MLB Player News

Manager Dave Roberts stated that his plan is for Ohtani to start Wednesday's game against the Padres on the mound and hit, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports.

Ohtani has been given the day off from batting in his last few opportunities as the starting pitcher in an effort to give him some extra rest early on in the 2026 campaign. However, it seems Roberts is comfortable with slotting Ohtani into the batting order Wednesday, especially with a day off looming Thursday. The star two-way player has been locked in at the dish lately, going 8-for-17 with one home run, eight RBI, one stolen base and five runs scored over his last four games.

Glasnow (back) has not yet resumed throwing off a mound after his back flared up, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.

Glasnow had been given the green light to play catch, but he's still experiencing back discomfort, which is why he hasn't returned to throwing off a mound. He'll presumably need to throw off flat ground without issue before advancing to mound work, at which point a timetable for his return could start to come into focus. Chen notes that Glasnow has been temporarily shut down from throwing for the time being.

Casparius (shoulder) was moved to the 60-day injured list Monday.

Casparius has been cleared to start a throwing program, but he's evidently not close to a return yet, which is why the Dodgers bumped him over to the 60-day injured list. This clears up a spot on the 40-man roster for Jonathan Hernandez, who was signed to a deal with LA on Monday.

McDermott was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Monday.

McDermott tossed an inning Sunday against the Angels and will be sent to the minors in favor of a fresh arm. Jonathan Hernandez, who signed a deal with the Dodgers on Monday, will take McDermott's place on the big-league roster.

Hernandez signed a contract with the Dodgers on Monday.

Hernandez was cut loose by the Phillies on Sunday, but it didn't take long for him to find work elsewhere. He'll provide the Dodgers with a fresh arm out of the bullpen. Hernandez hasn't appeared in the big leagues since the 2024 campaign, when he posted a 5.40 ERA and 1.59 WHIP with a 39:28 K:BB across 43.1 regular-season innings across stops with Texas and Seattle.

Webb (knee) will make a rehab start later in the week, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Webb hit the 15-day injured list May 9 due to right knee bursitis, but he continues to trend in the right direction. Assuming his rehab appearance goes as planned later this week, he should be ready to be activated from the IL shortly after, per Pavlovic.

Crews is expected to be recalled from Triple-A Rochester ahead of Tuesday's game against the Mets, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.

Crews is slashing .258/.345/.432 with five homers, 20 RBI, seven stolen bases and 30 runs scored over 41 games so far this season at Triple-A, and the Nationals have evidently liked what they've seen out of the 24-year-old. Zuckerman notes that the plan to promote Crews was already in action before Monday's game, though Jacob Young (ribs) was hit by a pitch in the second inning and exited the game, which could result in a clearer path to playing time for Crews if Young is forced to the injured list. Expect the team to make Crews' promotion official Tuesday.

Puk (elbow) will throw a live batting practice session Tuesday, Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com reports.

It will be the first time he's faced hitters since he had an internal brace procedure on his left elbow last June. If things go well for Puk on Tuesday, he could appear in an Arizona Complex League game Saturday. Puk should be ready to rejoin the Diamondbacks' bullpen sometime in June as long as he doesn't encounter any setbacks.

Conforto will start at designated hitter and bat sixth in Monday's game against the Brewers.

The Cubs are including Conforto in the starting nine for a third consecutive game, with the struggling Moises Ballesteros having hit the bench for all of those contests. At this point, Conforto appears to have emerged as the Cubs' preferred option at DH while he's maintained a magnificent .345/.456/.655 slash line to go with three home runs, 11 RBI and 11 runs in 68 plate appearances on the season. The Cubs are still likely to shield the left-handed-hitting Conforto from lefty pitching, but that arrangement could help prop up his batting average.

Ballesteros is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Brewers.

On the bench for a third straight matchup versus a right-handed starting pitcher (Brandon Sproat), Ballesteros appears to ceded the Cubs' primary designated-hitter role to Michael Conforto. After piling up 10 extra-base hits (five home runs, five doubles) through his first 25 games of the season, Ballesteros is slashing just .065/.137/.130 over his subsequent 14 contests.