MLB Player News

Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to the Braves on Thursday.

Ozuna joined Matt Carpenter in leaving the yard for the Cardinals during the eighth inning of a blowout defeat, with the round tripper serving as Ozuna's second of the three-game set against the Braves. The veteran slugger is enduring a rough May at the plate overall, as he's hitting just .183 (11-for-60) over 15 contests. However, there are plenty of signs that his troublesome shoulder is back to full health, with Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reporting that he headed into the series against Atlanta with a barrel percentage (17.9), average exit velocity (92.6 mph), hard-contact rate (51.4 percent) and xSLG figure (.594) that all ranked in the top seven percent of the majors.

Carpenter went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to the Braves on Thursday.

Carpenter's eighth-inning, 398-foot shot was only the veteran's second home run since April 17 and snapped a 1-for-19 funk that had encompassed his previous four-plus games. Manager Mike Shildt recently gave Carpenter a vote of confidence with respect to his leadoff role, but the fact remains that, despite Thursday's round tripper, the 33-year-old infielder is currently hitting under .200 (.196) for the second consecutive month.

Vogelbach went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in a loss to the Twins on Thursday.

The 404-foot blast accounted for half of Seattle's runs in the game and marked Vogelbach's third consecutive game with a home run. Though his batting average (.248) has tumbled in recent weeks, the powerful first baseman is showing that his breakout season is no fluke, as he is now tied for fifth in the American League with 12 homers.

Buxton went 2-for-5 in a victory over Seattle on Thursday, driving in three runs with a fourth-inning home run and scoring twice.

Buxton's blast off Seattle starter Erik Swanson blew the game open for Minnesota and marked the fifth time in his career that he has homered in consecutive games. The speedy outfielder has been red-hot of late, batting 10-for-22 (.455) during his current six-game hitting streak.

Reyes went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in the Padres' 4-3 victory over the Padres on Thursday.

Reyes continues to flash impressive power as he checked in with his 13th long ball of the season in this contest with a third-inning solo shot off Trevor Williams. The 23-year-old has employed a more aggressive approach in 2019 and has taken just eight walks through 139 at-bats, which has contributed to an unimpressive .300 on-base percentage. However, it's also resulted in the increased power production, as he's also laced six doubles to go along with the 13 homers to give him a robust .590 slugging percentage.

Canha went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run Thursday against the Tigers.

Canha entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning but delivered his homer in the top of the ninth. It was his fourth home run of the season and second since being activated from the injured list Monday. He will likely continue to get most of his at-bats against left-handed pitching, serving as depth both at first base and in the outfield.

Beer was promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi on Thursday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The 2018 first-rounder hit .328/.414/.602 with nine homers and 34 RBI in 35 games for High-A Fayetteville before earning a promotion to Double-A. There is no doubt that Beer can hit, but the bigger question is where he lands defensively or if he's a DH-only prospect. Either way, he'll look to continue mashing his way up the minor-league latter.

Harper will start in right field and bat second Thursday against the Brewers.

Harper has made all of his previous 42 starts this season as the No. 3 hitter, but he'll swap spots in the order with Jean Segura in the series finale. Manager Gabe Kapler likely decided to make the change in an effort to spark Harper, who has struck out in a career-worst 30.8 percent of his plate appearances this season. If Harper finds some initial success while batting between Andrew McCutchen and Segura, the big free-agent pickup could remain in that lineup spot on a permanent basis.

Cabrera (knee) will serve as the Tigers' designated hitter and bat cleanup Thursday against the Athletics, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Cabrera was held out of the lineup in Wednesday's 5-1 loss to the Tigers while he dealt with some knee soreness, but the issue was never viewed as a serious concern. The Tigers could limit Cabrera's duties at first base for the next few days until the soreness fully subsides, but the injury shouldn't impact him as much at the plate as a DH. Cabrera is batting .283 in May but continues to show little power with only one extra-base hit (a double) in 13 games this month.

Buxton went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in an 8-7 victory against the Angels on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old is on a five-game hitting streak, which sounds modest, but it's raised his average 30 points. Buxton has shown little over-the-fence power so far, but he owns a .500 slugging percentage on the strength of 18 doubles and two triples. He is batting .278 with 16 RBI, 20 runs and eight steals in 126 at-bats.