MLB Player News

Altuve went 4-for-5 with a three-run home run and a stolen base during Sunday's loss to Baltimore.

Altuve continues to live up to his lofty preseason billing with a .358/.424/.564 slash line, 15 homers, 56 RBI, 21 stolen bases and 68 runs. It's extremely rare to find that level of cross-category production, and it's even more valuable coming from a middle infielder.

Semien went 2-for-4 with a solo home run during Sunday's win over the Mets.

Semien has been limited to just 104 plate appearances this season, and his .209/.337/.326 slash line highlights his struggles. However, he owns the power-speed combo to be a solid fantasy asset moving forward, and the shortstop might be kick-starting a heater with an active four-game hitting streak. He could be a potential upgrade in deeper settings.

Merrifield went 2-for-3 with a pair of solo home runs and a walk in Sunday's 5-4 win over the White Sox.

Merrifield hit the first of three consecutive Royals homers off Derek Holland in the bottom of the fourth inning, then added another solo shot off reliever Dan Jennings to tie the game 4-4 in the eighth. The 28-year-old second baseman has been a tremendous spark plug at the top of the order, having swiped 16 bags to go with 10 long balls this year. Four of those 10 home runs have come in the month of July after Merrifield failed to hit one in June.

Urias is in a walking boot after spraining his left ankle with Double-A San Antonio, Bill Center of MLB.com reports.

This likely explains why the top prospect was removed from Saturday's contest after just one at-bat. It's unclear how severe the injury is, although the fact that he's already in a walking boot certainly doesn't instill much confidence in anyone. Consider Urias day-to-day until more information is known about his status.

Espinosa agreed to a major-league contract with the Mariners on Sunday, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reports.

Just three days after being released by the Angels, the switch-hitting second baseman already has a new home (within the same division no less). This deal is an MLB agreement, so Espinosa would likely be in line to assume a reserve role once the pact is officially inked. Espinosa has a lot of pop in his bat for a second baseman, but his strikeout issues make him tough to trust, especially as a bench player.

Rosario has been out since July 17 due to a stomach issue.

The Mets' top prospect was hospitalized in Memphis recently after missing six straight contests with the current issue. No official diagnosis has come forth as of now, but given the length of his absence and the fact that he's in the hospital, this seems like a fairly serious issue. More information should come forth in the coming days as doctors have more of a chance to examine him.

Marte will start at third base and bat second Sunday against the Nationals.

Due to J.D. Martinez (hand) still recovering from injury and manager Torey Lovullo opting to rest some established regulars over the last few days, Marte has seen more at-bats of late, with Sunday marking his fourth consecutive start. Marte's placement in the No. 2 spot is a new development, however, as he had hit seventh in the preceding three contests. The cushy landing spot ahead of the red-hot David Peralta and MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt would normally give Marte appeal as a low-cost DFS option, but a tough matchup with Stephen Strasburg could make it difficult for the infielder to get much going offensively.

Frazier is out of the lineup Sunday against the Rockies.

After maintaining an everyday role with the Pirates since mid-May, Frazier looks bound to serve as a lightly used utility man off the bench following Starling Marte's reinstatement from suspension earlier in the week. It looks like Frazier, who has started just one of the Pirates' last seven games, won't warrant much consideration for duties in right field either after Gregory Polanco (hamstring) landed on the disabled list Saturday. John Jaso picked up the start at the position Saturday and Jose Osuna will man right field Sunday, so those two players could end up working in a platoon until Polanco returns.

Herrera (shoulder) is probably done for the season, at least according to his Triple-A manager Delino DeShields, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The Reds' team doctors in Cincinnati will examine Herrera in the upcoming week, but the initial prognosis doesn't look good. Herrera has started only 66 games since the Reds acquired him in the Jay Bruce deal. The lack of progress from Herrera and Jose Peraza has been one of the biggest disappointments for the Reds this season.

Polanco has lost the everyday shortstop job for Minnesota as the team will use a committee approach that will involve Eduardo Escobar and Ehire Adrianza, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. "We're going to look for more matchups than an everyday guy right now," manager Paul Molitor said.

Polanco is hitting just .157 with a .429 OPS since June 1. He also has eight errors in his last 32 games. It sounds like he may move to a limited bench role with a few spot starts until he gets hot at the plate.