MLB Player News

Soler (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment on Saturday for Double-A Tennessee, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Soler, who has a history of hamstring injuries, has been sidelined by the Cubs since June 7. The Cubs will play it safe with the 24-year-old to make sure his hamstring is 100 percent before activating him to the roster. With teammate Chris Coghlan also on a rehab assignment, the Cubs outfield could become crowded very quickly.

Vargas is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Red Sox, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

The 25-year-old has hit the ground running since his return to the majors, going 12-for-39 (.308 average) with 10 of those hits going for extra bases. Vargas will head to the bench Friday against a southpaw (Eduardo Rodriguez), as he did Monday the last time the Twins faced a lefty, but it looks like Vargas will be a regular part of the Minnesota lineup against right-handed pitching moving forward.

McCutchen reached base three times Thursday, going 2-for-3 with a walk.

Typically this doesn't represent much news for a career .293 hitter, but Cutch has put up 0-for-5 and 0-for-8 efforts in two of his last three games. The free pass was just McCutchen's second in 10 games and his 8.7 percent walk rate is well below his career average of 11.8 percent. He compiled a 14.3 percent rate just one season ago.

Turner (2-for-3) connected for two home runs off Nationals' ace Stephen Strasburg en route to a five RBI performance Thursday afternoon.

Just an hour into the afternoon, the Dodgers' hottest hitter already had his fourth career multi-homer game and his first game with five RBI since May 15, 2011. Over the previous two seasons, Turner was one of the Dodgers' best hitters and an anchor in the middle of their lineup. But the third baseman stumbled to start the 2016 season, and on June 8, he was hitting only .220. Since then, he has lifted his average 47 points by hitting .333 with 13 home runs.

Reed has been optioned to Triple-A Fresno, Astros beat reporter Brian McTaggart reports.

In his short 17-game stint with the Astros, Reed is hitting .156/.250/.289 with two home runs in 45 at-bats. Reed will head back to Fresno where he was hitting .266/.245/.509 with 11 home runs and 36 RBI in 222 at-bats. There is no word on the subsequent move by Houston, but it looks to have nothing to do with Alex Bregman.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said that Martinez might begin a rehab assignment as just a designated hitter, due to his inability to throw without pain, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Martinez got some swings in the batting cage on Thursday, as the pain doesn't bother him when he hits. He will get rehab at-bats as a designated hitter until he is able to throw pain-free. This will hopefully get him back in Detroit sooner as the Tigers head begin their stretch run. The Tigers will continue to do everything they can to get Martinez back on the field as soon as possible without jeopardizing his health.

Colon has driven in five runs over his last four games.

Although he is hitting just .167 in July, Colon has already driven in more runs than any month prior combined. Even with his recent hot streak, however, Colon will have difficulty finding consistent playing time behind Whit Merrifield and Alcides Escobar.

Buxton is out of the lineup for Thursday's series opener against Boston, LaVelle E. Neal of the Star Tribune reports.

Buxton will get a regular day off after starting the past three games against the Tigers and recently coming back from a knee injury. In his place, Eddie Rosario will man center while batting in the nine spot. Buxton will likely be back in the lineup for Friday's contest.

Stanton is not in the lineup Thursday against Philadelphia, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Stanton will get his first game off since the All-Star break as Ichiro Suzuki takes his place in right and bats leadoff. Stanton is 0-for-9 in his last two games but has collected two multi-hit games and three doubles since the start of the second half.

Harper had a three-true-outcomes game Wednesday against the Dodgers, going 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, a walk, two runs and two strikeouts.

He left nothing up to the fielders -- it was just between Harper and the opposing pitchers. Harper hasn't had a multi-hit game in two weeks (although the All-Star break did take up some of that time), and that's actually been a season-long lack that's led to his not-good .249 average. His BABIP's lingering at .245 accordingly, and that just doesn't fit with Harper's career tendencies; it wouldn't be surprising to see him go on a heater and lift the ol' average to respectability by the time this season comes to a close.