MLB Player News

Winker went 3-for-3 with a walk-off, two-run homer against the Rockies on Thursday.

After replacing Adam Duvall, Winker produced a pair of singles before ending things with a two-run shot off Chris Rusin in the bottom of the 13th. It was just his second home run of the season after he knocked seven in 47 games last year, but Winker is starting to find a groove at the plate, notching three multi-hit efforts in the last four games . He's now slashing .263/.368/.357 through 54 games this season.

Belt (appendicitis) will report to the Giants' spring training facility in Arizona to continue his rehab, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Belt will work out in Florida for about a week before being reevaluated, and barring any setbacks, the first baseman could be cleared to rejoin the Giants in Los Angeles on June 15. The 30-year-old was hitting .307/.403/.547 with 11 homers and 31 RBI prior to undergoing surgery to have his appendix removed at the beginning of June.

Cespedes (hip) is not expected to return from the disabled list over the weekend, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.

Cespedes has been on the shelf since May 16 with a hip flexor strain. While he was able to run the bases with no issues earlier in the week, the Mets have all but ruled out a return during the Subway Series over the weekend. It was originally thought that Cespedes wouldn't require a rehab assignment, but it now sounds like he could report to a minor-league affiliate over the weekend for a brief rehab stint before rejoining the Mets.

Miller was designated for assignment by the Rays on Thursday, Steve Carney of 620 WDAE reports.

The Rays will search for a trade partner during the next week in order to cleanse themselves of Miller's $4.5 million contract. As previously reported, Miller's roster spot was in jeopardy due to the selection of Jake Bauers' contract from Triple-A Durham and because of his pedestrian play this season. Expect to see a deal worked out sending Miller to another organization within the coming days. Through 48 games this season, he's hit .256 with a .751 OPS.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said the blister Ohtani suffered on his right middle finger during his start Wednesday against the Royals isn't as severe as the one the rookie dealt with in April, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Ohtani lasted four innings Wednesday before being pulled due to the blister, taking a no-decision while giving up one run on four hits and three walks and striking out four in the Angels' victory. The 23-year-old occasionally battled blisters during his time in Japan, so it's somewhat unsettling that he's already been removed in two outings this season on account of the same issue. Fortunately for Ohtani, the Angels don't believe the latest occurrence is cause for major concern, and if Scioscia's assessment of the situation is correct, the right-hander may not even be forced to skip a start. After leaving his April 17 outing against the Red Sox with the blister, Ohtani was cleared to take the hill the following week on his normal six days' rest. Ohtani is tentatively lined up to make his next turn June 13 in Seattle.

Canha went 3-for-4 in a loss to the Rangers on Wednesday.

Canha was sporting an impressive .339 average following another 3-for-4 performance back on May 2, but an 11-for-75 slump over his subsequent 22 games had led to a 108-point drop in that figure by month's end. However, Canha has been showing signs of life again since the calendar flipped to June, as factoring in Wednesday's production, he's hitting a red-hot .429 over his first five games of the month. The outfielder's .250 average and .311 on-base percentage have plenty of room for improvement, but Canha has generated a serviceable .446 slugging percentage on the strength of 15 extra-base hits (eight doubles, seven home runs).

Manager Dave Roberts said that he held Turner out of Thursday's lineup after noticing a lack of power in his swing during Wednesday's game due to his left wrist injury, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports.

Roberts added that it's a "day-to-day thing" with Turner and that he could be back in the starting nine for Friday's series opener against the Braves. But at the moment, Turner's left wrist continues to be an issue and Roberts didn't want to put more pressure on him with a quick night-to-day game turnaround heading into Thursday's tilt. Look for Turner to try and play Friday, but another stint on the disabled list could be looming if it's clear that his swing is still compromised.

Miller could be removed from the 40-man roster when the Rays formally select Jake Bauers' contract from Triple-A Durham ahead of Thursday's game against the Mariners, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Though Miller was productive in Wednesday's loss to the Nationals with his second three-hit showing of the season, he has been a middling performer at the plate since slugging 30 home runs in 2016. Over the last season and change, Miller has hit .219/.325/.366 (90 wRC+) with 14 long balls in 581 plate appearances, while his limitations in the middle infield forced a permanent move to first base this spring. He has remained a negative defender at the new position and hasn't supplied the sort of power teams covet from corner men, so even if the Rays temporarily keep Miller on the roster, it seems apparent that he'll lose hold of his everyday role once Bauers arrives.

Turner is out of the lineup for Thursday's matinee against the Pirates, Andy McCullough of The Los Angeles Times reports.

Turner will hit the bench for the Dodgers' getaway tilt in Pittsburgh after going 0-for-2 with three walks and two runs during Wednesday's affair. In his place, Max Muncy will man third base.

Winker went 2-for-4 with a walk, a double and a run scored in Wednesday's 6-3 loss to the Rockies.

The 24-year-old may be emerging from his slump, reaching base seven times in the last three games and picking up only his second extra-base hit in his last 16 contests. Winker's .250/.359/.327 slash line on the season is an accurate reflection of his fairly limited offensive skill set right now, and he'll need to rediscover the power stroke he teased in his big-league debut last year to become a useful fantasy asset in most formats.