MLB Player News

Franklin (quad) will play his first rehab game for High-A Bradenton on Wednesday, John Perrotto of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.

Franklin missed all of spring training after straining his quad early in camp. Upon completion of his rehab, he should return to Triple-A Indianapolis and serve as organizational depth.

Bae was suspended for 30 games without pay for violating the Minor League Baseball Player Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

This suspension stems from an incident that occurred in South Korea with Bae's girlfriend at the time. The 29-year-old shortstop will be eligible to return in mid-May.

Beckham is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Pirates, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Beckham started the first two games with Jordy Mercer (quadriceps) on the injured list. Ronny Rodriguez gets the call at shortstop Wednesday.

Merrifield is not in the lineup Wednesday against the White Sox, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports.

Merrifield will head to the bench for what appears to be a well-deserved breather after starting the first 17 games of the season for the Royals, slashing .311/.342/.486 with a pair of homers and five stolen bases in those contests. Chris Owings is starting at the keystone in this one, with Jorge Soler in right field and Lucas Duda at DH.

McNeil will start in left field and serve as the Mets' leadoff hitter in Wednesday's game against the Phillies.

McNeil has previously served as the Mets' table setter on three occasions, but he had dropped to the bottom half of the lineup in each of the past three games. With typical leadoff man Brandon Nimmo (neck) sitting out, McNeil will get another look atop the lineup, but it's likely the 27-year-old will shift back down in the order over the weekend in St. Louis if Nimmo's injury proves to be a short-term concern.

Albies went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Tuesday's 9-6 loss to the Diamondbacks.

The young switch hitter collected multiple hits for the third straight game while connecting on his second homer of the year, boosting his slash line to .333/.397/.500 through 16 games. Albies has taken over the leadoff spot for Atlanta, and if he continues displaying both the contact skills he honed in the minors as well as some new-found plate discipline (7:9 BB:K), he's poised for a very impressive 2019.

Torres went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in the Yankees' 8-0 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday.

It was the fourth long ball of the season for the 22-year-old, who tagged Erasmo Ramirez with the solo blast in the seventh inning. He's only knocked in six runs so far, but Torres is off to a nice start, slashing .290/.343/.548 over 62 at-bats, so the RBI total should start to increase as he gets more opportunities.

Drury is on the bench Tuesday against the Twins.

Drury sits for just the fourth time this season despite an ugly .140/.183/.211 slash line. He has just a single hit in his last seven games. Eric Sogard enters the lineup at third base Tuesday.

Rosario went 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base in Monday's win over the Phillies.

The 23-year-old shortstop is in a groove at the plate, slashing .310/.355/.483 over the last seven games. Rosario's typical spot towards the bottom of the Mets' lineup has limited his counting-stat production -- he's got one homer, one steal, three runs and six RBI during the current hot streak -- but he continues to tease a possible breakout in 2019.

McNeil went 3-for-5 with an RBI in Monday's win over the Phillies.

That's now four straight multi-hit games for McNeil, pushing his slash line on the year to .404/.475/.519. The 26-year-old started in left field Monday before shifting to third base, and in many fantasy formats he now qualifies at three positions after he primarily played second base in 2018. McNeil has yet to homer or steal a base, but otherwise he's providing value to kick off the season.