MLB Player News
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Harold Ramirez DH | WAS
Nationals' Harold Ramirez: Joining big club in San Diego
Ramirez joined the Nationals in San Diego and could be formally added to the active roster prior to Monday's series opener with the Padres, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
Ramirez started the season with the Rays, slashing .268/.284/.305 before being released June 14. After signing with Washington, he appeared in seven games with Triple-A Rochester, going 9-for-24 with four RBI. The Nationals haven't yet confirmed that Ramirez has been called up to the big club, but more details on his status should arrive shortly before the 9:40 p.m. ET start time of Monday's game.
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Matt Carpenter DH | STL
Cardinals' Matt Carpenter: Playing time trending up
Carpenter will serve as the Cardinals' designated hitter and No. 7 batter in Monday's game against Atlanta.
After he was excluded from the lineup for a stretch of six consecutive games from June 12 through 17 while the Cardinals faced four lefty starters and handed starts to Nolan Arenado and Masyn Winn at DH in the other two matchups with righties, Carpenter will now get his sixth start in a row. He's earned a more stable spot in the lineup against righties after going 6-for-16 with a double and a walk over the previous five games. The lefty-hitting Carpenter should continue to sit regularly versus lefties, however.
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Alec Burleson LF | STL
Cardinals' Alec Burleson: Stays hot at plate
Burleson went 2-for-4 with two RBI singles, a run scored and two stolen bases during Sunday's 5-3 win over the Giants.
Burleson generated multiple hits for the third consecutive contest, building on a two-homer effort Saturday with a pair of RBI on Sunday. After stealing just two bases in his first 67 games, Burleson has swiped three in the past two contests and took second base on both of his hits. The outfielder is 24-for-83 (.289) in June and ranks in the top 10 in MLB in both runs scored and homers during the month.
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Shohei Ohtani DH | LAD
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani: Demolishes 23rd homer
Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's win over the Angels while also drawing a walk.
Ohtani jumped on a hanging slider from Zach Plesac in the third inning and launched it 459 feet into the stands in right-center field for his 23rd home run of the season. The superstar slugger has now homered in three consecutive games and has collected at least one RBI in seven straight. Over that latter stretch, he's batting .481 (13-for-27) with six homers, 13 RBI and 10 runs scored.
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Nick Martini LF | CIN
Reds' Nick Martini: Taking seat Sunday
Martini isn't in the Reds' lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox.
Martini went 0-for-4 and struck out twice Saturday during his first game back from a hand injury, and he'll now take a seat for Sunday's series finale. His absence will open up a spot for Stuart Fairchild to start in center field while batting ninth.
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Marcell Ozuna DH | ATL
Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Crushes homer in loss
Ozuna went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and an additional run scored in Saturday's 8-3 loss to the Yankees.
Ozuna opened the scoring with his first-inning homer. He's up to 21 long balls on the year, and he's hit five of them while batting .315 (23-for-73) over 19 contests in June. That's right on track with where he's been all year -- the 33-year-old is hitting .312 with a .986 OPS, 64 RBI, 45 runs scored and no stolen bases over 74 games this season while maintaining his usual spot in the heart of Atlanta's order.
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Alec Burleson LF | STL
Cardinals' Alec Burleson: Fills stat sheet in win
Burleson went 3-for-4 with two home runs, five RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base in a 9-4 win over the Giants on Saturday.
Burleson singled and scored in the first and then walked and stole a base in the third. The real damage came in his next two at-bats, as he hit a three-run home run in the fourth frame and a two-run blast in the sixth. This was the first two-homer game of Burleson's major-league career, and he now has six multi-hit efforts and seven home runs in June. The 25-year-old has been a steady source of production this season, hitting .281 with 12 home runs, 30 RBI and three steals over 235 at-bats.
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Nick Martini LF | CIN
Reds' Nick Martini: Back in action Saturday
Martini (hand) is starting as Cincinnati's designated hitter and batting seventh Saturday versus Boston.
Martini missed three games after getting hit in the hand by a pitch Monday, but the soreness has seemingly subsided ahead of Saturday's contest. The 33-year-old is slashing just .210/.260/.353 through 131 big-league plate appearances this season, though he has tallied a hit in all three of the games he's played in since returning from Triple-A Louisville last week.
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Bryan De La Cruz LF | ATL
Marlins' Bryan De La Cruz: Power surge continues Friday
De La Cruz went 3-for-4 with a double and a solo home run in Friday's 3-2 extra-inning win over the Mariners.
His sixth-inning shot off George Kirby got the Marlins on the board, as De La Cruz went back-to-back with Josh Bell to tie the game and set the stage for another walk-off win. De La Cruz has gone yard three times in the last four games, and through 17 contests in June he's slashing .265/.296/.559 with five doubles, five homers and 10 RBI, albeit with a disconcerting 2:17 BB:K.
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Manny Machado 3B | SD
Padres' Manny Machado: Racks up four hits in win
Machado went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 9-5 win over the Brewers.
Machado has multiple hits in four of his last five games, going 10-for-21 in that span. The third baseman was batting just .240 at the start of June, but he's pushed that up to .263 with a .704 OPS, seven home runs, five stolen bases, 37 RBI and 32 runs scored across 72 contests this season. While his power production has been a career low so far, the 31-year-old could still put together a surge over the second half of the campaign.