MLB Player News

Smith is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Phillies.

Though he manned left field in both of the Rangers' first two games of the season while the Phillies brought right-handers in Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler to the hill, the lefty-hitting Smith will take a seat Sunday with southpaw Bailey Falter toeing the rubber for Philadelphia. Ezequiel Duran checks into left field in place of Smith, who went 1-for-4 with two walks and three runs over his first two starts.

Fletcher (abdomen) is starting at shortstop and batting ninth Sunday against the Athletics, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

The 28-year-old dealt with an abdominal injury late in spring training and will make his first start of the season in Sunday's series finale. Fletcher appears to be fully recovered from the injury and should see occasional starts while serving as a reserve infielder this year.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters before Sunday's game against the Giants that Volpe could hit leadoff at times during the 2023 season, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports.

Boone mentioned that he considered moving Volpe to the top of the order for Sunday's game with DJ LeMahieu out of the lineup, but he likes the rookie shortstop hitting ninth due to his on-base ability and speed. A move to the top spot on occasion would potentially be beneficial for fantasy purposes as it would give him more plate appearances and the chance to score more runs. Even in the nine spot, Volpe has a chance to be a strong fantasy option because of his speed and Aaron Judge hitting behind him one way or another.

Story (elbow) is scheduled to begin a throwing program in two weeks, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Story will begin throwing in the middle of April, and assuming all goes well, the infielder will start a hitting program two weeks later. The 30-year-old underwent internal brace surgery in January to repair the UCL in his right elbow, and he's expected to miss at least the first half of the 2023 season. Being able to hit and throw before the end of May suggests he's at least on schedule with that timeline.

Volpe went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base in Saturday's 7-5 loss to the Giants.

Volpe is already making a spark from the bottom of the order in the Yankees' first two games. After going 0-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base in his MLB debut in Thursday's 5-0 win, Volpe registered his first two big-league hits Saturday and continued to showcase his wheels on the bases. He'll remain in the lineup for Sunday's series finale, manning shortstop and batting ninth.

Mateo (hand) is out of the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox.

Mateo cut his hand during Saturday's loss to the Red Sox, so he'll begin this contest on the bench. Gunnar Henderson will play shortstop for the series finale with Ramon Urias at third and Adam Frazier at second base.

Triple-A Toledo placed Perez (back) on its 7-day injured list Friday.

Perez wasn't included on Toledo's season-opening roster while he works his way back from a back injury that first cropped up during offseason workouts. The Tigers haven't provided a timeline for Perez to make his debut for Toledo.

Anderson went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base Saturday against the White Sox.

Anderson has collected two hits in all three games this season, and he has also scored a run in each contest as well. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the first series of the campaign is Anderson's aggressiveness on the bases, as his stolen base in the fourth frame of Saturday's game was already his second of the campaign.

Franco went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, three RBI and a run scored Saturday against the Tigers.

Franco was a key part of the Rays' 12-run offensive outburst Saturday, with his first contribution coming on an RBI single in the third frame. He then knocked a double in the seventh frame which drove in two more runs. Franco has gotten off to a hot start this season, collecting five hits in his first eight at-bats, including three going for extra bases.

Mateo went 0-for-4 with one RBI, one run scored and two stolen bases in Saturday's loss to the Red Sox.

The Orioles have been running rampant against the Red Sox in the first two games of the series -- they've already picked up 10 steals as a team. Mateo has four of them, as he's swiped two bags in back-to-back games. There's very little offensive upside in the other categories, but Mateo should again be a major contributor with steals because of his impressive speed.