MLB Player News

Encarnacion (hand) will resume swinging a bat Tuesday and is now expected to re-start his rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento by the end of the week, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Encarnacion was placed on the 60-day injured list in March and underwent surgery after fracturing his left hand. The 27-year-old began his rehab assignment with Sacramento on May 10 but returned to San Francisco for re-evaluation Friday after experiencing soreness. Encarnacion remains on track for a return to the majors when eligible Monday, barring any setbacks in his rehab assignment.

Smith batted eighth and went 2-for-4 with a run scored in Monday's 9-5 win over the Dodgers.

Smith has mostly batted out of the No. 3 spot in 2025, but in his last three starts, he was placed sixth (twice) and eighth (once). Lourdes Gurriel has been elevated to third in the order. Perhaps a recent slump triggered the move down the order, but Smith has been hitting well recently -- he's 12-for-32 over last nine contests -- and maintains a role as the team's designated hitter whenever the Diamondbacks face a right-handed starter.

The Cubs will option Ballesteros to Triple-A Iowa prior to Tuesday's game in Miami, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of ElExtraBase.com reports.

It's expected to be the corresponding move for Ian Happ's (oblique) return from the 10-day injured list. With Happ back in the fold and Seiya Suzuki returning to the designated-hitter spot, Ballesteros' playing time would have been cut dramatically. Instead, he will head back to Iowa, where he can play regularly. The rookie went 3-for-16 with three RBI and a 1:2 K:BB over five games during his first stint in the big leagues.

Turner went 3-for-5 with two RBI, a double, a triple and a run scored in Monday's 9-3 victory over the Rockies.

It was notably Turner's second triple in his past four outings, and he now has 15 multi-hit games on the season. The All-Star shortstop has been sizzling at the dish over his last 21 contests, a stretch where he's batting .359 (33-for-92) with one home run, four doubles and 10 RBI to go with 17 runs scored and four stolen bases. Turner is tied for fourth in the National League with 56 hits overall in 2025.

Betts went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Monday's 9-5 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Betts got the Dodgers on the board with a fourth-inning solo shot and went back-to-back with Shohei Ohtani in the sixth to chip away at the deficit again. Betts' last four multi-hit efforts have been against Arizona, but he went just 3-for-20 with two steals and four RBI over six games against the Athletics and Angels last week. The 32-year-old is at a .263/.350/.444 slash line with eight homers 30 RBI, 39 runs scored and five stolen bases over 45 contests this season.

Knack allowed four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three over five innings of relief Monday versus the Diamondbacks. He did not factor in the decision.

Jack Dreyer was tagged for three runs over the first two innings, and Knack wasn't any better when he took over for the third. All four runs were scored in that frame, as Knack yielded two-run homers to Lourdes Gurriel and Gabriel Moreno before settling in. Knack still finished with 106 pitches (68 strikes), which helped spare the Dodgers' bullpen in the loss. Knack is struggling to put it together in his second big-league season, posting a 6.17 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 23:10 K:BB across 23.1 innings. With none of the Dodgers' injured starting pitchers close to a return, expect Knack to make another appearance over the weekend versus the Mets, though it remains to be seen if he'll start or follow an opener again.

Moreno went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Monday's 9-5 win over the Dodgers.

Both of Moreno's homers this season have come over his last eight games. The catcher is 12-for-34 (.353) with seven RBI, one stolen base and six runs scored in that span. He is now slashing .264/.331/.364 over 133 plate appearances on the year while seeing a majority of the time behind the plate over Jose Herrera.

Gurriel went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run, a walk and an additional run scored in Monday's 9-5 win over the Dodgers.

Gurriel stretched the Diamondbacks' lead to 5-0 with one of two homers in the third inning. The outfielder has looked good lately, going 9-for-27 (.333) with five extra-base hits and a 6:3 BB:K over his last seven contests. That surge has him up to a .227/.271/.442 slash line with eight homers, 29 RBI, 19 runs scored, 11 doubles, one triple and a stolen base over 44 games this season. Gurriel typically hits for a higher average, having never finished below .261 in a full season, so it's fair to expect him to continue trending upward, especially since he's sporting a career-best 12.2 percent strikeout rate.

Miller retired the only batter he faced to earn the save in Monday's 9-5 win over the Dodgers.

Ryan Thompson was initially tabbed with the ninth inning with Arizona ahead by six runs. He nearly made a mess of it, leaving two runners on with two outs, but Miller stepped in and got Hyeseong Kim on a groundout to end the threat. Miller has recorded saves in his last four outings, allowing one run with a 3:3 K:BB over 3.1 innings in that span. Overall, he's at a 1.35 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 22:8 K:BB with five saves and six holds through 20 innings. He appears to be the best bet as a fill-in closer while the Diamondbacks wait for Justin Martinez (shoulder) to be ready for action again. Martinez is expected back for this weekend's series in St. Louis, at which point Miller may end up back in a setup role.

Pfaadt (7-3) allowed three runs on three hits and a walk while failing to record a strikeout over six innings to earn the win over the Dodgers on Monday.

Pfaadt had recorded no fewer than three strikeouts in any of his first nine starts this season. He wasn't as fortunate this time, but he had some luck on his side -- while all three hits he allowed were home runs, they were also all solo shots, and they came after Arizona had opened with seven runs over the first three innings. Pfaadt can do better, but this was his sixth quality start of the season as well as his second win over the Dodgers on the year. He's maintained a 3.81 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 44:14 K:BB across 56.2 innings so far. His next start is projected to be in St. Louis this weekend.