MLB Player News

Jorge Soler (oblique) will join the Cubs in Pittsburgh on Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reports.

He is not in the Cubs' lineup for Thursday's game, but he will presumably be activated and inserted into the lineup this weekend. Soler should get the nod most days in right field going forward.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen was held out of the lineup Thursday against the Cubs.

The star center fielder's average dipped below .300 after he struck out four times in Wednesday's game. A game that bad for a player of McCutchen's caliber is pretty rare, so manager Clint Hurdle obviously felt he needed to give him the day off.

Darin Ruf will get some additional starts at first base while Phillies teammate Ryan Howard (knee) is sidelined, CSN Philadelphia reports.

Howard had his knee drained Monday and is currently considered day-to-day. Ruf has already been starting against lefties, but he will now pick up some at-bats against righties until Howard can return.

Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (wrist) still has no specific timetable to return to action this season, the Associated Press reports.

He visited a hand specialist for another opinion on his broken left wrist this week, but the Marlins have yet to release a plan for Stanton's return to game action. He took batting practice on the field Monday, but should be considered out indefinitely.

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper was 3 for 3 with two homers, four RBI and a walk in Tuesday's 4-0 victory over the Phillies.

There likely isn't a superlative that hasn't already been attached to the 22-year-old phenom, who appears to be peaking during the stretch run of what has been an absolutely dominating season. Harper is now 18 for 43 (.419) in September with eight homers and 13 RBI.

He accounted for all of the Nationals' scoring on Tuesday, breaking a scoreless tie with a two-out solo shot in the first and then adding a two-run dinger in the eighth. Harper has also notably notched 14 walks in 14 September games, which adds yet another element to his seemingly inexhaustable offensive repertoire and is a contributing factor into the absurd 1.444 OPS that he came into Tuesday night's contest.

There seems to be no stopping Yoenis Cespedes. The Mets outfielder went deep again on Monday night, as the Mets defeated the Marlins 4-3. Cespedes' solo shot gave the Mets 1-0 lead in the third inning. 

Cespedes has now hit 17 home runs in 41 games since being acquired by the Mets at the July 31 trade deadline. He hit 18 in 102 games with the Tigers before being dealt. There have only been three games in the month of September in which Cespedes did not go deep.

After a brief scare on Sunday, Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is in the starting lineup for Monday's series opener against the Phillies. Harper left Sunday's game in the first inning after he collided with Marlins second baseman Derek Dietrich.

But Harper has seemingly recovered well enough to not miss any additional action. He'll be back in right field while batting third in Philadelphia.

Nationals slugger Bryce Harper has been removed from the game Sunday at Miami after colliding with second baseman Derek Dietrich.

The team has yet to reveal specifics about the injury.

Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes, who homered Saturday after declining an offer to take the day off, will sit instead Sunday, per ESPN.

Cespedes has started all but one game since arriving in The Big Apple from Detroit on July 31.

Cubs rookie outfielder Jorge Soler slammed an RBI double and scored in a rehab game Friday night for Class A Myrtle Beach. He also walked in three plate appearances.

Soler has been sidelined for three weeks with an oblique injury. He owns a slash line of .265/.325/.385.