MLB Player News

Forsythe is out of the lineup against the Pirates on Thursday, Andy McCullough of The Los Angeles Times reports.

Forsythe will get a breather after going 0-for-4 during Wednesday's game. In his place, Breyvic Valera will start at second base and bat seventh.

Rodriguez was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday.

After going 2-for-4 in his big-league debut, Rodriguez proceeded to go hitless in his next 15 at-bats. He'll head back to the minors to free up a roster spot for Alex Wilson (foot), who is set to return from the disabled list Thursday. The 26-year-old was hitting .318/.341/.540 with eight homers and eight steals through 48 games with the Mud Hens prior to being promoted to the majors.

Merrifield is starting in center field and hitting leadoff Wednesday against the Angels, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

With regular leadoff man Jon Jay being traded to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, manager Ned Yost will turn to Merrifield to take over as the team's table setter. The 29-year-old is hitting a solid .286/.368/.419 with four homers and 14 stolen bases across 58 games this season.

Diaz went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and two runs for Double-A Jacksonville in its 2-1 win over Birmingham on Tuesday.

Diaz has recorded back-to-back three-hit outings, but he's still sitting at a middling .220 average for the season thanks to a miserable April and May. The infielder's sizzling start to June offers hope that he may be starting to find his footing in the Southern League, but the 22-year-old will probably need to trim down his 27.2 percent strikeout rate a bit more before enjoying sustainable success.

Marte is not in the lineup versus San Francisco on Wednesday.

Marte will head to the bench after starting the first two games of this series while Daniel Descalso gets the nod at second base. Over the past eight contests, Marte is hitting .370/.393/.926 with nine extra-base hits and eight RBI.

Andrus (elbow) was able to throw to first base from shortstop Tuesday, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

This marked the first time Andrus was able to throw to a base since breaking his elbow. He continues to make progress, and he's expected to begin a rehab assignment in the near future, barring any major setbacks.

Gimenez went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI for High-A St. Lucie in Monday's extra-inning win over Tampa.

It was the first multi-homer game of the 19-year-old's minor-league career. Gimenez, the Mets' No. 2 fantasy prospect, has put together a solid campaign against mainly older competition in the Florida State League, slashing .291/.362/.463 through 49 games with four homers and 19 steals in 23 attempts. With Amed Rosario settling in at shortstop on the big-league roster, the organization has no reason to rush Gimenez, so don't be surprised if he spends the whole season at St. Lucie and doesn't face the Double-A test until 2019.

Barreto went 4-for-5 with a double and a game-tying solo home run in Triple-A Nashville's extra-inning win over Round Rock on Sunday, his first game back with the Sounds.

Barreto went hitless over six at-bats during his recent stay with the Athletics, but he made his presence felt in a return to Nashville.The 22-year-old has found consistent success at the plate to be quite evasive at either level this season, as this performance only pushed his season average with the Sounds to .258. However, some above-average pop in the form of 15 extra-base hits (eight doubles, seven homers) has helped Barreto to a solid .492 slugging percentage, and perhaps Sunday's four-hit day will get him back on track towards approaching the .290 average he generated with Nashville over 510 plate appearances in 2017.

Beckham, who could have become a free agent after being optioned to Triple-A Tacoma last Friday, elected to stay with the Mariners organization and reported to the Rainiers on Sunday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Beckham's 976 career MLB games afforded him the opportunity to become a free agent upon being optioned, but the veteran opted to stay put. The 31-year-old has logged a total of 23 appearances at the big-league level with the Mariners over the last season-plus, but he's been more effective in Triple-A over that span. After generating a solid .262/.313/.393 line over 355 plate appearances with Tacoma in 2017, Beckham is slashing an even more impressive .298/.407/.489 over 118 minor-league plate appearances this season.

Marte went 2-for-2 with a triple, double, RBI and run scored Sunday in the Diamondbacks' 6-1 win over the Marlins.

Though he didn't start Sunday's contest, Marte made a big impact off the bench and has now compiled seven extra-base hits in his last six games. That represents more than 40 percent of Marte's total for the season, with the 24-year-old maintaining a lowly .299 slugging percentage prior to the recent power binge. Before reverting to a groundball-heavy batting profile in the first two months of the current campaign, Marte demonstrated growth as a slugger in the second half of the 2017 season, so there's at least some precedent for his performance over the last week. Fantasy players in NL-only and deeper mixed leagues in search of middle-infield help could do worse than rolling the dice on Marte while he seems to have unlocked more power.