MLB Player News

Herrera is hitting .188/.235/.313 with one home run, one double and a 2:7 BB:K in 32 at-bats for Triple-A Louisville.

He missed the first game of the year with a shoulder injury, but is back manning the keystone for the Bats. Herrera will likely need an injury at the big-league level to see a promotion, especially if he isn't forcing the issue.

Frazier is starting at shortstop and leading off Saturday against the Cubs.

Frazier has never played shortstop in the big leagues before, and last played the position a couple times in 2016 in the minors, though it was his primary position in 2014. While he is a good bet to get on base at least once out of the leadoff spot against righty Jake Arrieta, his lack of power caps his realistic ceiling in daily leagues. If Frazier can prove to be a competent defender at shortstop, he could start to cut into Jordy Mercer's playing time a little, as Frazier is the superior hitter.

Andrus went 2-for-4 with his second stolen base of the season in Friday's 2-1 loss to the Mariners.

Felix Hernandez and the Mariners bullpen did an exceptional job in limiting the potent Rangers offense in the series opener, but Andrus was still able to maintain his hot start to begin the season. It's the fourth two-hit game in a row for the shortstop, who has shown some heretofore unseen pop in the process. Eight of his 14 hits this season have gone for extra bases, including three home runs, putting him just five off the career-high eight long balls he slugged in 2017.

Altuve went 3-for-3 with two walks, two doubles and two runs scored in Friday's 7-2 win over Oakland.

Altuve is scorching right now, having reached base 11 straight times. After opening the season 4-for-25 with eight strikeouts and one walk, the 26-year-old second baseman is 10-for-18 with only one strikeout and seven walks over his last five games. As Brian McTaggart of the Astros' official site reports, Statcast indicates Altuve is making more of an effort to use the opposite field. Both of his doubles Friday went to right field and 41.2 percent of his batted balls are going the opposite way, including nine of his 14 hits (64.3 percent).

Merrifield is hitting .364/.400/.864 through 22 at-bats over six games with Triple-A Omaha.

One of the more surprising decisions across all of MLB this spring was the Royals choice to roster Raul Mondesi over Merrifield. The former is currently slashing .148/.179/.259 through 30 plate appearances in the big leagues while the latter tears up minor-league pitchers. It's tough to gauge where the organization stands on this one considering Merrifield would likely improve the Royals offense, but Mondesi is a big part of the club's future plans. If Merrifield continues to destroy Triple-A arms, the team might have no choice but to bring him up and find a place for the 28-year-old to play.

Forsythe has dropped down to fifth in the order for Friday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Andrew Toles is set to lead it off for the Dodgers for Friday's series opener after Forsythe batted in that spot Thursday. It appears that Forsythe will continue to lead off against southpaws while Toles will hit in that spot against righties. Forsythe has just five hits in his last 25 at-bats and has struck out 10 times in that span.

Espinosa went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and three RBI during Thursday's loss to Texas.

At this point of his career, you know what you're getting from Espinosa. The 29-year-old infielder has ample pop, decent speed and an excellent glove, but he struggles in the batting average and on-base percentage columns. With full-time at-bats, Espinosa should approach last year's career-high 24 home runs and 72 RBI, though.

Motter went 2-for-4 with a double and two-run home run in Wednesday's 10-5 loss to the Astros.

Motter blasted his first long ball of the season in the third with Kyle Seager aboard, giving the Mariners a seemingly comfortable 5-0 lead at the time. The 27-year-old has been red-hot in his first two games starting in place of Jean Segura (hamstring), going 5-for-8 with four doubles in addition to Wednesday's round-tripper and pair of RBI. Motter was not quite ready for big-league pitching in a 34-game cup of coffee with the Rays last season (.188/.290/.300 over 93 plate appearances), but appeared much more comfortable this spring while hitting .295 with three homers and 11 RBI. That improvement has translated to the regular season thus far, leaving the shortstop position in good hands while Segura recovers.

Hernandez is in the Dodgers' lineup Thursday, batting eighth and playing left field, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

The Dodgers will frequently put Hernandez on the card against left-handed pitchers, as is the case Thursday as he replaces Andrew Toles against the Cubs' Brett Anderson. Hernandez holds NL-only fantasy value for this arrangement, but it's hard to count on him in most other formats.

Urias is hitting .190/.320/.571 with two home runs, one triple and a 1:4 K:BB in 26 plate appearances with Double-A San Antonio.

He sports a 147 wRC+ despite hitting below the Mendoza Line due to a .111 BABIP, so while the batting average is ugly, this has been an amazing start to the year for the 19-year-old middle infielder. In addition to his prodigious plate skills and sneaky pop, Urias has played four games at shortstop and just two games at the keystone. That defensive versatility could allow him to reach the majors sooner than expected.