MLB Player News

The Nationals have recalled prospect Anthony Rendon from Double-A Harrisburg Saturday, the Washington Times reports. The 22-year-old, who was the team's top pick in the 2011 draft, is expected to take Ryan Zimmerman's place in the starting lineup.

Rendon is hitting .292 with a .962 OPS. He also has two homers in 14 games at Double-A Harrisburg.

A day after launching a home run for the second straight game, Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez was held out of the starting lineup Saturday against Braves left-hander Paul Maholm. Alvarez is boasting a three-game hitting streak but strikeouts continue to limit the young slugger as he's whiffed 20 times in 52 at-bats this season.

Alvarez has also struggled against lefties, collecting just one hit in 16 at-bats with nine strikeouts. Russell Martin took his spot at third base.

Rockies third base prospect Nolan Arenado ended an impressive streak Thursday night, going 0 for 4 with one run scored in a game for Triple-A Colorado Springs. It was the first time in nine games Arenado failed to pick up an extra base hit after collecting nine doubles and one home run since April 11.

Arenado has hit .417 with three home runs, 18 RBI and 11 doubles in 48 at-bats this season.

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit his first home run of the season Thursday, a no-doubter to straightaway center field off Braves starter Julio Teheran. It was the only hit of the game for Alvarez, who also drew a walk to lift his season line to .104/.204/.167 in 54 plate appearances.

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."