MLB Player News

Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon is not in the lineup Thursday. 

The team is attempting to shake up their order, and Rendon has struggled thus far. Stephen Lombardozzi will get the start at third and bat second. 

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit his fourth home run in the last six games on Wednesday night against the Phillies. He took Antonio Bastardo deep for a solo shot in the seventh inning.

The 26-year-old also had an RBI single and finished 2 for 4 in a 5-3 win.

Alvarez has really picked up the pace of late. He is batting .348 (8 for 23) with seven RBI in his last seven contests.

Twins infielder and utility player Eduardo Escobar does the little things, his manager Ron Gardenhire told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. 

The 24-year-old has been a pinch-runner and pinch-hitter. He's played shortstop and third base and has been an emergency outfielder as well. 

"He says he can pitch," teammate Wilkin Ramirez said. "He’s done it before."

Even more impressive, Escobar is hitting for the Twins. The smallest player on the roster racked up his second three-hit game Tuesday night and he added a walk. Only Joe Mauer has more three-hit games this year with three. 

"He’s a nice little player," Gardenhire said. "He’s been swinging great. A lot of fun to watch out there."

Escobar is batting .480 after 12 games and 25 at-bats with a double, triple, homer and five RBI. 

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado continued to produce big hits on Wednesday during an extra-inning loss against Toronto. Machado hit an RBI triple, his first of the year, in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the score at five runs apiece. 

Machado finished 2 for 5 in the game and now has 14 RBI on the season for the Orioles. He's batting .276 after going 5 for 11 in the three-game series with the Blue Jays with a double, triple and three RBI. 

After committing five errors in 51 games as a rookie in 2012, Orioles starting third baseman Manny Machado has managed a clean sheet through 20 games this season. He's converted all 55 of his chances, which includes six double plays.

"I don’t want to lessen it any, but I think people make too much of the experience at third base," manager Buck Showalter said, per The Baltimore Sun. "There’s a lot of things about infield being infield, OK? It wasn’t like all the sudden we took him from Bowie and put him at third base. We had been doing it for two months, just nobody knew about it. So it wasn’t foreign to him when he got here. Your clock is the biggest thing you’ve got to get going. Manny’s done a good job over there. It’s impressive."

With a steal in each of his last five games, the Brewers' Jean Segura has pretty much established that the stolen base will remain as much a part of his game in the majors as it was in the minors, where he stole 50 bags one year. As last year's Emilio Bonifacio owners can attest, steals alone are enough to make a player indespensible at one of the weakest positions in Fantasy.

But part of the allure of Segura is that he may be more than just a pure speedster. In fact, his steals were often overshadowed by his high batting averages in the minors, and it's pretty clear by now strikeouts aren't going to hold him back. I also like that he hit .321 over his final 24 games last year, seemingly turning the corner after a bumpy start to his major-league career.

I'll be moving Segura into my top 15 at shortstop in short order, keeping him behind Alcides Escobar for now but recognizing that he has the higher ceiling of the two.

Rockies third base prospect Nolan Arenado continues to tear up Triple-A pitching. Arenado added three more hits for Colorado Springs Tuesday, raising his season average to .414 (24 for 58) through 16 games.

The rest of Arenado's slash line is .431/.759/1.189. He's added three home runs, 11 doubles, 14 runs and 21 RBI.

ESPN analyst Jim Bowden tweeted Monday one scout who saw Arenado play recently said, "He's more than ready."

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura added three more hits Tuesday against San Diego, as well as a run scored, RBI and his sixth stolen base.

Segura continues to rake, as he raised his average to .377 with a sharp .941 OPS. Segura also notched his eighth infield hit.. According to FanGraphs, Segura has recorded an infield hit on 24.2 percent of ground balls. Considering last year's league leader, Norichika Aoki, finished at 13.5 percent, we should expect Segura to stop reaching on dribblers at such an absurd rate.

Still, Segura is consistently making enough contact (10.8 percent strikeout rate) to keep hitting for a solid average.

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria has reached base safely in 34 straight games, dating back to Sept. 19 of last year, MLB.com reports. That gives him the longest active streak in baseball and the third-longest streak in Rays history behind Johnny Damon's 39 in 2011 and Ben Grieve's 37 in 2001. 

Longoria reached base safely in his 20th straight game to start this season when he homered for the fifth time in the ninth inning off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to pull the Rays within 4-3. Longoria went 1 for 4 Tuesday and is batting .282. 

To recap, the Pirates' Pedro Alvarez hit .042 with a home run over his first eight games last year. Then, he hit .367 with six home runs over his next 14 games. Then, he hit .143 with a home run over his next 33 games (brr, that's cold). Then, he hit .308 with 13 home runs over his next 30 games (ow, that's hot).

Then, he hit .217 with no home runs over his next 20. Then, he hit .407 with six home runs over his next 15. Then, he hit .212 with three home runs over his final 29.

And that, folks, is how he arrived at a .244 batting average and 30 home runs for the season.

After his 4-for-45 start this year, you probably benched him, but seeing as he has three home runs in his last five games, you should probably activate him before the next cold spell arrives.