MLB Player News

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Casparius will "most likely" work in bulk relief behind Shohei Ohtani on Sunday against the Nationals, Matthew Moreno of DodgerBlue.com reports.

Though Ohtani made his first appearance on the mound since August 2023 in Monday's game, he wasn't fully built up and tossed 28 pitches as a one-inning opener. Casparius was the second reliever into the contest after Anthony Banda and covered 3.2 innings en route to his fifth win of the season. Ohtani should be stretched out a bit more Sunday, but Casparius once again profiles as the Dodgers pitcher most likely to qualify for a win, making him an appealing streaming option against a Nationals squad that has stumbled to a 2-15 record thus far in June.

Rodriguez picked up a hold in Thursday's 2-1 win over the Guardians, striking out two in a scoreless inning.

Rodriguez entered the game in the eighth and threw nine of his 12 pitches for strikes in an efficient outing. The 25-year-old earned his third hold of the month, during which he has posted a 1.42 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and a 10:2 K:BB over 6.1 innings in seven games. Overall, he owns a 0.84 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and a 46:5 K:BB with nine holds across 32 innings in 31 appearances.

Flores went 1-for-1 with a two-RBI double during Thursday's 2-1 win over the Guardians.

Flores pinch hit in the seventh inning and delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit. The 33-year-old has been left out of the starting lineup in two of the club's last three games following Rafael Devers' arrival. However, Devers is expected to eventually see time at first base, which would lead to Flores getting more opportunities at designated hitter. Over 16 outings in June, Flores is slashing .269/.371/.385 with seven RBI, seven runs scored, three doubles and one home run across 62 plate appearances.

Kelly is absent from the lineup for Friday's game against the Mariners.

Kelly had started each of the previous two contests but will get a breather for the series opener versus Seattle. Reese McGuire is catching and batting ninth for the Cubs on Friday.

Loutos (1-0) picked up the win Thursday against the Rockies, giving up an unearned run on one hit in the 11th inning. He struck out one.

The rookie right-hander allowed the automatic runner to score on a leadoff single by Michael Toglia, but Loutos prevented any further damage and then fell into his first career MLB win when James Wood walked it off with a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th. Loutos has been effective in low-leverage spots for the Nationals since being claimed off waivers from the Dodgers earlier in June, posting a 2.25 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 2:2 K:BB in four innings for his new club.

Baez went 3-for-3 with two home runs Thursday and is slashing .311/.397/.689 with six long balls in 18 games since being promoted to Double-A Springfield.

Baez's physical tools compelled the Cardinals to select him in the second round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft, but it took until 2025 for him to finally show signs of a breakout. The 21-year-old has slashed .316/.402/.544 with 10 home runs and 25 stolen bases between High-A Peoria and Springfield this season, he's struck out at a 23.7 percent rate, which is a massive improvement on the 35.5 percent rate he had last year. He'll have to show he can continue improving his contact rate as he faces better pitching, but his raw power and speed give Baez intriguing fantasy potential.

Garcia went 3-for-4 with a double in Thursday's extra-innings win over the Rockies.

The knocks didn't produce any offense, but only because James Wood kept homering in front of him to clear the decks. Garcia has been locked in at the plate for over a month, slashing .327/.358/.525 in his last 106 plate appearances with 11 doubles, three homers, 14 runs and 18 RBI. The one blemish on his resume during that stretch has been his performance on the basepaths -- Garcia has stolen only one bag in five attempts during those 27 games after beginning the season with a perfect 6-for-6 showing.

Soto went 1-for-4 in Thursday's loss to Atlanta.

The first-inning single off Spencer Strider was the 1,000th hit of Soto's career, making him one of only 84 players in major-league history to reach that milestone before their 27th birthday. In fact, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, he's the only one with 1,000 hits, 800 walks and 200 homers before turning 27. Soto has begun to erase a sluggish start to his Mets tenure, slashing .310/.481/.621 through 17 games in June with five homers, 10 RBI and 16 runs.

Bender (1-5) took the loss Thursday against the Phillies, giving up one run on one hit in two-thirds of an inning.

After entering a 1-1 game with one out in the eighth inning, the right-hander left a 96.7 mph sinker over the middle of the plate that Kyle Schwarber crushed 428 feet to right-center field for the winning run. Bender hasn't struck out a batter in five straight appearances, and all three of the homers he's served up this season have come in June. Over 6.1 innings this month, he's stumbled to a 7.11 ERA and 3:2 K:BB, although he has managed to collect four holds in seven trips to the mound.

Olson went 2-for-3 with two walks, two doubles, two runs scored and three RBI in Thursday's win over the Mets.

The first baseman continues to swing a hot bat in June. Olson has hit safely in 10 straight games, slashing .378/.467/.676 over that stretch with five doubles, two homers, seven runs and 14 RBI to go along with a rock-solid 7:7 BB:K.