MLB Player News

Escobar exited Friday's tilt with the White Sox early due to a strained left groin, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Escobar was 0-for-1 before leaving Friday's game. He was replaced in the lineup by Eddie Rosario. The severity if of Escobar's injury is currently unknown, but his status for Saturday's contest is certainly up in the air. Expect an update when more information becomes available.

Moustakas (thumb) has been scratched from Friday's lineup, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

He was able to return Wednesday after sitting a couple days with a swollen thumb, but apparently the thumb is still an issue. Christian Colon will take over at third base in Moustakas' absence as Omar Infante mans the keystone. Moustakas currently leads Royals regulars in both home runs (7) and slugging (.536).

Alvarez is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the A's.

With lefty Rich Hill due up for Oakland, Alvarez will head to the bench while Mark Trumbo gets a day off from playing the field. Alvarez has logged all of nine at-bats against lefties thus far, and he's not getting the job done against righties, recording 10 hits and just one home run in 47 at-bats.

Valencia is back in the lineup Friday against the Orioles, batting seventh and playing third base.

Valencia was reinstated off the disabled list earlier in the day Friday, and he'll slot right back into the lineup at the hot corner without spending any time on the bench. The third baseman's .345 OBP should be a nice addition to many fantasy owners' lineups, but his re-entry into the Oakland lineup will make playing time hard to come by for Chris Coghlan, who will likely move back into a reserve role.

Duffy went 3-for-5 with a double and a pair of runs scored in Thursday's 17-7 loss to the Rockies.

Duffy has gotten off to an inconsistent start in 2016, regularly alternating multi-hit performances with empty stat lines. For example, Thursday's three-hit game followed up an 0-for-10 cold spell. He simply isn't providing enough value at third base outside of deep and NL-only leagues. It may be wise to look at more productive options in standard leagues until he shows more consistency at the plate.

Valencia (hamstring) was reinstated from the 15-day DL on Friday.

This was anticipated, and Valencia is expected to be in Oakland's lineup Friday against the Orioles. Valencia's lack of power to date (zero home runs in 55 plate appearances) does not illustrate how he has been impacting the baseball, as he has been a statcast darling early on thanks to impressive exit velocity readings. He should still be rostered in most formats.

Devers is adjusting to the higher level of pitching at High-A Salem, but is only hitting .144/.245/.278 through 24 games, WEEI.com reports.

Salem manager Joe Oliver said Devers is putting the work in with hitting coach Nelson Paulino, trying to become less pull conscious and getting more comfortable driving the ball to left and center field. Oliver also noted that Devers has not taken his hitting struggles out to the field defensively.

Arenado went 1-for-4 with a homer, three RBI and three runs against the Giants on Thursday.

He slugged one out in the first, moving two homers ahead of teammate Trevor Story for the MLB lead in homers with 12, only to see Story cut it back to one later in the game. Nonetheless, Arenado is in the early stages of what looks like it could be an even bigger season than last year's 42-homer breakout, as his OPS is already over 1.000 and summer at Coors Field is coming.

Bregman (hamstring) was activated from the minor league disabled list Thursday, MiLB.com's Sam Dykstra reports.

He missed 11 games with the ailment, and was on fire at the plate prior to landing on the DL. Bregman is slashing .340/.431/.660 with more walks (six) than strikeouts (five) through 59 plate appearances. Assuming he picks up close to where he left off, Bregman should force his way to Triple-A in the coming weeks. At that point, he could start to see time at third base to expand the Astros' options, and he would almost certainly be next in line if anything happened to Carlos Correa.

Segura (hip) is in the lineup Thursday against the Marlins.

Segura sat out Sunday and Tuesday due to a minor hip issue, but he returned to action Wednesday night, notching a single in his only at-bat as a pinch hitter. With the injury seemingly behind him, Segura is back at his usual second base spot while serving as the leadoff hitter.