MLB Player News

Ruiz is absent from the lineup for the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader versus the White Sox.

Riley Adams will do the catching for Trevor Williams. Ruiz will likely be back in there for the nightcap, when Mitchell Parker will be on the mound for the Nationals.

Winker (back) is out of the lineup for Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader against the White Sox, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Winker was removed from Sunday's game with back spasms and wasn't part of the Nationals' lineup for Monday's matchup against the ChiSox, which was postponed. While it's possible Winker returns for the nightcap Tuesday, it's more likely he'll receive the full day off. Nick Senzel will handle DH duties during Game 1.

Amador is slashing .138/.312/.149 with zero home runs, 12 steals and more walks (19) than strikeouts (17) in 25 games for Double-A Hartford.

Coming into the year, Amador was seen as one of the best pure hitters in the minors, so it's a bit jarring to see his batting average sitting at .138 through the first five weeks of the season. Perhaps more concerning though, is Amador's complete lack of power, as his .171 BABIP and overly patient approach largely explain his low batting average. Amador's 20.6 percent hard-hit rate and 63.2 percent groundball rate are very troubling marks. He is playing half his games in Hartford, which is essentially a neutral hitting environment, after getting to play half his High-A games at the very hitter-friendly park in Spokane, which helped him slug .514 in 54 High-A games last year.

Marte has been able to play in exhibition games in Arizona during his suspension, per Reds Daily.

The Reds Daily X account posted a video of Marte grounding out in an at-bat against Dodgers minor leaguers at a spring training complex in Arizona. Marte won't be playing in any official minor-league games with tracked statistics, but he has still been able to work on maintaining his timing at the dish. He is eligible to return from his suspension June 19, which is also around the time Christian Encarnacion-Strand (wrist) is expected to return from the injured list.

Horton averaged 93.4 mph (touched 94.9 mph) with his fastball in his first start for Triple-A Iowa on May 4 and averaged 93.9 mph (touched 95.5 mph) in his second start May 10 after sitting at 95-97 mph with his fastball and regularly touching 98 mph in 2023.

This doesn't necessarily mean Horton is dealing with anything physically, but it's worth noting that he's not working with the same caliber stuff as was advertised during the offseason. Horton had a 1.10 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and an 18:2 K:BB in 16.1 innings across four starts in a return assignment to Double-A Tennessee before getting promoted to Triple-A at the end of April. He has given up eight earned runs on seven hits, eight walks and two home runs while striking out 11 in seven innings through his first two starts at the highest level of the minors. Since Triple-A pitch velocities are public, it's worth keeping tabs on Horton's pitch velocities over his next few outings to see if things keep trending up. This is also Horton's first experience with the automated balls and strikes system at Triple-A, so perhaps that's partly to blame for his elevated walk rate.

Harper was a late scratch from Tuesday's lineup versus the Mets due to a migraine, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.

Worth noting is that Harper was inadvertently struck in the helmet by a Tomas Nido throw back to the pitcher in Monday's game, although he remained in that contest and it's not clear whether this is related to that. Consider him day-to-day for now. The Phillies will shift Alec Bohm over to first base to cover for Harper, while Whit Merrifield will enter the lineup at third base.

Merrill went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Monday's loss to Colorado.

Merrill was the only Padre with multiple hits in the contest, and his seventh-inning solo shot brought the team to within one run, though it turned out to be the final tally of the game. The rookie has notched consecutive multi-hit performances and has multiple hits in four of his past eight contests overall, so he could be back on the rise following an eight-game stretch from late April to early May during which he went 1-for-23 at the plate. Merrill still has a strong .291/.342/.403 slash line along with three homers, 17 RBI, 18 runs and six stolen bases on the season.

Doyle went 0-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored Monday against the Padres.

Doyle was unable to extend a modest five-game hitting streak, but he was still impactful by tallying his eighth stolen base of the year. He's also stolen a base in each of his last four games, displaying a significant increase in aggressiveness on the basepaths. Doyle is hitting .283 with 25 runs scored across 160 plate appearances on the season.

Smith (shoulder) is slated to be activated from the 15-day injured list Wednesday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Smith is done with his rehab as he comes back from right shoulder inflammation. He had been slated to return Tuesday, but the Mets have elected to hold him back one more day. Smith has posted a 2.70 ERA and 11:7 K:BB over 10 relief innings this season.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Realmuto (knee) did some work on the field and in the batting cage pregame Tuesday, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

Thomson noted that Realmuto's right knee is feeling better, but the skipper was not ready to commit to the catcher returning to the lineup Wednesday. Realmuto is missing a third straight start Tuesday. Garrett Stubbs has been filling in behind the plate for the Phils.