MLB Player News

Chapman went 2-for-6 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in Wednesday's 16-6 rout of the Dodgers.

The 24-year-old's blistering start to the season continues. Chapman is now slashing .347/.418/.653 through 13 games with four homers and 11 RBI, and his 18.2 percent strikeout rate is a huge improvement on the 28.2 percent mark he managed as a rookie. His minor-league numbers suggest there will be whiffs and cold spells at the plate coming, but if he has taken a step forward with his plate discipline, Chapman could avoid being a liability in batting average while still supplying the big power numbers expected of him.

Bregman, who entered Wednesday's game on a 3-for-18 slide, went 4-for-6 with a home run, a double and two runs scored in a 9-8 loss to the Twins.

Bregman has been making contact all year, but wasn't getting balls to drop -- until Wednesday. "I felt good really all year, barreling up the baseball," Bregman told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. "[In the] first series in Texas, I hit a lot of balls at people and kind of started to chase some hits after that instead of chasing some good pitches to hit, and today I was just looking for some good pitches to hit and was fortunate enough to put some good swings on the ball." It was the first four-hit game of his career, and the homer was his first of the season. He had a similarly cold start in 2017 and managed to turn things around.

Donaldson is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against Baltimore, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Donaldson will spend the series finale on the bench for a standard maintenance day, his first of the 2018 season. In his place, Yangervis Solarte gets the nod at third base while batting third in the order.

Bregman went 1-for-3 with a walk and was picked off in Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Twins.

Bregman led off the fifth with a single and was promptly picked off in yet another game where the Astros' offense was quiet and runs were dear. The 24-year-old third sacker is hitting just .186 over 12 games. He has similar batted-ball characteristics as last season, but has had little to show for it -- his .216 BABIP a testament to that. Struggling hitters tend to expand the strike zone, but his swing rate and swing rate outside the zone do not indicate he's chasing bad pitches. The quirks of BABIP should correct, but you'll need to be patient with Bregman.

Segura went 3-for-5 with one double, one triple, two runs scored and two RBI Tuesday against the Royals.

Segura continued his excellent start to the 2018 campaign, recording his fifth multi-hit game of the season. He has hit exclusively in the second spot of the Mariners' lineup this season, and while he won't continue to get on base at a .415 clip, he should be in a prime position to score plenty of runs. He's attempted only one stolen base on the season, but given that his lowest stolen base total in a full season at the major-league level is 20, that shouldn't be a concern.

Moustakas went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI Tuesday against the Mariners.

Moustakas homered for the second consecutive night and now has two home runs on the season. After signing late into spring training, it's possible that Moustakas' bat is just rounding into form now and he appears to be locked in for the time being. He should be a nice power source as the weather warms up coming off a career-best 2017 season.

Candelario went 3-for-3 with three doubles and an RBI in Tuesday's loss to the Indians.

This was a strong rebound for Candelario after going 0-for-4 in each of his last two outings. The three doubles marked his first extra-base hits since April 1and helped raise his average over the .200 mark. Candelario is still sorting things out in his first full major-league season and his past production suggests he won't be a reliable power source by corner infield standards, which makes him a deep-league-only option.

Moustakas went 3-for-5 with a homer, three RBI and two runs in the Royals' 10-0 rout of the Mariners on Monday.

Moustakas got a two-run double in the first, singled in the second and then slugged his first homer of the year in the eighth. That was more than enough for Royals starter Jakob Junis, who was masterful in seven innings of one-hit ball. Moustakas is off to a decent start, going 9-for-32 (.281) with four extra-base hits, five RBI and five runs in eight games. The 29-year-old set career bests last year in several categories, including home runs (38), RBI (85) and slugging percentage (.521), and he's a strong bet to continue producing in those areas.

Peterson was designated for assignment by the Yankees on Monday.

The Yankees wanted a righty-hitting outfielder for their next two games as they face a pair of tough left-handers in Chris Sale and David Price, so Peterson was cut loose to make room for Shane Robinson. He appeared in two games for the Yankees and went 3-for-9 with a walk. Peterson will take a spin through waivers to determine where he'll report.

Donaldson went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Monday's win over the Orioles.

The Blue Jays entered the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead, but Curtis Granderson took a bases-loaded walk and then Donaldson homered to blow the game wide open. Donaldson already has three homers and he's started five of the last six games at third base, so the dead-arm issue seems to be fully behind him. The 32-year-old is looking for his fourth straight 30-plus-homer season.