MLB Player News

Alvarez is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Pirates, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Houston is concluding its series in Pittsburgh with a day game after a night game, so Alvarez is most likely just getting some extra maintenance following a string of eight consecutive starts. Corey Julks will get the nod in left field in place of Alvarez, who drew a walk but also struck out a season-high three times in Tuesday's 7-4 loss.

Ohtani (2-0) earned the win Tuesday with six strikeouts over seven scoreless innings against the Nationals, allowing one hit and five walks with six strikeouts. At the plate he went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.

The 28-year-old battled his command throughout the contest and threw 55 of 92 pitches for strikes, but CJ Abrams' fourth-inning double was the only hit against him. Ohtani has given up just one run in his first three turns through the rotation and has struck out 24 batters in 19 frames, though he's also issued 12 walks. According to Sam Blum of The Athletic, Ohtani will step out of the lineup for the first time this season Wednesday.

Choi went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run in Tuesday's victory over the Astros.

Choi gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead with a solo blast to right field off Cristian Javier. The former Tampa Bay first baseman has gone deep twice so far in his first season with the Pirates, but he's hitting just .148 with 12 strikeouts over his first 27 at-bats of the year.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Winker has been "knocked out" by a sickness and has been kept away from the team, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

The reason for Winker's absence Monday has now been made clear, and it could also keep him out of Tuesday's lineup. The team will check on Winker closer to the start of the game, but there's no guarantee he's feeling better. If he does sit out again, Luke Voit figures to fill in as designated hitter.

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said Tuesday that Jimenez (hamstring) could return from the 10-day injured list as soon as this weekend, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

Jimenez was initially expected to miss up to three weeks after landing on the IL on April 5, but he's apparently made a fast recovery. The 26-year-old outfielder is first eligible to return Friday versus Baltimore, but it's unclear if he'll be immediately ready to rejoin the lineup or if he'll require a brief minor-league rehab assignment beforehand.

Harper (elbow) took grounders and performed modified sliding drills Tuesday, Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Harper also continues to move through a hitting progression that now includes high-velocity batting cage work. The biggest concern right now for the Phillies is that Harper might rupture his surgically repaired UCL on a slide, and so they're drawing up ways to prevent that. The superstar slugger has a follow-up appointment later this month with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed his Tommy John surgery last November. The current belief is that he might be able to return to MLB competition sometime in late May.

McCutchen is out of the lineup Tuesday against the Astros.

Canaan Smith-Njigba will play right field and bat sixth versus the Astros and right-hander Cristian Javier. Ji-Man Choi is serving as the designated hitter and hitting third. McCutchen sits with a shiny .333/.486/.519 slash line through 37 plate appearances on the year.

Carpenter is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Mets.

Nelson Cruz will serve as the Padres' designated hitter and cleanup man with left-hander David Peterson on the mound for the host Mets.

Blackmon is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Cardinals.

Mike Moustakas will take a turn at DH and bat fifth versus the Cardinals and right-hander Miles Mikolas. Jurickson Profar, Yonathan Daza and Kris Bryant are starting across the outfield for Colorado.

Stanton will not be in the Yankees' lineup for Tuesday's game in Cleveland, manager Aaron Boone told the Talkin' Yanks podcast Tuesday.

Boone wants a left-handed heavy lineup against Hunter Gaddis and Stanton played the outfield Monday, so it's a good time to get him a breather. Willie Calhoun will be the designated hitter and Franchy Cordero will be in right field Tuesday.