MLB Player News

Ohtani (paternity) will serve as the Dodgers' designated hitter and bat leadoff Saturday against the Orioles, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

After missing Friday's game for the birth of his second child, Ohtani will rejoin the team Saturday and reclaim his spot as the Dodgers' leadoff man. He's tallied just two hits across his last five games but still boasts a .360/.484/.760 slash line in 62 plate appearances since the beginning of June.

Yelich isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Atlanta.

Yelich doesn't typically move to the bench whenever the Brewers run into a left-handed starter, but he'll get a day off Saturday with southpaw Chris Sale on the mound for Atlanta. Gary Sanchez will fill in as Milwaukee's designated hitter and bat fourth.

Springer went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Friday's loss to the Cubs.

The veteran slugger provided the only offense for the Blue Jays in a 16-2 rout, bring home Andres Gimenez with a third-inning single before launching a solo shot off Ben Brown in the sixth. Springer has eight homers on the year, and three of them have come in the last seven games, a stretch in which he's batting .360 (9-for-25) with a double, three steals, five runs and seven RBI.

Suarez isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees.

Suarez will move to the bench Saturday after going 1-for-4 with three strikeouts during Friday's loss. His absence will put Nathaniel Lowe at the DH spot and Spencer Steer at first base, allowing Noelvi Marte to pick up a start in right field.

Bell went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 9-5 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Bell's run of consecutive multi-hit games ended at four, but it wasn't an empty showing for him Friday. He's up to nine homers on the season, including four over his last 11 contests, a span in which he's hitting .357 (15-for-42). Bell is batting .244 with a .695 OPS, 47 RBI, 37 runs scored, 14 doubles and a stolen base over 74 contests this season as the Twins' primary designated hitter.

Ohtani is currently away from the Dodgers on paternity leave, Jack Harris of the California Post reports.

The Dodgers haven't made a roster move to place Ohtani on the paternity list, as he's expected to rejoin the team at some point this weekend, but he will be absent from the starting lineup for a day or two nonetheless while he welcomes a new addition to his family. Ryan Ward will serve as the Dodgers' designated hitter and bat seventh Friday.

Benintendi went 1-for-1 with a grand slam in Thursday's 5-1 win over the Yankees.

Benintendi delivered the game's defining moment in the eighth inning. Entering as a pinch hitter for Randal Grichuk in a tie game with the bases loaded, the veteran outfielder launched a 393-foot grand slam off Camilo Doval to break the game open and give Chicago all the offense it would need. The homer continued a recent power surge for Benintendi, who has now gone deep three times in his last 17 plate appearances. After a slow start to the season, he has raised his production to a .242 batting average and .741 OPS across 66 games.

Ballesteros was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday, Elias Schuster of SI.com reports.

Ballesteros will head to Iowa after struggling to a .128 average with one home run, seven RBI, four runs scored and a stolen base over 94 at-bats in his last 34 contests. The 22-year-old will look to hit the reset button at the Triple-A level and then get another shot with the major-league roster down the road this year.

Springer went 0-for-3 with two stolen bases in Wednesday's win over the Red Sox.

The Blue Jays evidently liked seeing Mickey Gasper working behind the plate for Boston, as they went 5-for-5 on steal attempts against him during the game. Springer's thefts both came in the third inning after he was hit by a Jake Bennett pitch, but he was left stranded at third base by a Kazuma Okamoto groundout. Springer has just six stolen bases on the season to go along with a .212/.308/.369 slash line, seven home runs, 19 RBI and 22 runs in 52 contests, but three of those steals have come in the last two games.

Ozuna went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 12-4 win over the Athletics.

Prior to Wednesday's start, Ozuna hadn't gotten into a game since last Thursday. While he has gone 11-for-41 (.268) over his last 12 contests, just two of his hits in that span have gone for extra bases, and he also has a 1:14 BB:K. Ryan O'Hearn most often works as the designated hitter, leaving Ozuna as a bench bat. For the season, Ozuna is batting .198 with a .595 OPS, six homers, 24 RBI, 16 runs scored, five doubles and no stolen bases over 213 plate appearances.