MLB Player News

Arroyo is out of Friday's lineup against the Nationals, Alec Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

This will be the fourth time in the last six games that Arroyo has been held out of the lineup, so it looks like he has lost his starting job at third base. Eduardo Nunez is starting at the hot corner while recent call-ups Orlando Calixte and Austin Slater man the outfield corners. Considering Arroyo had not been producing and now appears to have seen his playing time slashed, he can be cut loose in the majority of mixed leagues.

Frazier will bat leadoff and play in left field Friday against the Mets, Adam Berry of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

He's hit just two singles in his last 22 at-bats, including an 0-for-7 in Wednesday's 14-innings tilt. Frazier went hitless in four at-bats against Friday starter Matt Harvey on Sunday, though he did see a respectable 14 pitches. Frazier is hitting 50 points higher on the road (.340) than at PNC Park (.290), so perhaps he'll break out of his recent funk.

Merrifield is reaping the benefits of a strict diet that helped him put on 25 pounds of muscle and added bulk to his frame, SB Nation reports.

Merrifield went on an insane diet -- one that required multiple workouts and seven meals per day -- prior to the 2016 season. It's reasonable to assume the massive body transformation caused Merrifield to go through an adjustment period last year; however, it all seems to be coming together for the 28-year-old in 2017. He's hitting the ball harder than ever -- in fact, Merrifield's hard-hit contact rate is greater than Royals' sluggers Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer. The second baseman's .484 slugging percentage and .190 ISO are far beyond his career numbers at any level.

Franklin started Thursday for the first time since May 15 and went 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI.

Franklin has remained in a reserve role even with Ryan Braun (calf) on the disabled list, but he came through Thursday when his name was called. That could earn him an extra opportunity or two in the near future, but expect him to remain in a super-utility role moving forward.

Rodriguez was placed on the minor-league disabled list with an oblique injury.

Rodriguez left the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre early, and now it's apparent why. No timetable for his return has been revealed, but oblique injuries tend to keep players on the shelf for a good amount of time, so there's a good chance this could be a multi-week absence.

Ibanez (finger) went 4-for-5 with two home runs and a career-high six RBI for Double-A Frisco on Wednesday.

Ibanez was making just his second appearance since being activated from the 7-day disabled list earlier this week following a six-week layoff due to a finger injury. The 24-year-old generally impressed during his debut season in the United States in 2016, though his numbers tumbled upon moving to the Texas League in the second half of the campaign. He'll need to find sustained success at Frisco before receiving a promotion to Triple-A Round Rock.

Forsythe is not in the Dodgers' lineup Thursday against the Cardinals, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Dodgers are giving him his second straight Thursday off since he returned from the disabled list May 23. Enrique Hernandez takes his place at the hot corner. Forsythe probably will be subject to such conservative management for at least another week. Still, he's someone fantasy owners should start when active, as he should recover from his slow start to 2017 with more reps.

Rodgers, 20, is batting a blistering .455 over his last 10 games for High-A Lancaster. The shortstop has accumulated five home runs and 15 RBI over that span.

The power that Rodgers possesses has been on full display of late, and he has now bashed eight home runs in 33 games in 2017. Rodgers is slashing .393/.416/.693 over that span, and the Rockies may have no choice but to promote him to Double-A sooner rather than later.

Andrus went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, two RBI and a run against Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

Andrus has now put together a seven-game hitting streak in which he's gone 14-for-31 (.452) with two homers, five doubles, five steals, eight RBI and eight runs. That's just the latest glorious and unexpected cross-category production we've seen from the Venezuelan shortstop, who's suddenly and unexpectedly developed into one of the finest fantasy options at his position.

Ngoepe was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Ngoepe was slashing just .222/.323/.296 across 54 at-bats (27 games) with the big club before being sent back to Indianapolis. He could see another opportunity with the Pirates later in the season should the team need an extra bench bat. A corresponding move should be announced before Friday's series opener against the Mets.