MLB Player News

The Mets re-signed Arroyo to a minor-league contract Tuesday.

Arroyo exercised the opt-out clause in his minor-league deal Monday but quickly agreed to a new contract a day later. The 31-year-old infielder has slashed .304/.333/.446 with five home runs at Triple-A Syracuse this season.

Steer went 2-for-4 with two solo homers and three runs scored in Tuesday's extra-inning win over the Royals.

Both of Steer's homers came against lefties, as he took starter Noah Cameron deep in the fifth inning before tagging reliever Matt Strahm for a solo blast in the eighth. It was Steer's first multi-homer game of the season and snapped an 18-game homer drought. Since the beginning May, Steer is hitting .312 with four home runs, 13 RBI, 24 runs scored and an .848 OPS. For the season, Steer is slashing .277/.351/.461 with nine home runs, 23 RBI, 37 runs scored, three stolen bases and a 21:48 BB:K across 231 plate appearances.

Abbott didn't factor into the decision Tuesday against the Royals, allowing three runs on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts across six innings.

Abbott logged his second straight quality start and fourth in his last seven outings while also generating 12 swinging strikes, his second most in a start this season. However, the left-hander did walk a season-high four batters and dealt with some traffic on the bases. All three runs allowed came in the top of the fourth inning via four singles and a pair of bases on balls. After a rough month of April, Abbott has steadied of late, yielding just 10 runs over his last 40 innings (2.25 ERA) with a 28:18 K:BB in that span. His ERA for the season is now 4.06 with a 47:31 K:BB across 68.2 innings. Abbott's strikeout rate (15.8 percent) has dipped a full six percentage points from last season.

Lowder (shoulder) allowed three runs on six hits while striking out eight with no walks over five innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday.

After appearing in a simulated game last week, Lowder kicked off a rehab assignment in impressive fashion, throwing 70 pitches (50 strikes). It's unclear what the right-hander's next step is, but the innings and the pitch count set him up for a possible return to Cincinnati's rotation in five days.

Ashcraft (elbow) received a platelet-rich plasma injection Tuesday, MLB.com reports.

Ashcraft got the injection after a second opinion confirmed he's dealing with a UCL sprain. The right-hander was immediately placed on the 60-day injured list following the injury last Friday and is not expected back until some point after the All-Star break.

Smith is expected to take on the designated hitter spot most of the time against right-handers, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

That was Smith's job Monday, when he was activated off the 60-day injured list. He was on the bench for Tuesday's game against Dodgers lefty Eric Lauer but entered as a pinch hitter against a right-handed reliever. Smith's return mostly affects Adrian Del Castillo but could also eat into Ildemaro Vargas's playing time at first base.

McCann (quad) has started taking machine batting practice and doing catching drills, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

McCann is rehabbing a quad strain that landed him on the 10-day injured list May 19. At that time, the club estimated a 4-to-6 week timeline for his return.

Lawlar (wrist) could move his rehab to Triple-A Reno by the end of the week, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

Lawlar had a third rehab outing and second in as many days Tuesday for the ACL D-backs. The outfielder has gone 2-for-8 with a stolen base and two runs scored while playing center field, left field and designated hitter. Lawlar, who is eligible to return this week, has been out since April 3 with a broken right wrist. His return will create an outfield logjam, and Lourdes Gurriel (hamstring) is also working his way back.

Puk (elbow) allowed one hit and struck out one over a scoreless inning in a rehab appearance for Triple-A Reno on Tuesday.

The Diamondbacks moved Puk's rehab assignment to Reno after the left-hander threw three scoreless innings in three appearances in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League to close out May. He's scheduled to throw again Friday, per Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com, and Puk will likely need a few more appearances beyond this week before being activated from the 60-day injured list. When Puk opened his minor-league assignment last month, Arizona general manager Mike Hazen said the team was targeting him seven or eight rehab outings, which puts the reliever on a path to return from the shelf around the middle of June.

Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, three RBI, an additional run scored and a stolen base in Tuesday's 10-6 win over the Astros.

Rodriguez gave Pittsburgh an early spark in the second inning by launching a two-run homer off Mike Burrows for his first long ball of the season. He later added an RBI double in the ninth inning and also stole his second base of the year during the sixth. Since being recalled May 12, Rodriguez has started to find a rhythm at the plate, batting 9-for-30 (.300) with two doubles, five RBI and seven runs scored.