MLB Player News

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.

Plouffe requested and was granted his release from Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Plouffe was previously released by the Rangers in mid-March but re-signed on a minor-league deal a few days later. The 31-year-old will hit free agency once again after posting a .198/.272/.318 slash line with nine home runs in 283 at-bats between the Athletics and Rays in 2017.

Senzel has moved back to third base with Triple-A Louisville, the team's official site reports.

As C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic Cincinnati suggests, this could mean that Senzel will be up with the big league club sooner than anticipated, or even anticipated earlier in the week immediately after Eugenio Suarez was hurt. With Suarez out, third base is wide open, and the Reds won't have to make a tough decision on whether to pull the plug on Jose Peraza or trade Scooter Gennett to make room for Senzel.

Asuaje is starting at second base and hitting seventh Tuesday against the Rockies, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

Asuaje was deployed as the leadoff man for a couple of games, but he went just 1-for-7 with a pair of strikeouts, so manager Andy Green decided to turn back to Manuel Margot as his tablesetter. The 26-year-old has primarily found himself hitting in the 5-to-7 range this season, and he'll likely stick around there assuming Margot's struggles as the leadoff man don't continue.

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.

Rendon is batting fourth Tuesday against the Braves.

Rendon has batted second in each of the Nationals' first 10 games, but the Nationals apparently want to get him into more of a run-producing role and protect Bryce Harper a bit. The third baseman is hitting .310 with a homer and four RBI so far.

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.

Davis went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in Monday's 2-0 win over the Twins.

Davis' sixth-inning single provided the only run the Astros would need on a cold night in Minnesota. The hit was his first in 10 trips to the plate and leaves him with a .111 batting average over the first two weeks of the season. The Astros have two more games this week before they are expected to welcome back Yulieski Gurriel (hand) on Friday. His return will signal an end to Davis' stay on the major-league roster.