MLB Player News

Semien went 1-for-3 with a walk, run and stolen base in Thursday's 5-1 win over the Angels.

Semien's third-inning single to deep center and Mike Trout's subsequent error while playing the ball brought home Adam Rosales to open the scoring for Oakland. The slugging shortstop also swiped his first bag of the season and has now hit safely in three straight games.

Hernandez is in the Dodgers' Friday lineup, batting seventh and starting at shortstop against the Rockies, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Hernandez is filling in for Corey Seager against Colorado left-hander Kyle Freeland. The utility player will piece together at-bats every week filling in at several positions, chiefly against southpaws. Deep-league and daily fantasy players could take a justifiable look at Hernandez for their Friday lineups.

Herrera (shoulder) was not in the lineup for Triple-A Louisville's season opener on Thursday night.

This despite the fact that the Bats were able to field a DH on Thursday night. Herrera was sent to the Reds' minor-league camp during spring training relatively early because of his inability to play the field due to his shoulder injury.

Drury is not in the lineup Thursday against the Giants.

Drury is making the most of his everyday playing opportunities thus far, but he'll get a regular day of rest Thursday. Daniel Descalso will log a start at the keystone in his stead.

Espinosa is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the A's.

Cliff Pennington will make his season debut with Espinosa getting the afternoon off against Oakland's Andrew Triggs. Espinosa is just 2-for-11 to start the year, but he's made the most of them with five RBI.

Drury went 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in Wednesday's 8-6 win over the Giants.

Drury has occupied the sixth spot in the lineup in all three of the Diamondbacks' games, and it appears he'll stick there against both left- and right-handed pitching. After Drury's standout spring allowed him to claim an everyday role at second base, there was some optimism that he might occupy a more favorable spot in the lineup between A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt, but shortstop Chris Owings has instead assumed those duties and has been reaping the benefits. As a result, Drury's opportunities to rack up runs may be a bit more limited than expected, but so long as he's able to keep making steady contact against left- and right-handed pitching while routinely flashing his burgeoning power, fantasy owners shouldn't be too disappointed.

Espinosa went 1-for-3 with two RBI from a second-inning single in Wednesday's 5-0 victory over the A's.

The veteran slugger continues to demonstrate a penchant for timely hitting in the early going of 2017, with Wednesday's second-inning run-scoring single extending his RBI total to five over the first three games. In fact, Espinosa's only two hits over 11 at-bats have been run producers, after he smacked a go-ahead three-run home run in the top of the ninth in Tuesday's 7-6 victory. The 29-year-old's Achilles' heel -- strikeouts -- are still very much a presence as well, though, as four of the nine outs he's made on the young season have come on whiffs.

Andrus went 2-for-4 with a solo homer in Wednesday's loss to Cleveland.

It's always nice to get some unexpected slugging out of the ninth spot in the order, and Andrus' homers are among the most unexpected of all. He's never cracked double digits in that category, with last season's eight representing his career high. Andrus is off to a strong start with the bat, having cracked two singles, a double, a triple and a homer over the course of this season-opening three-game set. His fantasy owners will be thrilled if he can approximately replicate last year's strong .302 batting average while continuing to provide his usual complement of steals.

Young will start the season with Triple-A Iowa, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports.

Young slashed .303/.376/.387 last season at Double-A, and he continued to hit well in spring training. There's no doubt the 24-year-old can handle the bat; the question is where he'll play at the MLB level, as the Cubs' infield is pretty stacked at the moment. Look for Young to spend the year at Triple-A, but he could be an option if the Cubs deal with any injuries to guys like Addison Russell, Javier Baez or Ben Zobrist.

Frazier is getting the start at designated hitter and hitting ninth Wednesday in Boston.

It says a lot about what the Pirates think of the lefty-hitting Frazier's bat that they batted him leadoff in the opener against righty Rick Porcello and kept him in the lineup against southpaw Chris Sale in the second game of the season. His playing time should see a major downturn when the Pirates get back to National League play this weekend at home against the Braves, but if an opportunity for more playing time opens up, it's nice to know that Frazier has the full confidence of the field staff.