MLB Player News

Blackmon is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros, Luke Zahlmann of The Denver Gazette reports.

Blackmon will sit Sunday as lefty Framber Valdez takes the mound for the Astros. Elias Diaz will rest his legs as the designated hitter while Jacob Stallings starts behind the plate.

Soler went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk in Saturday's 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Pirates.

Soler's 10th-inning blast got the Giants within a run, but the comeback effort fell short. He went 0-for-12 with one walk and six strikeouts over the previous three games. Soler's power is at an acceptable level (five homers, .414 slugging percentage) through 28 games, but he's batting just .222 with a .736 OPS, well under his .250 average and .853 OPS from last season.

Florial is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Atlanta.

The lefty-hitting Florial finds himself on the bench for the third time in four games, with two of those absences coming against right-handed pitching. Florial appeared to have recently supplanted Ramon Laureano for a regular spot in the lineup as the Guardians' top option at designated hitter, but manager Stephen Vogt looks like he may just prefer to have a number of different players rotate at that spot.

The Red Sox expect Cooper to be activated for Tuesday's series opener against the Giants, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

The Red Sox acquired Cooper from the Cubs for cash considerations Saturday. Boston manager Alex Cora didn't immediately reveal how Cooper will be deployed, but it sounds like the newly acquired first baseman will get the bulk of starts. "Obviously, he's a guy that can put together a good at-bat," Cora said. "He can hit lefties and righties. He's a good defender. We do believe he's going to help us out." Cooper could move immediately to the top of the first-base depth chart.

Martinez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cardinals, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Martinez went 3-for-8 with a double, an RBI and five strikeouts in his first two games with the Mets but will take a seat for Sunday's series finale versus St. Louis. DJ Stewart will step in as the designated hitter and bat cleanup.

Burleson is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

The Cardinals are giving Willson Contreras a day off behind the plate and having him serve as the designated hitter, so Burleson will bow out of the lineup as Ivan Herrera enters the starting nine at catcher. Burleson had served as St. Louis' DH in both of the past two games, going 2-for-5 with a home run, two walks and three RBI.

Stanton went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run during Saturday's 15-3 win at Milwaukee.

The veteran slugger entered Saturday without a homer in eight straight games, but he went deep in the ninth inning against position player Owen Miller. Stanton also had an infield single in the opening frame but struck out in his other three plate appearances, which is his second game this season with three strikeouts. Even including Saturday's homer, Stanton has a .214/.290/.393 slash line over his past nine games.

Alvarez went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI during Saturday's 12-4 win against the Rockies.

The Houston slugger busted out of a 5-for-25 slump Saturday with two homers that each went 461 feet. Alvarez is off to a bit of a slow start in 2024 with what would be a career-worst .867 OPS, but he's still been plenty productive with seven homers, 17 RBI and 18 runs through 27 games.

Yoshida went 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored in Saturday's victory over the Cubs.

He did not start the previous five games, as the Red Sox utilized Rafael Devers and Tyler O'Neill at designated hitter as they returned from injuries. Yoshida did his best to make up for lost time Saturday, doubling in a run while also adding three singles. While he has been used very little this week, the expectation is that Yoshida will remain the team's primary DH moving forward.

Ramirez is not in the Rays' starting lineup for Saturday's game against the White Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Ramirez has started in each of the Rays' last four games, going 4-for-16 with two runs and a stolen base over that span. With Ramirez out of the lineup, Isaac Paredes will shift over to DH for Saturday's game, while Austin Shenton draws the start at first base with Yandy Diaz sitting due to a left pinky injury.