MLB 2022 | Gurriel Jr. drove five, Soler went yard TWICE, and more

Daily Major League Baseball (MLB) Cuban Players News for the 2022 season. A compendium from several MLB sources.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Photo: Getty Images)

May 29, 2022

Blue Jays' Lourdes Gurriel: Drives in five. Gurriel went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, five RBI and two walks in Sunday's 11-10 win over the Angels. Gurriel accounted for nearly half of the Blue Jays' run production Sunday. This was just the third time he's had multiple RBI in a game all season. The 29-year-old has logged a .238/.299/.351 slash line with two home runs, 18 RBI, 14 runs scored and a pair of stolen bases through 167 plate appearances. A couple of multi-hit efforts in his last three games seem to have stabilized his playing time after it started to slip in the last week.

Jorge Soler clobbered two homers and collected three RBI on Sunday in the Marlins' loss to the Braves.

Soler put the Marlins on the scoreboard with a gargantuan 422-foot solo shot to center field against Braves' starter Max Fried in the opening frame. He followed it up with a two-run shot off righty reliever Jackson Stephens with two outs in the seventh inning. It was his first multi-homer effort of the 2022 campaign. The 30-year-old slugger has been on a tear lately, walloping eight homers in his last 16 games since May 7.

Rangers' Andy Ibáñez: Collects two more hits. Ibáñez went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and a run scored in Sunday's 6-5 loss to the Atheltics. Ibáñez is emerging from a three-week slump and has hit safely in three straight games, going 6-for-9 with two doubles, a walk, three RBI and three runs scored over the last three. The 29-year-old infielder, who posted a .277 average in 76 games during his MLB debut in 2021, is up to .214 through 37 contests this season. Ibáñez's expected outcome for average is slightly higher than his real-world results.

Yordan Álvarez went 2-for-4 with an RBI single in Sunday's win over the Mariners.

Yoán Moncada (quad) grounded out as a pinch-hitter Sunday against the Cubs.

Moncada was out of the starting lineup for a third straight game due to quad soreness. He remains day-to-day.

White Sox manager Tony La Russa said Sunday that Luis Robert has made significant improvement and will make the upcoming trip to Toronto.

La Russa added whether he plays Tuesday against the Blue Jays will depend on how much

fatigue he has while ramping up. The talented 24-year-old outfielder has been out this week on the COVID-19 injured list.

Randy Arozarena was not in the Rays starting lineup Sunday against the Yankees.

Arozarena got the day off for Sunday's series finale against the Yankees. Brett Phillips got the start in right field with Manuel Margot sliding over to left. Arozarena has turned this around, producing an .874 OPS with four homers in May after putting up a .507 mark in April.

May 28, 2022

Adolis García went 2-for-6 with a solo home run Saturday as the Rangers took down the Athletics.

Right after Corey Seager went yard in the top of the third, García blasted a 402-foot solo home run to left-center field, extending the Rangers' lead. The slugging outfielder has five multi-hit performances over his last seven games.

Randy Arozarena went 1-for-4 with a soft RBI single Saturday as the Rays defeated the Yankees.

Stepping up to the plate with men on first and second base in the bottom of the sixth, Arozarena blooped a 64.5 mph single to left field that drove in Ji-Man Choi. He's hitting .309 with four home runs and four stolen bases in May (97 at-bats).

Yandy Díaz went 1-for-3 with an infield single and a walk in Saturday's win over the Yankees.

With two out and first and third base occupied in the bottom of the seventh, Díaz chopped an infield single towards third base that scored Francisco Mejía and gave the Rays a late one-run lead. He's slashing .264/.387/.357 with three home runs across 155 plate appearances.

José Iglesias knocked in the go-ahead run while going 3-for-4 Saturday in a 3-2 win over the Nationals in the second game of a doubleheader.

With the score tied 2-2, Iglesias poked a single to left to score C.J. Cron and give the Rockies a 3-2 cushion, and ultimately a win. The infielder singled two more times in the game, and it ups his average on the season to .317. He won't contribute in many (any) other categories much, but Iglesias has proven he can help in the average category.

Yadiel Hernández homered in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday in a loss to the Rockies.

Hernández tied the game at 2-2 with a solo homer in the sixth off Chad Kuhl. The outfielder has gone deep four times, and while he hasn't had nearly the success in May that he did in April, he still has a solid slash of .307/.350/.472 slash on the season. Expect a good amount of up-and-down from Hernández for the remainder of 2022.

Vladimir Gutiérrez gave up six hits, struck out four batters, and gave up one run for his first win of the season on Saturday against the Giants in five innings of work.

Gutiérrez has struggled to replicate his 2021 success so far but held the Giants to only one earned run on Saturday afternoon. Since returning to the rotation, the 26-year-old right-hander has been respectable giving up five runs over nine innings of work while striking out nine batters. He is slated to face the Nationals in Great American Ballpark on Friday and is a streaming option in only the deepest of fantasy leagues.

Mets optioned RHP Yoan López to Triple-A Syracuse.

After serving a one-game suspension, López is headed back to Syracuse as the Mets needed some outfield help with Brandon Nimmo's wrist injury. He should see time again in the Mets bullpen this year.

Twins optioned RHP Yennier Canó to Triple-A St. Paul.

Canó heads back to the minors to allow the Twins to bring up a fresh bullpen arm ahead of Saturday's showdown against the Royals. The 28-year-old rookie right-hander has allowed 11 runs on 12 hits with a 7/4 K/BB ratio across 7 1/3 innings (six appearances) this season at the big-league level.

Royals' Dairon Blanco: Steals base as pinch runner. Blanco recorded his first major-league stolen base in Saturday's 7-3 win over the Twins. Blanco ran for Salvador Perez in the ninth inning and stole second base with two outs. In his five games at the major-league level, Blanco has made only two starts while Michael Taylor and Kyle Isbel are on the COVID-19 injured list. As such, Blanco's playing time is likely to be limited even while the Royals' outfield is a bit shorthanded -- he'll likely be limited to a bench role as he was Saturday.

Rangers' Andy Ibáñez: Posts three-hit day. Ibáñez started at designated hitter and went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Saturday's 11-4 win over the Athletics. Fresh off a game-winning two-run single as a pinch hitter Friday, Ibáñez kept the momentum going with his first three-hit game of the season. He'd been mired in a deep funk, going 2-for-43 in the 15 games prior to Friday's heroics.