MLB Player News

Giants utility infielder Matt Duffy is officially in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Padres and will bat seventh, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Duffy, who has also started at second base early in the season, will fill in for the injured Brandon Belt after he was placed on the 15-day DL. It will be his first career start at first after playing the 17 games at second base and shortstop. He is a career .284 hitter with three doubles and nine RBI.

Pedro Alvarez led off the fourth with a home run in the Pirates 6-2 win over the Brewers on Friday. 

Alvarez went two for four, with two runs and two RBI. He has two home runs on the season and is hitting .357. 

Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu batted ninth on Friday, one spot behind starter Tyler Matzek. 

Despite batting behind the pitcher, LeMahieu supplied plenty of offense, going three for four with an RBI and run scored. 

Giants utility infielder Matt Duffy will make his first career start at first base on Saturday. 

"I'd prefer to be a stud at one position," he said, per the San Francisco Chronicle. "But anything you learn that adds value to your name and team, especially in the National League, is a good thing. I think I'm athletic enough to do it. The big question is, does the player want to? I'm willing to learn to play multiple positions. The key is being effective. If you're standing there taking up space, that's different." 

Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (knee) fielded grounders and did some side-to-side drills Friday, manager Matt Williams said. There is still no timetable for Rendon's activation off the 15-day disabled list.

Braves infielder Phil Gosselin drew his first start of the season at second base Friday against the Mets. He replaced Jace Peterson, who started the first three games at second base for Atlanta.

Peterson, who won the starting second base job during spring training, is batting .200 (2 for 10) through three games. He has no extra-bat hits and no RBI. He does have two runs, two walks and two strikeouts.

Rockies starting second baseman DJ LeMahieu has hit safely in each of the first three games. He had two hits in each of the first two games.

He is batting .385 (5 for 13) with one RBI and one strikeout. He has no extra-base hits, no runs and no walks.

Pirates first baseman Pedro Alvarez went 2 for 4 with a solo home run in his team's 3-2 loss to the Reds Thursday.

Alvarez was 1 for 6 with a double in his first two games before putting together a nice offensive showing Thursday. His home run came in the sixth inning and put his team up 2-0, but the Pirates let the lead slip away in the bottom half of the inning. Alvarez has two 30-homer seasons on his resume but hit just .231/.312/.405 with 18 home runs in 398 at-bats last season.

Giants infielder Matt Duffy will start getting work at first base and could possibly be an option to start at the position by Saturday, CSN Bay Area reports.

Manager Bruce Bochy hopes to have Brandon Belt available to resume starting Monday, but it's possible Duffy will see some time at first base in the interim. He's been primarly a shortstop in the minors and hasn't seen any action at first base at any level of his professional career.

The Giants will use Buster Posey at first base Friday, with Hector Sanchez starting behind the plate and catching Tim Lincecum.

Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon took a positive step forward in his recovery from an MCL sprain in his left knee. He did some side-to-side agility drills, along with some change of direction workouts. His next step will be modified groundball work, manager Matt Williams told reporters, according to MASN.

"Yesterday, he did a little bit of side-to-side movement, which has been the issue," Williams said. "He's been running straight. He'll start some modified groundball activity, which is just making sure that he's getting into the position he needs too without irritating the area. Yesterday, he did some figure eight stuff where he has to change some direction, which is a good step. We'll evaluate that and go from there.

"The more he can tolerate in that regard, the better. And the more stuff he can do to get into baseball shape, ultimately that's what's most important. It's one of those spots where if he does go side to side or twists on it, it can irritate it. So we want to stay away from that."