MLB Player News

The Dodgers are expected to recall Ward from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Ward first reached Triple-A in 2023 and has seen his OPS increase every year he's been at Oklahoma City. Now that he's begun the 2026 campaign slashing .324/.432/.588 through 81 plate appearances, the 28-year-old will finally get the call to join the big-league roster for the first time. He's spent most of his time in the outfield throughout his professional career but has primarily played at first base this season. It's unlikely he sees regular playing time with the Dodgers, but he could make an occasional start if Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez or Kyle Tucker need a day off.

Acuna went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, stolen base, RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 9-2 win over the Athletics.

Acuna swiped his fifth base of the season in the fourth inning, and his RBI double one inning later was his first extra-base hit of the season. The light-hitting Acuna is now slashing .193/.242/.211 with three RBI, six runs scored, five steals and a 3:9 BB:K across 63 trips to the plate.

Montgomery went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a walk in Friday's 9-2 win over the Athletics.

Montgomery got the scoring started with an RBI double in the top of the first inning, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead. Like most of his White Sox teammates, Montgomery has been scuffling at the plate for most of April. Friday marked just his third multi-hit game of the season. On the season, Montgomery is slashing .191/.295/.382 with three home runs, 11 RBI, five runs scored, one stolen base and a 7:26 BB:K across 78 plate appearances. After striking out 29.2 percent of the time as a rookie last season, Montgomery's strikeout rate has swelled to 33.3 percent early on in 2026.

Benintendi went 3-for-6 with two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 9-2 win over the Athletics.

With the three-hit night, Benintendi has his average above .200 for the first time since April 3. He was just 3-for-29 at the plate over his previous 11 games. The 31-year-old entered play Friday with just two extra-base hits and is still looking for his first home run of the season. Benintendi is slashing .204/.271/.333 with three doubles, two RBI, four runs scored and a 5:22 BB:K across 59 plate appearances.

Varsho is day-to-day after exiting Friday's game against Arizona with left knee discomfort, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Manager John Schneider said that Varsho reported discomfort in his lower quad before the game, so Schneider took him out of Friday's contest as a precaution. The 29-year-old outfielder hasn't gone in for imaging, which suggests that the team doesn't believe he's dealing with anything serious. If he sits out another game as a precaution, Myles Straw is likely to benefit from an extra start in center field.

Martin (3-1) earned the win Friday against the Athletics, allowing one run on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts across seven innings.

Martin doesn't possess the best stuff, but he's been able to locate his pitches through four starts and is eating innings for Chicago. Martin has now gone seven innings in back-to-back starts against the Royals and Athletics and has done so on fewer than 90 pitches both times. The 29-year-old lowered his ERA to 2.16 and owns a 19:6 K:BB across 25 innings. Without swing-and-miss stuff, Martin doesn't carry much fantasy upside. He's slated to face the Diamondbacks in Arizona next week.

Murakami went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and two runs scored in Friday's 9-2 win over the Athletics.

Murakami singled and scored in the third inning and then busted the game open with a grand slam off Elvis Alvarado in the top of the seventh to give Chicago a 9-1 lead. After going just 1-for-23 at the plate from April 5 to April 12, Murakami has hits in three of his last four games, including two homers and six RBI. Murakami is slashing .200/.361/.477 with six home runs, 13 RBI, 14 runs scored and a 17:28 BB:K across 83 plate appearances. He's homered, walked or struck out in 61.4 percent of his trips to the plate.

Sugano (1-1) took the loss Friday against the Dodgers, allowing five runs on nine hits and two walks with three strikeouts across four innings.

Sugano entered Friday with a 2.16 ERA across his first three starts with the Rockies, but the Dodgers' potent offense was able to tag Sugano early and often in this one. Los Angeles scored in all four innings Sugano pitched Friday. Max Muncy's solo shot in the second was the fifth homer Sugano has surrendered this season, and three of those have come away from Coors Field. Sugano's numbers are probably better than he's truly pitched, as his 5.39 FIP coming into Friday suggested some regression was coming for the right-hander. Sugano now owns a 3.92 ERA and 15:5 K:BB across 20.2 innings. He's slated to face the Padres at Coors next week.

Freeman went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and run scored in Friday's 7-1 win over the Rockies.

A doubles machine, Freeman doubled in the top of the first inning for his seventh two-base hit of the young season. Freeman has led the league in doubles four times in his career. The 36-year-old is now slashing .282/.341/.487 with three home runs, 14 RBI, nine runs scored and a 6:10 BB:K across 85 plate appearances.

Smith went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored in Friday's 7-1 win over the Rockies.

Smith drove Shohei Ohtani home with a sacrifice fly in the top of the first and then singled in each of his next two trips to the plate. Smith has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games, though he has just one extra-base hit this month and hasn't homered since the third game of the season. Smith is slashing .300/.377/.417 with two home runs, 10 RBI, nine runs scored and an 8:11 BB:K across 69 plate appearances.