MLB Player News

Ohtani will once again serve as the Angels' designated hitter for Thursday's series opener in Kansas City, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

Ohtani will DH for the second straight day after going 1-for-4 with an RBI on Wednesday. Since he isn't scheduled to take the mound again until Sunday, Ohtani may be back in the lineup for Friday's contest as well. Over 24 plate appearances, he's tallied eight hits, three home runs and eight RBI this season.

Blackmon (quadriceps) is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

Blackmon has been battling back and quad tightness throughout the week and will miss his third consecutive game. There have been no reports at this point that the 31-year-old is headed to the disabled list, but it becomes increasingly likely with each day out of the lineup. Ian Desmond will start in center field Thursday, after Mike Tauchman started the previous two games.

Martinez went 2-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 10-7 loss to the Yankees.

It's his second homer of the season, and while Martinez's batting average is still a sluggish .250 (10-for-40) he has driven in 10 runs in 10 games. The 30-year-old is locked into the cleanup spot in one of MLB's better offenses, and Martinez should continue to produce big numbers as long as he can stay healthy.

Stanton went 3-for-5 with a triple, two runs scored and three RBI in Wednesday's 10-7 win over the Red Sox.

That's now back-to-back multi-hit performances for Stanton, and while he's had some trouble making consistent contact in the early going, he does still have three homers and 10 RBI through 12 games. Expect his .235 batting average to continue rising now that Stanton appears to be settling in to his new environment and new uniform.

Blackmon (quad) is again out of the lineup Wednesday against the Padres, Kyle Newman of the Denver Post reports.

Blackmon has dealt with both back tightness and quad tightness in the past few days. He'll now have missed three out of the Rockies' last four games. There haven't yet been any reports that either issue is anything serious or that a trip to the disabled list is imminent, but it's certainly not encouraging to see him sit out this often. Mike Tauchman will receive a second straight start in center field.

Belt is out of the lineup against Arizona on Wednesday, Jody Jackson of Fox Sports Arizona reports.

Belt will get the day off after going 1-for-8 with five strikeouts during the first two games of this series. Buster Posey will slide over to first base while Nick Hundley draws a start behind the plate for Wednesday's contest.

Reyes is hitting .286/.348/.476 with one home run and three strikeouts in 21 at-bats for Triple-A El Paso.

He was sidelined with a wrist injury this spring, but was ready for the start of the minor-league season. This marks his first crack at Triple-A pitching, after slashing .258/.322/.464 with 25 home runs in 135 games at Double-A in 2017. Reyes has impressive raw power from the right side, but it's hard to see how he will fit into the outfield mix in San Diego, as he does not project to be a defensive asset.

Vogelbach is out of the lineup against Kansas City on Wednesday, Shannon Drayer of MyNorthwest.com reports.

Vogelbach will retreat to the bench for the series finale while Taylor Motter draws the assignment at first and Andrew Romine picks up a start in the infield. Over seven appearances thus far in 2018, Vogelbach has gone 5-for-21 with two RBI and eight strikeouts.

McCutchen filled up the box score Tuesday, going 1-for-3 with two walks, two RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in a walkoff win over the Diamondbacks.

McCutchen's gap shot with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning sent the crowd in San Francisco home happy. It was the outfielder's second walkoff hit over the club's last four contests. The 31-year-old got off to a rough 2-for-24 start with his new club, but he has turned things around with a homer, six RBI and a pair of steals while batting .444 (8-for-18) over the last four games.

Carpenter went 2-for-4 with two runs, two walks and a two-run walkoff home run in the 11th inning in a 5-3 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday.

Carpenter was hitting just .156 coming into the game but he got his second homer of the season with this game-ending blast off J.J. Hoover. It's been a weird season so far for Carpenter, as he has a solid .375 on-base percentage but has struggled to hit for average. The fact that his walk rate has remained so high suggests he's seeing the ball well, and he's a .276 hitter for his career, so Tuesday's multi-hit game could be a sign Carpenter is getting set to start producing like the guy who has an .800-plus OPS in five of his last six seasons.