MLB Player News

Stanton went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Royals.

Stanton provided most of the offense for New York on Saturday, driving home Billy McKinney with a single in the first inning and later launching a two-run shot in the eighth to put the Yankees up 5-2. The home run was Stanton's 13th this year and his sixth in the month of July, though he's still batting just .120 over his last six games and .200 on the season, even with Saturday's performance.

Vogelbach is not in the lineup Saturday at Boston.

Mark Vientos will serve as the Mets' designated hitter and bat seventh with left-hander James Paxton set to toe the slab for the Red Sox. The left-handed-hitting Vogelbach has zero hits and six strikeouts in 11 plate appearances this year versus southpaws.

Brantley (shoulder) took live batting practice Saturday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

It was his first on-field hitting work since he got shut down again in early July due to renewed discomfort in his surgically-repaired right shoulder. Brantley has been sidelined all season and there is still no timetable for his 2023 debut, but he's at least seems to be trending in a positive direction.

Carpenter remains on the bench for Saturday's game against the Tigers, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The veteran is hitting .169/.297/.307 on the season and has gone 2-for-33 at the plate in his last 16 games. As a result, he's lost his access to regular at-bats as a designated hitter, even against righties. Taylor Kohlwey filled that role Friday, but it will be Xander Bogaerts resting his legs there Saturday.

Buxton went 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI in Friday's victory over the White Sox.

Buxton clocked a three-run homer in the first inning followed by a solo shot in the fourth. He finally snapped out of an ugly 1-for-35 skid with his first extra-base hit since July 4. Buxton has 17 home runs but his 31.5 percent strikeout rate has led to an unsightly .197/.284/.426 slash line. The 29-year-old was dropped to sixth in the lineup Friday, just the sixth time he's hit lower than the cleanup spot this year.

Pederson went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Nationals.

Pederson snapped a month-long homer drought with his game-tying blast in the third inning, but the Giants were limited to just two hits over the rest of the contest. During his 23-game power drought, Pederson his just .167 with two doubles and a triple. The 31-year-old remains in a strong-side platoon role while primarily serving as the designated hitter. He's hitting .233 with a .781 OPS, nine homers, 34 RBI and 37 runs scored over 63 contests this season.

Choi went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 8-5 loss to the Angels.

Choi has homered three times in his last seven games while going 6-for-19 (.316) in that span. The warm bat has helped Choi remain in the mix for playing time between first base and designated hitter. Carlos Santana and Andrew McCutchen are also involved in that playing time battle with two spots available for the three players. Choi is at a .186/.210/.475 slash line with five homers, nine RBI, seven runs scored and two doubles over 62 plate appearances this season.

Ohtani (8-5) allowed five runs on six hits and a walk while striking out nine over 6.1 innings to earn the win Friday over the Pirates.

Ohtani has battled various issues on his right middle finger for weeks, but he was able to throw 87 pitches (60 strikes) in this start. The results were mediocre, however -- he allowed four home runs, two of which came from top prospect Henry Davis. At the plate, Ohtani went 0-for-1 with three walks and two runs scored to help his own cause. The two-way star is at a 3.71 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 148:47 K:BB through 111.2 innings over 19 starts. He also has a .305/.400/.676 slash line across 96 contests as a hitter. Ohtani is tentatively lined up for a road start in Toronto next week, if the Angels don't trade him or hold him out for asset protection ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

Rooker was scratched from the lineup Friday versus the Astros due to an illness, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Seth Brown is now playing right field and batting eighth for the Athletics. As long as it's not a serious ailment, Rooker should be available again sometime this weekend. He has a decent .783 OPS so far in July after slumping badly through much of June.

McCutchen is not in the starting lineup Friday versus the Angels, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

McCutchen will sit for a second straight game Friday after he went 2-for-8 with a double and a strikeout over the first two games of the team's series with Cleveland. Ji-Man Choi will take over at designated hitter and bat cleanup in the series opener with Los Angeles.