MLB Player News
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Santiago Espinal 2B | LAD
Reds' Santiago Espinal: Back to bench role
Espinal is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cardinals.
Espinal started at third base in all three games of the Reds' weekend series versus the Dodgers, but he's been a spectator for all three games of the series with St. Louis now that Jeimer Candelario is healthy again after missing time with a neck injury. The Reds will likely to continue to make room for Espinal in the lineup when the team faces left-handed pitchers, but his opportunities to play against right-handers will become more infrequent now that the team has all of its infielders available save for Christian Encarnacion-Strand (wrist) and Matt McLain (shoulder), the latter of whom has been on the injured list all season.
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Nolan Arenado 3B | ARI
Cardinals' Nolan Arenado: Getting breather Wednesday
Arenado is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game in Cincinnati.
Arenado snapped an 11-game homerless drought in Tuesday's 7-1 win over the Reds, but he will be given a breather for Wednesday's day game. Brendan Donovan will start at third base in place of Arenado.
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Donovan Solano 1B | TEX
Padres' Donovan Solano: Three hits in win
Solano went 3-for-4 with an RBI double in Tuesday's 4-0 win over the Marlins.
Solano recorded two base hits and then capped off his night with a run-scoring double in the eighth to put the Friars up, 4-0. He's now driven in runs in back-to-back games for the first time this season and has reached base seven times in his last nine plate appearances. The 36-year-old remains a utility depth option for this team and is slashing .375/.474/.531 with three RBI, two runs and a 5:4 K:BB in 38 plate appearances.
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Taylor Walls 3B | TB
Rays' Taylor Walls: Headed to Durham
Walls (hip) will have his rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A Durham on Wednesday, MLB.com reports.
Walls has been playing in the Florida Complex League for the last week and went 2-for-17 with one home run, two walks and two strikeouts across five games. He was able to play entire games at shortstop and will now move up levels in what should be a final stint in his rehab before being activated from the injured list.
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Matt Vierling RF | DET
Tigers' Matt Vierling: Could play regularly sans Carpenter
Vierling will start in center field and bat second in the first game of Wednesday's game against the Pirates.
Vierling had already started five of the Tigers' previous six games at three different positions (center field, left field and third base), but he should maintain an even more stable role in the outfield for at least the next week and a half after the Tigers placed Kerry Carpenter (back) on the 10-day injured list Wednesday. The 27-year-old Vierling has been one of the Tigers' top hitters in May, slashing .290/.320/.536 with three home runs, 16 RBI and eight runs on the month heading into Wednesday's twin bill.
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Josh Rojas 3B | CHW
Mariners' Josh Rojas: Nabs stolen base Tuesday
Rojas went 2-for-4 with an RBI double, a steal and two runs scored in Tuesday's win over the Astros.
Rojas singled, stole second and scored off the bat of Julio Rodriguez in the first inning to give Seattle an early lead. The Mariners would then rally in the eighth, beginning with an RBI double from Rojas, who then came around to score once more thanks to Rodriguez. Tuesday was Rojas' first multi-hit game and first stolen base since May 10, while his late RBI knock was just his third since May 7. He's cooled off considerably this month, hitting .152 since May 11. For the year, Rojas is slashing .287/.350/.427 with 12 extra-base hits, 10 RBI, 16 runs, five steals and a 31:14 K:BB in 157 plate appearances.
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Alex Bregman 3B | CHC
Astros' Alex Bregman: Leaves yard Tuesday
Bregman went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Mariners.
Bregman provided the Astros' lone run support with a two-run blast to left in the fourth off Luis Castillo. It was his first home run since May 14 and just his third extra-base hit since then. Despite multi-hit efforts in two of his last three games, Bregman is still hitting just .147 over his last eight games. His struggles have persisted throughout the season thus far, with the 30-year-old now slashing .212/.277/.335 with five homers, 23 RBI, 15 runs and a 19:30 BB:K in 224 plate appearances.
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Eugenio Suarez 3B | CIN
Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suarez: Produces run in loss
Suarez batted seventh and went 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Rangers.
Suarez knocked in Arizona's second run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning, just his second RBI over the last 12 games. The third baseman has been grinding with a .182 average and .504 OPS for the month of May. He opened the season as the regular sixth batter in the order but was dropped to seventh against right-handers since the middle of last week.
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Nolan Arenado 3B | ARI
Cardinals' Nolan Arenado: Ends power drought
Arenado went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and a walk in Tuesday's 7-1 win over the Reds.
Arenado went 11 games without a homer prior to Tuesday. In that span, he hit a paltry .222 (10-for-45). The third baseman took Andrew Abbott deep in the fourth inning to give the Cardinals all the offense they needed in the win. Arenado is still having a rough year overall with four homers, 25 RBI, 21 runs scored, 10 doubles and a .257/.311/.366 slash line over 52 contests. While the Cardinals' offense has struggled at times, Arenado has not been able to lead by example as much as he has in previous years.
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Jose Ramirez 3B | CLE
Guardians' Jose Ramirez: Crosses plate four times
Ramirez went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, two walks and four total runs scored in Tuesday's 13-7 win over the Rockies.
Ramirez has five multi-hit efforts, five homers and 15 RBI over his last seven contests. He opened the scoring in the first inning with his team-leading 16th homer of the campaign. The third baseman has added a major-league-best 56 RBI with 41 runs scored, eight stolen bases and a .272/.328/.558 slash line over 54 games this season. Ramirez was batting as low as .227 with a .667 OPS on May 4, but he's powered up in a big way over the course of this month.