MLB Player News

Merrifield is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Astros.

Merrifield and Santiago Espinal have typically been the leaders of the Blue Jays' committee approach to the keystone, but both players will take a seat in the series opener while Cavan Biggio gets the nod at the keystone. Of the three players, Merrifield has been the best performer through the first two and a half weeks of the season, posting a .661 OPS to Biggio's .556 and Espinal's .186.

Lopez will start at shortstop and bat eighth in Monday's game against the Rangers.

Lopez will make his fifth consecutive start Monday, this time filling in at shortstop while Bobby Witt serves as a designated hitter. The 27-year-old had previously made three starts at third base and one at second base over his last four contests, going a collective 4-for-12 with two doubles, two walks and two runs in those games. The keystone likely represents Lopez's clearest path to playing time moving forward, given that incumbent Michael Massey has struggled to a .116/.111/.140 slash line so far this season and is being benched Monday for the second straight game.

Massey is out of the Royals' lineup for Monday's game against the Rangers.

It's the second day in a row that the left-handed hitting Massey has been on the bench against a right-hander, which doesn't seem like a great sign. The 25-year-old is probably due for a demotion following a dreadful start which has seen him post a .251 OPS and 18:0 K:BB over 14 contests. Matt Duffy is at second base Monday.

Double-A Rocket City placed Jackson on its temporary inactive list last Tuesday.

Jackson was deactivated after he went 0-for-12 with eight strikeouts through his first three games at Rocket City, so it's possible he was sent to the Angels' extended spring training facility in Arizona to address his swing mechanics. The 23-year-old has mainly served as a middle infielder during his minor-league career, but he played exclusively at third base and in center field at Double-A this season before being deactivated.

Frazier went 1-for-5 with a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 8-4 win over the White Sox.

Frazier started his Orioles career hot, but he hasn't logged a multi-hit effort since April 2. The second baseman has his safely in four of his last five games, and his steal Sunday was his third of the season. Overall, he's slashing .250/.333/.375 with a home run, five RBI, 10 runs scored and three doubles through 54 plate appearances.

Drury will start at second base and bat seventh in Monday's game against the Red Sox, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

After serving mainly as a short-side platoon mate with Jake Lamb at first base through the first two weeks of the season, Drury closed the weekend with three consecutive starts at second base, all of which came against right-handed pitching. With another righty in (Brayan Bello) on the mound Monday, Drury will continue to occupy the keystone and Lamb will start at first base, leaving no room in the infield for Luis Rengifo. With Rengifo having now sat in two of the past three games while making his lone start in left field during that span, he appears to have moved into a utility role for the time being while Drury looks to have overtaken him at second base.

Rengifo is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Red Sox, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Rengifo will sit for the second time in three days while Brandon Drury picks up another start at the keystone at his expense. Though he started at shortstop in Friday's series opener in Boston, Rengifo has now ceded the position to top prospect Zach Neto for three straight days. With Neto seemingly locked into an everyday role and Drury beginning to gain traction as the Halos' primary second baseman, Rengifo could be transitioning into more of a utility role that may include occasional work in the corner outfield, where he made a start Sunday.

Turang went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in Sunday's 1-0 win over the Padres.

Turang notched a base hit to lead off the 5th inning and stole second base to give the Brewers a runner in scoring position with nobody out but was stranded there. The 23-year-old struck out his other three times up, which was just the second game this season he's struck out more than twice. Turang got off to a hot start but has cooled off some, and now sits at a slash line of .273/.333/.364 over 48 plate appearances.

Albies went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, an RBI and two runs scored in Sunday's victory over the Royals.

Albies launched his third home run of the season in the fourth inning, driving a pitch from Zack Greinke over the right-field fence. The 26-year-old second baseman would add a double off Scott Barlow in the ninth to collect his third multi-hit game of the year. With a .262 batting average and .279 on-base percentage, Albies has scored six runs and knocked in 11 through 65 plate appearances.

Semien went 2-for-5 with a grand slam in Sunday's win over Houston.

Semien broke the game open with his grand slam during the Rangers' six-run seventh inning. He snapped a 12-game homerless drought and set a new season high with four RBI. Semien is now slashing .250/.279/.406 with six extra-base hits and 12 RBI through 15 games.