MLB 2023 | Soler smashes two homers, Luis Robert also homers, Yandy is getting back on track
- Ray Otero-Alonso
- Jun 12, 2023
- 4 min read
Major League Baseball (MLB) and other Cuban Players News for the 2023 season. A compendium from several sources
Jun 11
Jorge Soler hit two homers, doubled and walked to lead the Marlins past the White Sox 6-5 on Sunday.
Soler went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs and one double in Sunday's win over the White Sox. Soler homered for the Marlins' lone run in seven innings versus Lucas Giolito and then homered again in the eighth as soon as they replaced him. In the ninth, he worked a walk with two outs in front of Bryan De La Cruz, who delivered a two-run double to give the Marlins the lead. Soler is now tied for second in the majors with 19 homers, and the guy he's tied with (Aaron Judge) and the one player ahead of him (Pete Alonso) are both on the IL. Although both of Soler's homers came against right-handed pitchers, he has dominated lefties in 2023, slashing .333/.438/.889 with a massive .556 ISO.
White Sox's Luis Robert: Smacks two-run home run. Robert went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and a double in Sunday's 6-5 loss against the Marlins. Robert clubbed a two-run homer off Huascar Brazoban in the seventh inning that plated Clint Frazier and advanced the White Sox advantage to 5-1. Though Chicago would ultimately fall, Robert's outing marked his fourth multi-hit effort in his last seven games and pushed him into 11th in MLB with 15 long balls. After being held to less than 100 games in each of his first three seasons due in part to injuries, Robert has yet to see an extended absence in 2023 and has slashed .264/.318/.525 through 64 games.
Rays' Yandy Díaz: Getting back on track. Díaz went 2-for-4 with two runs scored Sunday against the Rangers. Díaz was briefly sidelined with a hip injury and missed the majority of the Rays' series against the Twins as a result. He was able to return and start all three weekend games against the Rangers and went 3-for-12 with no extra-base hits. Díaz has just a .593 OPS across his last 10 games, though he is still in the midst of a breakout season with 12 home runs across 238 plate appearances.
José Abreu went hitless Sunday after homering in two straight games. In Sunday's 5-0 loss to the Guardians, Abreu went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.Abreu had gone 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and an additional RBI in Saturday's 6-4 win over Cleveland. It was Abreu's second straight game with a homerun, after he had hit one in each of his first 61 games. As a result of Saturday's performance, the veteran has also accumulated three consecutive multi-hit games, so there's reason to believe that his season is turning around.Overall, Abreu is slashing .220/.275/.298, so he has a long way to go before he finishes with a career-worst season.
Yoán Moncada struck out all four times up as the White Sox's No. 2 hitter Sunday.
Having Moncada play through back soreness is going about as well as anyone besides the White Sox would expect. He's hit .200/.272/.295 in 103 plate appearances since coming off the injured list last month. He's 5-for-35 with one RBI since the White Sox confirmed that he was still fighting pain on May 31.
Astros' Yordan Álvarez: Facing longer than 10-day absence. Astros general manager Dana Brown said Sunday that a timeline for Álvarez's (oblique) return from the 10-day injured list is "still up in the air a little bit," Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported. "It will take a week at least to get a feel for how long it's going to be," Brown said, referring to the length of Álvarez's absence. Oblique injuries are notorious for carrying volatile recovery timelines, so it's no surprise that Brown already seems to be discounting the possibility of Álvarez returning from the IL when first eligible June 19. On a positive note, Álvarez's injury has been described as right oblique discomfort rather than a strain, though it's possible that his diagnosis could change if he's sent in for further tests in the coming days. While Álvarez is out, the red-hot Mauricio Dubón could gain traction in an everyday role in left field, which would leave Corey Julks and Chas McCormick to jockey for playing time at designated hitter.
Diamondbacks' Lourdes Gurriel: Helps in comeback win. Gurriel went 0-for-5 with an RBI in Sunday's 7-5 win over Detroit. Gurriel's RBI-grounder in the eighth inning ignited the Diamondbacks' comeback from a 5-2 deficit. He's knocked in at least one run in six of the last seven games and leads the team with 39 RBI and a 1.051 OPS with runners on base.
Yasmani Grandal: Resting Sunday. Grandal was out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins. Grandal got a breather for the series finale.
Marlins' Yuli Gurriel: Sitting Sunday. Gurriel was not in the starting lineup Sunday versus the White Sox. Gurriel took a seat for the second time in three days after he went 0-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored while striking out twice in Saturday's victory.
Pirates' Johan Oviedo: Quality start not enough Saturday. Oviedo (3-5) took the loss Saturday, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks over 6.1 innings as the Pirates were downed 5-1 by the Mets. He struck out five. The right-hander tossed 90 pitches (55 strikes) en route to his second straight quality start and sixth of the season, but Pittsburgh's batters provided him with little support and managed only three hits on the night. Oviedo showed a little extra velocity today, averaging 97.2 mph with his fastball, and he allowed just four hits to the Mets. Oviedo hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his last six outings, posting a 2.62 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 30:19 K:BB through 34.1 innings over that stretch. The 25-year-old will look to keep rolling in his next start, likely to come on the road next week against the Cubs.
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