MLB Player News

Beer isn't starting Wednesday against the Guardians.

Beer is getting a breather after he went 0-for-8 with three strikeouts over the last two games. Ketel Marte will serve as the designated hitter while Emmanuel Rivera starts at third base.

Meneses went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's victory over the Mets.

In his first career big-league game, Meneses launched a home run that helped seal a 5-1 win for the Nationals. The rookie spent a good chunk of his minor-league career in Atlanta's organization, but he'd toiled in the Phillies, Red Sox, and Nationals farm systems since 2018. He has shown the ability to hit for both power and average in the minors, batting .311 with 23 home runs in 2018 and .286 with 20 home runs this season, all at the Triple-A level. Perhaps his debut appearance with the Nationals is a sign of things to come for the 30-year-old rookie.

Ozuna went 3-for-5 with a homer, a double, three runs scored and two RBI in a 13-1 pounding of Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Ozuna doubled and scored in the fourth, singled and scored in the fifth and hit a solo shot in the seventh. After a difficult July in which he produced a .195/.247/.368 line, the veteran got off to a great start to August on Tuesday. It marked the fourth time this season that he had three hits in a game and just the second time since April 12. He's now hit seventh in Atlanta's order seven times in his last 12 starts.

Turner (abdomen) was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to July 30, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

The 37-year-old hasn't seen the field in nearly a week due to the abdominal strain, and the Dodgers finally opted to put him on the IL The move is backdated by a few days, and manager Dave Roberts hopes Turner will be able to return for the two-game series against the Twins next week after missing the minimum amount of time. Joey Gallo was acquired from the Yankees on Tuesday and is a likely to fill Turner's spot in the lineup once he officially joins the active roster.

Madris will serve as the Pirates' designated hitter and No. 5 batter in Tuesday's game against the Brewers.

He'll get his fourth start in the last five games despite having gone hitless in 12 at-bats since getting called up from Triple-A Indianapolis last Thursday. Though the Pirates have fully embraced their rebuild and are handing several rookies steady playing time of late, Madris will still likely need to show some signs of progress at the plate to ensure he sticks in a near-everyday role for the duration of the campaign.

Meneses' contract was selected by the Nationals on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

There should be plenty of at-bats to go around in Washington down the stretch after the team's deadline-day sell-off. Meneses can play the outfield corners or first base, two spots vacated by Juan Soto and Josh Bell, both of whom were sent to San Diego, though the arrival of Luke Voit in that same deal means Meneses may be nothing more than a bench player. He's a 30-year-old with zero big-league experience, so that's probably for the best, though his .286/.341/.489 line for Triple-A Rochester this season suggests he might be able to hold his own if called upon.

Morel is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Cardinals.

Morel has gone from a relatively unheralded prospect to one of the better players on the Cubs this season, though he's recently hit a bit of a wall, going hitless in his last six games. He'll hit the bench for the second time in three games Tuesday, and he could see his playing time opportunities at the keystone take a hit moving forward with Nick Madrigal (groin) returning from the injured list.

Atlanta reversed Ford's option to Triple-A Gwinnett and placed him on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a strained neck.

Since Ford was already moved off the 26-man active roster in the wake of Atlanta acquiring Robbie Grossman from the Tigers on Monday, the change in the transaction type won't dramatically change Ford's timeline for rejoining the big club, provided his strained neck isn't anything more than a short-term concern. Even before the injury surfaced, Ford was having a tough time finding at-bats off the Atlanta bench, as he appeared in just one game during his week-long stay on the active roster.

Encarnacion-Strand was traded from the Twins to the Reds on Tuesday along with Spencer Steer and Steven Hajjar in exchange for Tyler Mahle, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

Encarnacion-Strand is a bat-first player who has raked everywhere he has played. He has been at least 60 percent better than the average hitter by wRC+ in every league he has played in and hit .302/.374/.612 with 25 home runs and a 33.1 percent hard-hit rate in 390 plate appearances between High-A and Double-A. The 22-year-old has seen time at third base, first base and designated hitter this season. He could also be an option in left field down the road.

The Mets acquired Ruf from the Giants on Tuesday in exchange for designated hitter J.D. Davis and minor-league pitchers Thomas Szapucki, Carson Seymour and Nick Zwack, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

Ruf is expected to provide an upgrade over Davis as the right-handed-hitting option in a platoon at DH with the lefty-hitting Daniel Vogelbach or Dominic Smith (ankle). The 36-year-old Ruf owns an .886 OPS versus southpaws on the season.