MLB Player News

Drury is out of the lineup for Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Mets on Friday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Drury went 2-for-13 with two walks and a run over his final four games of the regular season, and he's not in the lineup for San Diego's postseason opener. Wil Myers will man first base and bat sixth versus New York righty Max Scherzer.

Gorman is back with the active roster ahead of the NL Wild Card Series with the Phillies.

As expected, Gorman will join the Cardinals' postseason for their series against Philadelphia. The 22-year-old will replace Alec Burleson on the roster and will likely operate in a utility role for St. Louis in the wild-card round.

Espinal (oblique) was activated from the 10-day injured list and included on the Blue Jays' wild-card roster, Mike Wilner of the Toronto Star reports.

Espinal will return to the active roster just in time for the Blue Jays' wild-card series with the Mariners, which starts Friday. The 27-year-old missed the last couple weeks of the season while dealing with an oblique issue, but he'll now operate in a utility role for Toronto in the postseason. Espinal produced a .267 average with seven homers, 51 RBI, 51 runs and six stolen bases over 135 games during the regular season.

Brujan went 1-for-2 with a solo home run Wednesday against the Red Sox.

Brujan was recalled from Triple-A Durham on Monday and appeared in all three of the Rays' games to close the regular season. He entered the game Wednesday in the fifth inning as a pinch runner and then remained in the contest to take Ryan Brasier yard to tally his third homer of the season. Brujan struggled across 162 plate appearances this year, maintaining just a .163/.228/.259 line with five stolen bases.

Manager Oliver Marmol confirmed Thursday that Gorman will be included on the Cardinals' wild-card roster, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

Gorman was sent to the minors for the final few weeks of the regular season, but he'll be included on the team's wild-card roster due to his power and versatility. He should play a bench role to begin the playoffs, while Alec Burleson will be left off the roster against the Phillies.

Gorman will likely be included on the Cardinals' wild-card roster, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

Gorman finished the regular season with a .720 OPS, but a .529 OPS in September had him sent down to Triple-A to close the year. If he does end up making the postseason roster, he figures to provide some power off the bench for St. Louis.

Rojas went 2-for-4 with a double and a two-run home run in Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Brewers.

Rojas homered off righty reliever Trevor Gott with nobody out in the ninth inning to give Arizona a 3-2 lead. Across his final six games of 2022, the third baseman recorded a .409 average over 22 at-bats with three multi-hit games and four doubles. The 28-year-old closed out the season with a .269/.249/.391 slash line, nine home runs, 56 RBI, 66 runs and 23 steals in 510 plate appearances.

Villar went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI in an 8-1 win over San Diego on Wednesday.

Villar slammed a two-run shot off Craig Stammen in the fourth inning and a solo blast off Pierce Johnson in the eighth. He enjoyed his second multi-homer game as a major-leaguer, with his other coming Sept. 7 against the Dodgers. Villar's .231/.331/.455 slash line as a rookie isn't eye-opening, but he flashed good power with nine home runs and 24 RBI over 52 games. He also slugged 27 homers at the Triple-A level and appears to have cemented his place as a key part of the team's future.

Hoerner went 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored in Wednesday's 15-2 win over the Reds. He also stole a base.

Hoerner was busy in the season finale despite recording just one hit. The stolen base was his 20th of the year to go along with 10 home runs, as the young shortstop started to flash a nice mix of speed and power in his fourth season in the majors. Hoerner may be overshadowed by a handful of other middle infielders heading into 2023, though he looks primed to continue his development and remain a strong fantasy asset.

Merrifield is out of the lineup for the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader with the Orioles.

Merrifield will take a seat after starting each of the last 13 games, including the Blue Jays' 5-4 loss in Game 1 of the twin bill. He went 1-for-5 in the early game to finish the regular season with a .251/.299/.376 slash line across 548 plate appearances. Otto Lopez will replace Merrifield at second base in Game 2.