MLB Player News

Lipscomb is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Padres.

Ildemaro Vargas will get the nod at third base while Lipscomb retreats to the bench for the series finale. While starting in each of the Nationals' last nine games, Lipscomb recorded just six hits in 30 at-bats, bringing his batting average down to a .222 over 51 games with the big club. Lipscomb has made an impact on the bases (11 steals in 13 attempts), but the poor batting average and lack of power (.037 ISO) in his profile makes it difficult to mine much fantasy value from him outside of NL-only leagues or deeper mixed leagues.

Urias is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Marlins.

Jordan Westburg will cover third base Thursday while Connor Norby plays second base. Urias has now been in the lineup for just one of Baltimore's last four contests, though a minor neck injury is at least partly to blame for that.

McMahon went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run Wednesday against Boston.

McMahon missed one game after jamming his finger Monday, but he returned Wednesday to tally his 15th home run of the season. He also ended a homer drought, as his previous long ball had come on June 22. In that span, McMahon managed to hit .259, but he had only five RBI and nine runs scored across 24 games.

Atlanta designated Short for assignment Thursday.

Short's opportunities in Atlanta were few and far between, and he did little with what he was given, producing just a .478 OPS in 29 games. It's possible that the 29-year-old will draw some interest on waivers due to his defensive versatility.

Atlanta activated Riley (personal) from the paternity list Thursday.

Because of a pair of rainouts, Riley missed just one game while spending the maximum three days away from the team on paternity leave. He'll be back in the lineup for Atlanta's series opener Thursday against the Mets.

Burger is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Orioles.

Burger will head to the bench after he saw his eight-game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-for-4, two-strikeout showing in Wednesday's 6-3 win. Emmanuel Rivera will spell Burger at third base in the series finale.

Devers started at designated hitter and went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a run scored in Wednesday's 20-7 loss to Colorado.

Devers, who was initially penciled in at third base, was moved to DH as a precaution after he survived a shoulder-injury scare Tuesday. He stayed in Tuesday's game following the incident and looked good swinging the bat Wednesday. With a team day off Thursday, Devers could return to the field for Friday's series opener at Fenway Park against the Yankees.

Smith went 2-for-4 with two RBI in Wednesday's 10-2 win over the White Sox.

Smith singled in one run then got another home on a sacrifice fly. With news that third baseman Josh Jung (wrist) is set to begin a rehab assignment Friday, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, the Rangers will soon have to find a home for Smith's bat. The most logical move is to have Smith become the team's primary designated hitter. Texas designated hitters are last in the league in batting average (.197), slugging percentage (.310) and OPS (.573).

Marte went 1-for-5 with a double and two RBI in Wednesday's 9-4 win over Atlanta.

Marte joined the Reds' party with a two-run double in the fourth inning. The struggling third baseman, who is batting .181 since he completed his 80-game PED suspension, has hit safely in four straight games (4-for-17).

Suarez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 8-6 win over Kansas City.

Suarez's second-inning blast gave Arizona an early lead and was the first of four Diamondback home runs. He's doing his best to put a season-long slump behind him; Suarez entered the month of July with six home runs and has hit that many over the last 14 games. During that span, he's knocked in 17 runs with a .692 slugging percentage and 1.014 OPS.