MLB Player News

Rice went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in Friday's win over the Astros.

Rice entered Friday's contest having gone 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts over his previous three games, but he got back into the homer column Friday for his ninth long ball of the year. The 27-year-old has been one of the most productive players in baseball to begin 2026 with a .316/.450/.747 slash line, 20 RBI and 24 runs through 25 games.

Murakami went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and walk in Friday's 5-4 win over the Nationals.

With the bases empty in the fourth inning, Murakami took Miles Mikolas deep for his 11th homer, tying Yordan Alvarez for the league lead. After his five-game home run streak was snapped Thursday, the slugger is ready to start another one. He now has seven long balls in his last nine games, and 11 of his 23 hits this season have gone over the wall. Murakami has proven to be a three-true-outcome hitter early in his MLB career, homering, walking or striking out in over 61 percent of his 113 plate appearances. He's now slashing .256/.398/.622 with 11 round-trippers, 20 RBI, 20 runs scored and a 22:36 BB:K.

Aranda went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs during Friday's 6-2 win over the Twins.

Aranda hit homers in the fourth and sixth innings as part of his first multi-homer game of the season. It was just the second multi-hit game for the 27-year-old over his last 13 games after having four in his first 12 contests. Regardless, he has been one of the Rays' best run producers on the season, notching 21 RBI through 25 games played while slashing .236/.366/.483.

Naylor went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk, a stolen base and two total runs scored in Friday's 3-2 win over the Cardinals.

Naylor's starting to come around, hitting safely in five of his last six games. He's gone 10-for-20 (.500) in that span, which includes both of his stolen bases on the season. He still has some work to do to improve his overall numbers -- his cold start to the year is still weighing him down at a .198 average and .591 OPS across 25 contests. He's added three homers, 11 RBI, seven runs scored and two doubles. Naylor also isn't being as aggressive on the basepaths, which was expected after he went 30-for-32 on steal attempts in the 2025 regular season after previously never having more than 13 attempts in a campaign.

Harris (hand) is starting in left field and batting seventh Friday against the Yankees, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Harris was held out of the lineup Wednesday against the Guardians after suffering a hand contusion Tuesday, but he's good to go after Thursday's team off day. Since being claimed off waivers April 18, Harris has gone 0-for-6 with a walk and two runs in three games with the Astros.

Pasquantino is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Angels.

Pasquantino went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and a solo homer Wednesday against Baltimore to bust out of an 0-for-16 slump, and he'll hit the bench Friday for the first time this season. Salvador Perez will shift to first base while Elias Diaz picks up a start behind the plate.

Torkelson went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's 5-4 win over the Brewers.

Torkelson went without a home run in his first 23 games of the season, but he's now gone deep on consecutive days. The slugger also struck out two more times Thursday, and his strikeout rate is now a tick below 30 percent. Torkelson has always been known as player with plenty of swing-and-miss in his game who can also hit homers in bunches, and that seems to be the case once again in 2026.

The Twins designated Wagaman for assignment Thursday, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

The transaction frees up a spot on the 40-man roster for the addition of waiver claim Christian Roa. Wagaman came up short in his bid for an Opening Day roster spot for the Twins and has hit only .159/.284/.254 early on at Triple-A St. Paul.

Pasquantino went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a double, an additional run scored and a walk in Wednesday's loss against the Orioles.

Pasquantino reached base three times, highlighted by a solo homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. It marked the third long ball of the season for the first baseman, who has struggled out of the gate in 2026, slashing .160/.248/.298 through 25 contests. His power has shown signs of life of late, which is encouraging, though improvement in the batting average department for the career .260 hitter would be a positive.

Kurtz went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, an additional run scored and a walk in Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Mariners.

Kurtz delivered a clutch solo blast off Andres Munoz in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game, though the Mariners responded with a Josh Naylor walk-off in the bottom half. After a relatively slow start to the year, Kurtz is finding his footing, slashing .375/.559/.792 with three homers, eight RBI and six runs over the past seven games. His season OPS now sits at .849 through 24 contests as the 23-year-old looks to follow up a tremendous rookie campaign with a strong sophomore season.