MLB Player News

Rojas will start in center field and bat ninth in Sunday's game against the Guardians.

Rojas began the season in the short side of a platoon in center field with the left-handed-hitting Brandon Marsh but has now seemingly earned his way into a timeshare at the position. The Phillies are facing a right-handed pitcher (Luis L. Ortiz) for the sixth game in a row Sunday, and Rojas and Marsh have now made three starts apiece during that span.

Arenado went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, a double and an additional run scored in Sunday's 6-1 win at Washington.

With his 385-foot homer in the eighth inning off reliever Brad Lord, the veteran third baseman snapped an 11-game stretch without a long ball. Over that span, Arenado hit .256 (11-for-43) with a double, four runs scored and two RBI. Despite cracking only four homers through 159 plate appearances so far, Arenado has produced a solid .270/.352/.426 slash line with 19 runs scored and 16 RBI across 37 games.

Marsh is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians.

Though the Phillies are facing a sixth consecutive right-handed starter (Luis L. Ortiz) on Sunday, the left-handed-hitting Marsh has now found himself out of the lineup on three occasions during that stretch. After previously occupying the strong side of a platoon in center field, Marsh looks to have fallen into a true timeshare at the position with Johan Rojas, who gets the nod Sunday.

Nootbaar went 1-for-4 with a solo homer and a walk in Sunday's 6-1 victory against the Nationals.

Nootbaar opened the game's scoring on the fifth pitch of the contest, taking southpaw MacKenzie Gore deep to right field. The long ball marked the seventh career leadoff home run for Nootbaar. Through 187 total plate appearances, the St. Louis outfielder is slashing .244/.369/.417 with six homers, 26 runs scores and 22 RBI while going 4-for-6 in steal attempts.

Gore (2-4) took the loss Sunday against St. Louis, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks over 6.2 innings with seven strikeouts.

The Washington southpaw showed no ill effects of the ankle injury he suffered during his last start May 4 in this 101-pitch performance. Gore generated 13 whiffs and was in line for a quality start before allowing two runs (one scoring on a single conceded by reliever Andrew Chafin) in the seventh as he tired. Through 52.2 innings, Gore has pitched to a 3.59 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 75:16 K:BB. He is currently slated to make his next start against the Orioles in Baltimore next weekend.

Mikolas (2-2) earned the win Sunday at Washington, allowing one run on four hits and one walk over 5.1 innings. He struck out five.

Mikolas looked solid again, as the only blemish on his line was a Nathaniel Lowe solo homer in the fourth. The St. Louis right-hander fired only 69 pitches in this outing, and the Cardinals have found success deploying Mikolas in shorter stints. Across his last five starts, the 36-year-old has pitched to a 2.05 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 13:8 K:BB over 26.1 innings. Mikolas currently lines up to take his next turn in the rotation at Kansas City next weekend.

Nimmo went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and a hit-by-pitch in Sunday's 6-2 victory over the Cubs.

The 32-year-old extended New York's lead to 6-2 with a 381-foot long ball off reliever Gavin Hollowell. This performance was a welcome sight as Nimmo has struggled since his nine-RBI game April 28, batting .206 (7-for-34) with a homer, four runs scored and two RBI across 10 games. Overall, the veteran outfielder is slashing .224/.288/.429 with 18 runs scored and 25 RBI through 163 plate appearances.

Crow-Armstrong went 1-for-4 with a solo homer in Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Mets.

The Chicago center fielder tied the game at 1-1 when he slugged a 376-foot homer to right off Mets starter Griffin Canning. Crow-Armstrong took only 41 games and 171 plate appearances to match his 2024 home run total, which required 123 games and 410 plate appearances. The 23-year-old batted leadoff for the second consecutive game as Ian Happ (oblique) nurses his way back to health. Crow-Armstrong is now slashing .264/.304/.535 with 31 runs scored and 28 RBI while going 13-for-16 on steal attempts.

Boyd did not factor into the decision in Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Mets, allowing two runs on six hits and no walks over six innings. He struck out eight.

The veteran southpaw generated a solid 16 whiffs in this 92-pitch performance to notch his fifth quality start. Boyd limited the Mets to just two extra-base hits, both of which produced runs -- a Luis Torrens triple in the second and a Mark Vientos solo homer in the sixth. The 34-year-old Boyd has been a dependable arm in his first season with the Cubs, pitching to a 2.78 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 45:13 K:BB across 45.1 innings. His next start is scheduled to be against the White Sox at home next weekend.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said prior to Sunday's game against Atlanta that Cruz is considered day-to-day due to lower back tightness, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. "We don't have a full update yet, because he was going to go through some stuff and see how he felt," Cherington said of Cruz. "He felt a little tightness in that low back as he pulled up on the bases, as people saw [in Saturday's 3-2 loss]."

Cruz appeared to tweak his back after reaching base during his final plate appearance in the ninth inning, but he played an inning in the field before he was lifted from Saturday's game in the top of the 11th inning. The Pirates don't seem overly concerned about Cruz's back issue forcing him to the injured list, as the team didn't call up an extra infielder from the minors ahead of Sunday's game. With a quick turnaround for Sunday's contest and a tough lefty (Chris Sale) on the mound for Atlanta, the Pirates may have viewed the series finale as an opportune time to give the lefty-hitting Cruz his first day off since April 20.