MLB Player News

Marte is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Cubs.

It's a rare day off for Marte, who had made 12 consecutive starts. Ildemaro Vargas will cover second base Friday, while Jose Fernandez will play first base and Adrian Del Castillo will slot in at designated hitter.

Lowe went 2-for-5 with a solo home run Thursday against the Cardinals.

Lowe briefly pulled the Pirates to within one run in the seventh inning with his eighth home run of the season. That marked his first long ball since April 14, a span of 11 starts. After a hot start to the campaign, Lowe is hitting only .235 with one home run, five RBI and five runs scored across his last 12 games.

Altuve isn't in the lineup for the second game of Thursday's doubleheader against Baltimore, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

After going 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored during Game 1, Altuve will catch a breather during the nightcap while Brice Matthews starts at the keystone. Daniel Johnson will fill the resulting void in center field and bat eighth.

The Mets claimed Ibanez off waivers from the Athletics on Thursday, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports.

The A's designated Ibanez for assignment Sunday, but he'll reclaim a 40-man roster spot by moving to the Mets. He'll fill in as a depth piece in New York, though he isn't likely to see many opportunities after posting a .285 OPS in 18 plate appearances with the Athletics.

McNeil is not in the starting lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.

With lefty Noah Cameron on the mound for the Royals, McNeil will take a seat, as Zack Gelof makes the start at second base and bats eighth. McNeil has gone just 3-for-15 against left-handed pitching this season but is slashing .307/.361/.413 against righties.

Black will start at designated hitter and bat fifth in Thursday's game versus the Diamondbacks.

With Christian Yelich (groin) still out, the left-handed-hitting Black is settling in as the Brewers' primary DH against right-handers, having now made four starts in five games in such situations. He's off to a nice start, going 5-for-14 with three RBI.

Marte went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the Brewers.

Marte has gone 13-for-47 (.277) over his last 11 contests, logging four multi-hit efforts in that span. The second baseman has just two extra-base hits in that sample, but it's encouraging to see him make more steady contact after a slow start to the campaign. Marte is batting .239 with a .693 OPS, five homers, 11 RBI, 17 runs scored, three doubles and no stolen bases over 28 contests. It's worth monitoring to see if his power shows up more consistently as the season progresses, as he's hit at least 25 homers in three straight seasons.

Albies went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run, a walk and a second run scored in Wednesday's 4-3 win over Detroit.

Albies made an early impression with a two-run blast off Tarik Skubal in the first inning. In the ninth, Albies drew a walk, allowing Matt Olson to play the hero with a walk-off blast against Kenley Jansen. Albies has now hit safely in 11 straight games, going 17-for-42 (.405) with three homers and 11 RBI in that span. The second baseman has been superb over the first month-plus of the year, batting .317 with an .897 OPS, seven homers, 20 RBI, 22 runs scored, five doubles and no stolen bases over 31 contests. He has added a 9:16 BB:K, showing a contact-based approach at the plate that's leading to the best rate stats of his career.

Grissom went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 3-2 extra-inning loss to the White Sox.

The 25-year-old infielder got his first start of the season against a right-handed pitcher, getting the nod at first base in place of a resting Nolan Schanuel, and Grissom took advantage by driving an Erick Fedde sweeper over the left-field fence in the seventh inning. Grissom's slashing an impressive .342/.413/.526 through 13 games since coming off the IL with four doubles, one homer, five RBI and six runs. If he continues to show he can be more than a short-side platoon option, Grissom could begin to push Adam Frazier aside at second base and stake a claim to the starting job.

Garcia is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Mets.

Garcia will head to the bench as the Nationals load up the lineup with right-handed bats to counter Mets southpaw David Peterson. Curtis Mead will fill in for Garcia at first base and will bat second.