MLB Player News

Harper was ejected from Thursday's game against the Pirates, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.

Harper appeared to check his swing on a full count in the third inning, but the third base umpire ruled that he went around. He voiced his displeasure with the decision and was ejected from the game as a result. Harper ended his day 0-for-1 with a walk.

Morel is absent from the lineup Thursday at Atlanta.

Jeimer Candelario will serve as the Cubs' designated hitter with Miles Mastrobuoni playing third base. Morel, who also sat Wednesday, has gone 3-for-26 (.115) with seven strikeouts over his last seven games.

Harper went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a solo home run and a stolen base in Wednesday's 7-6 win over Pittsburgh.

After logging a pair of doubles earlier in the game, Harper provided the eventual winning run with a 427-foot homer off Jose Hernandez in the seventh inning. The 30-year-old Harper has been on fire down the stretch, going 9-for-18 with a pair of homers in his last six games. He's boosted his slash line to .296/.402/.503 with 21 homers, 84 runs scored, 72 RBI and 11 steals across 540 plate appearances this season.

Soler isn't in the Marlins' lineup for the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Mets, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

After an 0-for-4 performance to begin the day, Soler will ride the pine to begin the second game of Wednesday's twin bill. Jake Burger will serve as Miami's DH while Jon Berti starts at third base.

Morel is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game in Atlanta.

Morel will sit Wednesday while stuck in a 3-for-26 slump, though he did hit two solo homers during that stretch. Jeimer Candelario (back) is starting at first base in his return from the injured list while Miles Mastrobuoni mans the hot corner.

Martinez is out of the lineup for the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Rockies.

Max Muncy will take a turn in the DH role as Chris Taylor handles third base. Martinez went 1-for-4 with a single and two strikeouts in the opening game of the twin bill at Coors Field.

Blackmon is absent from the lineup for the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader versus the Dodgers.

Kris Bryant will take a turn in the DH role as Sean Bouchard patrols right field. Blackmon had a productive couple of weeks in August, but the 37-year-old is batting .232/.325/.348 with zero home runs in 19 games (80 plate appearances) since the calendar flipped to September.

Pederson isn't in the starting lineup for Monday's game against the Padres, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Pederson will unsurprisingly bow out of the starting nine with southpaw Blake Snell set to take the mound. Mitch Haniger is set to handle DH duties and will bat sixth as a result.

Baker went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk in Sunday's 12-2 loss to the Padres.

Baker produced the Cardinals' lone scoring play with his seventh-inning blast. He's seen steadier playing time over the last week, going 4-for-17 (.235) over his last six games. The 26-year-old is batting .217 with two homers, seven RBI, six runs scored and a double across 76 plate appearances in the majors this year. With the Cardinals in last in the NL Central, he'll likely get some more at-bats over the final week of the campaign as part of the evaluation for next season's roster.

Ozuna is out of the lineup for Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader against the Nationals, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Ozuna started the previous 10 games but will sit for Game 1 on Sunday after he posted a .300/.364/.625 slash line during that stretch. Ronald Acuna will rest his legs as the DH while Kevin Pillar starts in right field.