MLB Player News

Stowers went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored in Friday's win over the Nationals.

The 27-year-old outfielder has been dealing with a sore hand since last week, but Stowers looked a little more comfortable at the plate Friday after going 1-for-11 with six strikeouts over his prior four contests. If he can stay healthy, Stowers appears headed for a breakout campaign in 2025, and through 248 plate appearances he's slashing .276/.344/.466 with 10 homers and 33 RBI.

Ruiz isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Miami, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.

Ruiz will get a chance to catch his breath after going 3-for-5 with an RBI in Friday's series opener. Riley Adams will get the nod at catcher and bat ninth.

Profar (suspension) has begin taking live batting practice at Atlanta's spring training complex in North Port, David O'Brien of the Athletic reports.

Slapped with an 80-game PED suspension four games into the season, Profar has yet to give Atlanta much of a return on the three-year, $42 million contract he signed with the club this winter. He's eligible to rejoin the 26-man roster July 2 and can begin playing in minor-league games Tuesday, and given the miserable production the team has gotten in left field in his absence, Profar should immediately jump into the starting lineup upon his return. He'll be ineligible for postseason action this year, however, so if the NL East squad makes a push up the standings before the trade deadline -- Atlanta is currently 14 games back of the Mets for the division lead, and eight games out of the final wild-card spot -- the 32-year-old could get some real competition for playing time down the stretch.

Edwards isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game versus Washington.

Edwards will catch a breather Saturday after going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored in Friday's series opener. Javier Sanoja will fill in at the keystone and bat ninth.

Stephenson went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI in Friday's 11-5 loss to Detroit.

Stephenson laced a two-run double in the ninth inning when the Reds were out of it. His batting average sat at an ugly .177 as of May 24, but Stephenson has been rolling since. He's gone 19-for-55 (.345) with two doubles, four home runs, 12 RBI and seven runs scored over the last 14 games, raising his average to .256.

Lee gave up a hit and struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning Friday during a 12-4 win over the Rockies.

While it seems like a low-leverage spot, Lee was warming up to handle a save chance in the ninth after Pierce Johnson had entered the game in the fifth inning and Raisel Iglesias had collected his first hold in the eighth. Atlanta tacked on five insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to deny Lee a shot at his second save of the year, however. The southpaw has been impressive in 2025, posting a 2.10 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 30:8 K:BB over 30 innings, and he appears to be part of a high-leverage committee at the moment with Iglesias and Johnson. Who gets saves from that group will likely come down to matchups, and who is available for any particular game.

Iglesias gave up a hit and struck out one in a scoreless eighth inning Friday to record his first hold of the season in a win over the Rockies.

The right-hander was brought in to protect a 7-4 lead and got the job done on 12 pitches (eight strikes). Iglesias hasn't collected a save since May 16, and while Atlanta manager Brian Snitker indicated over the weekend that he was no longer the team's primary closing option, he didn't say the veteran reliever would be completely removed from the late-inning mix. If Iglesias can string together a few more sharp appearances, he could reclaim the job. Dylan Lee was in line for the save opportunity Friday before Atlanta erupted for five insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Bernal homered for the second straight game and reached base in all four plate appearances Friday at Double-A Springfield.

Bernal is putting together a breakout season at Springfield. After collecting just a .683 OPS with one home run in April, the switch-hitting catcher is slashing .351/.407/.676 with 10 home runs and 34 RBI over 29 games since the start of May. The 21-year-old also boasts an 11.8 percent walk rate and 15.5 percent strikeout rate in his first full season at the Double-A level. Between Ivan Herrera in the majors, Jimmy Crooks at Triple-A Memphis, Bernal at Springfield and Rainiel Rodriguez at Single-A Palm Beach, the Cardinals boast an enviable collection of young catching talent.

Harris went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and a second run scored in Friday's win over the Rockies.

The center fielder homered for the second straight game and the third time in the last six contests by taking Jake Bird deep in the sixth inning. Harris' glove has kept him in the lineup despite a brutal start to the year at the plate, but he may finally be finding a groove on offense as well -- over the last eight games he's batting .313 (10-for-32) with four runs and eight RBI.

Friedl went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 11-5 loss to the Tigers.

Friedl briefly tied the game at 1-1 with a third-inning home run. The long ball was his eighth of the season and fourth in the last seven games. Friedl may be in Comeback Player of the Year territory after an injury-marred 2024 when he posted a .690 OPS. He has career highs in average (.294), on-base percentage (.384) and OPS (.832) through 66 games.