MLB Player News

Urshela (hamstring) will report to Triple-A Columbus for a minor-league rehab assignment.

Urshela recently played in an extended spring training contest earlier this week and appears to be on the verge of making an appearance in the minor leagues within the next couple days. Manager Terry Francona did mention Wednesday that Urshela was about 4-5 days away from playing with Columbus, so the infielder could spend a few days on the bench before returning to game action.

Lewis went 2-for-5 with one home run and one strikeout Thursday for Low-A Cedar Rapids.

The home run was his first of the year, and second in 23 career games in the Midwest League. While a .250 BABIP is suppressing his early season slash line, his 3:4 K:BB shows that he has a very good handle on the pitching at this level. He is also 1-for-1 on stolen-base attempts in the early going. Look for him to soon force a promotion to High-A.

Riley went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs Thursday for Double-A Mississippi.

The third baseman's torrid start to the campaign continued in Biloxi, and he is now hitting .346/.414/.692 with two home runs and a 6:3 K:BB in 26 at-bats for the Mississippi Braves. He is ready for Triple-A, so look for him to receive a promotion in the coming weeks.

LeMahieu went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI and two runs scored Thursday against the Nationals.

LeMahieu's multi-home run game was the second of his career, both of which have surprisingly come on the road. He now has four home runs on the season, a mark worth noting given that he hit eight home runs in 609 at-bats last season. It's even more notable that all of his home runs have come on the road, where he he has slugged only .385 over the last three seasons. This may well just be a hot start to the season, but it is worth monitoring if he can continue to produce away from Coors Field.

Moncada went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Thursday's 4-0 loss to the Twins.

Moncada's fanned six times over the last two games and has multiple Ks in seven of 12 games played. He's made that silent walk back to the dugout 24 times over 57 plate appearances (42.1 K%). Offspeed stuff has bothered him since his first taste of the majors with Boston in 2016, however, manager Rick Renteria told Scott Merkin of MLB.com it's a physical thing more than any one pitch giving the leadoff hitter trouble. He feels Moncada is pulling his head during his swing. "He's not really seeing the ball into the zone as well as I would like him to," Renteria said. You can live with the high strikeout totals if he were doing other things, but the second baseman is 3-for-20 with men on base (2-for-17 RISP). His on-base ability, considered a forte along with his speed, sits at .298 while he hasn't attempted a steal yet.

Davis was optioned to Triple-A Fresno on Thursday, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic Houston reports.

Davis made the Opening Day roster as a reserve player and collected six hits in his 28 at-bats. He'll be sent back to the minors with starting first baseman Yulieski Gurriel (hand) set to return from the disabled list Friday. Davis will likely play every day at Fresno with the hopes of returning to the bigs before long.

LeMahieu is the leadoff hitter for Thursday's bout with the Nationals, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

LeMahieu normally hits second, but he'll move up a spot in the order to replace Charlie Blackmon (quad) at the pole position. He will likely move back to the two-hole once Blackmon is healthy, though the second baseman still provides good fantasy value as long as he's in a tablesetting role around the top of the Colorado lineup.

Urshela (hamstring) played in an extended spring training game in Arizona on Thursday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Manager Terry Francona admitted that Urshela remains about 4-to-5 days out from going on a minor-league rehab assignment, though this marked the first time that the 26-year-old returned to game action since going down with a right hamstring strain near the end of spring training. Upon his return to the big leagues, it's expected that Urshela will be utilized out of a reserve role all around the infield.

Chapman went 2-for-6 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in Wednesday's 16-6 rout of the Dodgers.

The 24-year-old's blistering start to the season continues. Chapman is now slashing .347/.418/.653 through 13 games with four homers and 11 RBI, and his 18.2 percent strikeout rate is a huge improvement on the 28.2 percent mark he managed as a rookie. His minor-league numbers suggest there will be whiffs and cold spells at the plate coming, but if he has taken a step forward with his plate discipline, Chapman could avoid being a liability in batting average while still supplying the big power numbers expected of him.

Bregman, who entered Wednesday's game on a 3-for-18 slide, went 4-for-6 with a home run, a double and two runs scored in a 9-8 loss to the Twins.

Bregman has been making contact all year, but wasn't getting balls to drop -- until Wednesday. "I felt good really all year, barreling up the baseball," Bregman told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. "[In the] first series in Texas, I hit a lot of balls at people and kind of started to chase some hits after that instead of chasing some good pitches to hit, and today I was just looking for some good pitches to hit and was fortunate enough to put some good swings on the ball." It was the first four-hit game of his career, and the homer was his first of the season. He had a similarly cold start in 2017 and managed to turn things around.