MLB Player News

The Angels outrighted Fletcher to Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Fletcher remains with the organization after clearing waivers but is off the Angels' 40-man roster. The infielder was sent down to Salt Lake to make room for top prospect Zach Neto on Saturday, and the Angels are still on the hook for the remainder of the five-year, $24.5 million extension Fletcher signed with the team in April 2021.

Mateo went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 8-4 win over the White Sox.

Mateo's RBI came on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly to plate Adam Frazier for the Orioles' first run of the game. In the eighth, Mateo hit a double, stole third and came home on a Cedric Mullins go-ahead RBI single. Baltimore continues to give its speedier players a green light on the basepaths -- Mateo and Mullins are two of the three players leading the majors in steals with eighth, along with the Cubs' Nico Hoerner. Mateo owns a .372/.431/.651 slash line with three home runs, 12 RBI, 13 runs scored and three doubles through 53 plate appearances.

Chang is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Angels, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Chang's run of five consecutive starts will come to an end with the Angels bringing a right-hander (Shohei Ohtani) to the hill for the series finale. Given that four of those five starts came against left-handed pitching, the righty-hitting Chang still looks like he'll be deployed as a short-side platoon player.

Smith went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Mets.

Smith kicked off the fifth inning with a single and then stole second before coming around to score on a base hit by Esteury Ruiz. The 26-year-old has just three hits and a 10:0 K:BB over 23 plate appearances since being called up April 10.

Volpe went 1-for-4 with one steal in Sunday's win over Minnesota.

Volpe led off the fifth inning with an infield single before eventually stealing second, his seventh stolen base of the season and his fourth in two games. The rookie shortstop is tied for second in the league in stolen bases, as he's now a perfect 7-for-7 on attempts. Volpe has also hit safely in five straight games, raising his slash line to .191/.309/.319 through his first 47 at-bats.

Pena went 1-for-3 with a double, a run scored and three steals during Sunday's loss to Texas.

Pena swiped one bag after reaching base on a fielder's choice in the second inning before being hit by a pitch and stealing two more bags in the fourth. He then doubled and scored in the seventh. Pena had gone 13 games without a steal attempt entering Sunday. He improved his slash line to .227/.301/.409 with his second consecutive multi-hit performance.

Smith is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.

The 25-year-old started the past three games at shortstop in the absence of Corey Seager (hamstring), but he'll take a seat Sunday after he went 1-for-10 with five strikeouts during that stretch. Ezequiel Duran will take over at shortstop with lefty Framber Valdez pitching for Houston.

Witt went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored in Saturday's 9-3 loss to Atlanta.

Witt went from cold to hot in a hurry. He's gone 12-for-22 (.545) during his active five-game hitting streak, and he's added four stolen bases in that span. The shortstop's surge has him up to .298/.344/.474 with two home runs, five steals, six RBI and eight runs scored in 15 contests. The Royals' offense hasn't been very good behind him, which is hurting his counting stats, but there's still plenty to like from the talented 22-year-old when he's hitting like this.

Mateo went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Saturday's 7-6 extra-inning loss to the White Sox.

Mateo opened the scoring with a solo shot in the third inning and tacked on a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth. The only mishap for the shortstop came when he was caught stealing for the first time this season. He's provided a nice combination of power and speed with three homers, seven steals, 11 RBI, 12 runs scored and a .350/.413/.625 slash line through 13 contests. Mateo is unlikely to sustain those ratios, but it's encouraging to see him elevate his walk rate (9.1 percent) while cutting down strikeouts (18.8 percent) early on.

Crawford went 2-for-2 with an RBI single, two walks and a run in a win over the Rockies on Saturday.

The veteran shortstop was a thorn in the side of the Rockies throughout the afternoon and contributed to the Mariners' nine-run outburst with a timely single in the fourth inning that plated Cal Raleigh and snapped a 1-1 tie. Crawford is riding a tidy four-game hitting streak in which he's gone 5-for-11 with two doubles, Saturday's RBI, five walks and six runs.