. He had just two hits over his first six games in July, though he's been dealing with various finger issues over the last week-plus that have mostly affected his pitching. As a batter, the two-way star concludes the first half with a stellar .302/.387/.663 slash line, 71 RBI, 63 runs scored and 11 stolen bases through 89 games.