MLB Player News

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura has a team-leading 18 hits after a 1-for-4 day with one run scored Thursday against the Giants. He has hit .367/.404/.510 with one home run and one stolen base this season and has only been held hitless in two of his 13 games this year.

The Nationals are pretty much taken care of at every position around the infield, so top prospect Anthony Rendon is trying to make himself as versatile as possible. Baseball America's No. 30 prospect is also lighting up Double-A Harrisburg to start his second professional season.

Rendon is batting .311 through his first 13 games, with a .467 on-base percentage and .533 slugging percentage, while appearing at three infield positions so far. He has six extra-base hits, and has also walked 11 times to just eight strikeouts.

Rendon is tasting Double-A for the second time and enjoying it much more than he did in his first go last season. The 23-year-old could fight his way to Triple-A this season, but the Nationals have no obvious place for him in their infield right now. He remains a decent long-term Fantasy keeper option, but unless a hole opens up for his hot bat, he is unlikely to be much help prior to roster expansion in September. 

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez is one of the most dropped players in Fantasy (with some people, based on the e-mails I've been getting, opting for Trevor Plouffe and Chris Johnson), and from what I can tell, it's only because he's 3 for 41 to begin the season.

Well, what did you expect? He began last season 1 for 24. He hit .143 over an early 33-game stretch and .214 over a later 33-game stretch. Yeah, he finished with 30 home runs, and he likely will again, but in between, he'll endure some crippling cold streaks. And until he stops striking out every third at-bat, that doesn't figure to change.

But again, none of this should come as a shock to you. You knew exactly what you were getting when you drafted Alaverez. By dropping him now, you only realize your losses, absorbing all of the bad without sticking around for the good.

In Head-to-Head leagues, I can understand you not wanting to live and die by him every week. I question why you drafted him in the first place, but whatever. Lesson learned. But in Rotisserie leagues, you kind of have to let the season run its course. Rest assured, the home runs are coming.

There's one thing quite evident about Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez's poor start -- he's not making much contact. Alvarez has struck out 15 times in 11 games and Fantasy owners are fed up, dumping Alvarez onto waivers.

While it's frustrating to watch Alvarez mired in another cold streak, I don't think Fantasy owners should be dropping the 26-year-old infielder. You are going to have to deal with a high strikeout rate from Alvarez, but you are dropping him when he has a .086 batting average. How much worse can it really get? You have already lived through the horror. You are going to miss reaping all the rewards.

I'm confident a positive market correction is due because Alvarez has a 22.5 swinging strike percentage, which is well above his career average (13.6 percent), according to FanGraphs.com. His plate discipline numbers are all out of whack and Alvarez should eventually come back to his career norms, so there's plenty of room to improve here.

If anything, take Alvarez out of active lineups, but I can't condone dropping a potential 30-homer bat just yet.

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez had another quiet night at the plate Saturday against the Reds. He went 0 for 2 with a strikeout and a walk in the 3-1 win.

Alvarez is batting .086 with 15 strikeouts in 35 at-bats.

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura has gotten off to a hot start with the bat this season as he entered Saturday's game against the Cardinals batting .429 with a .679 slugging percentage.

After batting .258 in 45 games in the majors last season, the 23-year-old told MLB.com he came into the campaign with high expectations.

"I just wanted to get better," he said. "Maybe get my average up near the top."

Along with Segura playing solid defense, manager Ron Roenicke said he has been impressed with Segura's offense.

"He's really played well for a long period of time going back to winter ball and spring training," Roenicke said. "He's got tremendous range and a great arm. He can make some plays that not too many guys can make. His defense is already great and offensively, he's just going to get better. We'll see, but we're happy with what we have so far."

The Nationals have a plan to rotate prospect Anthony Rendon through the infield this season, giving him four games at third base, two games at second base and one game at shortstop each week, a source told MASNsports.com.

Rendon is scheduled to make his fifth appearance at third base Wednesday after playing second base Tuesday. He has also made one appearance as Double-A Harrisburg's designated hitter.

Rendon is hitting .190/.393/.190 in 28 plate appearances so far this season.

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura returned to the lineup Tuesday against the Cubs and had a productive performance.

After missing the previous contest due to a quad injury, he went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored in a 6-3 loss.

Segura doubled home a run in his first at-bat before hitting a triple off Carlos Marmol in the eighth inning. He appeared to tweak his ankle on the three-bagger but remained in the game after being checked out by trainers.

The 23-year-old is batting .458 (11 for 24) through seven games with one homer and three RBI.

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura was back in the starting lineup Tuesday at the Cubs after missing the series opener with a minor thigh issue. Segura has hit in five of his first six games for a .450 batting average.

Strikeouts have stunted the progress of Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez during his brief major-league career and they continue to be a problem this season. Alvarez, who finished second in the National League with 180 strikeouts last year, has been punched out at least once in every game (12 total).

He is in the midst of an 0-for-17 slump and has struck out in eight of his past 10 at-bats and is hitting .080.