MLB Player News

Henriquez will serve as the opener in Friday's game against the Red Sox, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

The Dodgers are treating the series opener as a bullpen day, with Henriquez likely to be lifted from the contest after an inning or two. Henriquez, who will be making his first MLB start, owns a 2.79 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 42:19 K:BB over 41 appearances on the season.

Manager Dave Roberts said Thursday that he expects Ohtani (knee) to return to the lineup as the designated hitter and leadoff batter in Friday's series opener versus the Red Sox, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Ohtani was held out of the starting nine Thursday while tending to soreness in his inflamed left knee, an injury that initially forced him out of a June 11 game. The two-way phenom hasn't made an appearance as a pitcher since July 3 because of the knee issue and, to a lesser extent, a right biceps injury, is still presenting some lingering discomfort when he gets on the mound. Ohtani has continued to serve as the Dodgers' everyday DH and has been performing well at the plate in spite of the knee issue, producing a .265/.326/.518 slash line with five home runs, 15 RBI and eight runs in 21 July games. However, he hasn't attempted a stolen base in July, and his contributions in the running game could remain limited over the final two months of the season.

Hernandez went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, an additional run and a walk in Thursday's 6-2 win against Seattle.

Hernandez got a day off his feet as Los Angeles' designated hitter with Shohei Ohtani (knee) resting Thursday. The chance to focus on hitting seemed to benefit Hernandez, as he crushed a 412-foot solo shot to center field in the sixth inning for his first long ball since July 3 -- a span of 19 games. The veteran outfielder had just one RBI while batting a meager .177 during the homerless stretch. Hernandez did hit five long balls in August last year -- his most in any month aside from April -- so perhaps he's on the verge of turning things around amidst what has been a very quiet campaign by his typical standards.

Rushing went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run Thursday in a 6-2 win against the Mariners.

Rushing's three-run blast in the fourth inning gave the Dodgers all the scoring they needed to emerge with the victory. The second-year backstop endured an 0-for-19, 10-strikeout stretch at the plate during a portion of July, but he's since turned things around, batting .375 with two homers and six RBI over his past seven contests. Rushing continues to work as Los Angeles' primary catcher, though Will Smith (neck) recently resumed baseball activities and could be back with the big club before the midpoint of August.

Garcia went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, a triple and two RBI in Thursday's 5-4 loss to Atlanta.

Garcia came a single short of hitting for the cycle Thursday. Much of the focus has deservedly been on All-Stars James Wood and CJ Abrams in Washington's high-octane offense, but Garcia is putting together an outstanding campaign in his own right. The 26-year-old has a .976 OPS over 72 games since the beginning of May, now slashing .286/.316/.566 with 23 homers, 19 doubles and 76 RBI across 367 plate appearances for the season. Among qualified batters, Garcia is trailing only Yordan Alvarez and Ben Rice in slugging percentage.

Lowe went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Thursday against the Reds.

Lowe popped his home run in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2. It was his 23rd long ball of the season, and he continues to hit well since the All-Star break. Across his last 11 games, Lowe has gone 13-for-43 (.302 average) with two homers, six RBI and seven runs scored.

Sasaki (5-5) earned the win over Seattle on Thursday, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out seven batters over 5.1 innings.

Sasaki looked dominant for most of the outing, as he racked up 18 whiffs and kept the Mariners out of the scoring column through five frames. However, the right-hander ran out of steam in the sixth, when he allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while retiring just one batter. Fortunately for Sasaki and the Dodgers, Jack Dreyer came on in relief and closed the inning without allowing any additional damage. That kept Sasaki in line for the win, which was his second straight victory following an eight-outing winless stretch. It's been an up-and-down campaign for the Japanese hurler, but he's closed July on a high note, posting a 2.25 ERA with a 26:7 K:BB over 24 innings spanning his past four starts. He's lined up to make his next appearance on the road against the Cubs.

Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases Thursday against the Reds.

Rodriguez drew his second start since returning from the injured list earlier this week, and he turned in another productive performance. He's stolen three bases in that span, giving him a total of four for the season. Rodriguez has gone 3-for-11 in total since being activated, and he should continue to serve as Pittsburgh's top option behind the plate.

Soto (5-3) allowed one earned run on one hit and two walks while striking out one across two-thirds of an inning to take the loss Thursday against the Reds.

Soto entered the game in the ninth inning with the score tied at 2-2, but he allowed a leadoff double and struggled to find the zone consistently. Though he's had a very inconsistent season, he entered the game having turned in seven consecutive scoreless appearances, during which he earned two saves and posted a 7:2 K:BB. Mason Montgomery has started to factor into the saves picture in Pittsburgh, and this outing from Soto could crack that door open further for Montgomery.

Susac went 1-for-3 with a home run and three total RBI in a 4-1 victory versus San Diego on Thursday.

Susac belted a two-run homer in the second inning and added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. After going homerless across his first 44 career MLB games, the backstop has now launched three homers over his past two contests. Susac had 18 home runs across 96 games in Triple-A last season, so the sudden homer surge isn't entirely incomprehensible. With that said, his StatCast power metrics are all below league average, so fantasy managers probably shouldn't expect Susac to turn into the second coming of Mike Piazza.