MLB Player News

Ramirez went 3-for-4 with a solo homer in Saturday's win against the Orioles.

Ramirez took a 3-1 fastball from Chris Tillman out of the ballpark to lead off the sixth inning, giving the young star five home runs on the season. The 25-year-old got off to an awful start to the season, but he seems to be heating up at the plate. He now has 12 hits in his past eight games, raising his batting average from .086 all the way to .221. Even with the poor batting average, he still has a passable .779 OPS, though that figure should only go up as he gets back on track with the bat.

Escobar is not in the lineup Saturday against the Rays, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Escobar has taken over as the everyday shortstop in Minnesota while Jorge Polanco is suspended. Saturday will be just his third game out of the lineup. He's doing a solid job filling in for Polanco, hitting .277/.321/.468 through 53 plate appearances. Signs point to those numbers falling, though, as he's benefiting from a .353 BABIP and has a career-high 26.4 percent strikeout rate. Ehire Adrianza will start at shortstop in his place.

Moncada went 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Friday's 10-0 loss to the Astros.

Moncada has kickstarted his running game, stealing a base in four straight contests. Prior to this run, he had not attempted a steal over his first 12 games. There's still too much swing-and-miss in his plate appearances, but Moncada gets his share of walks and opportunities to steal bags.

Segura went 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored, two RBI and two stolen bases in Friday's 6-2 win over the Rangers.

The steals were only his second and third of the year, but otherwise Segura has had a nice start to 2018, slashing .303/.329/.447 with a home run, 10 RBI and 12 runs in 18 games. Dee Gordon is enjoying a similarly strong start, and the duo should continue to put plenty of pressure on opposition pitching staffs as the season progresses -- and provide plenty of RBI opportunities for Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz.

Machado went 1-for-3 with a walk and clubbed his sixth home run of the season in Friday's win over the Indians.

Machado now has three home runs over the past two games, all solo shots. The 25-year-old continues to see the ball well and now has an eight-game hitting streak, with a .338/.418/.650 slash line in 80 at-bats on the season.

Duffy (hamstring) hit soft toss and threw Friday, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports.

It's encouraging that the injured infielder is still able to partake in baseball activities. However, Duffy's status moving forward is still murky until he begins running again.

Devers went 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBI in Thursday's 8-2 win over the Angels.

Like many hitters in Boston's lineup, Devers exploded against Angels' pitching, going 7-for-14 with a double, two home runs and seven RBI during the three-game set. He's moved to the top of the team with 17 RBI and has not experienced any drop-off his second time around the league after making a splash as a rookie in 2017.

Bregman went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in Thursday's 9-2 win over the Mariners.

Manager A.J. Hinch is trying to shake Bregman out of a slump that has him hitting .160 (4-for-25) since he posted a four-hit game April 11. After Hinch gave Bregman a day off Wednesday, the manager had him back in the lineup and dropped him to the five hole.

Candelario went 4-for-4 with a walk, a two-run homer and an additional RBI in Thursday's win over the Orioles.

Candelario continues to heat up at the dish after a slow start to the season. Over the past four games, the 24-year-old has gone 9-for-17 (.529) with three homers -- his first three of the season -- and a triple, bumping his OPS from .619 to .897.

Machado went 3-for-5 with a double, two homers and four RBI in Thursday's loss to the Tigers.

After grounding out in his first at-bat, Machado took Jordan Zimmermann deep in his next two at-bats, marking his fourth and fifth homers on the year. Both of the home runs were solo shots, while he tallied another RBI with a groundout in the seventh inning and his fourth one on a ninth-inning double. The 25-year-old continues to see the ball well early on; he's now hitting .338 with a gaudy 1.037 OPS through 19 games.