MLB Player News

Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada missed his first game of the season Saturday against Washington because of a foot/ankle injury he suffered the previous night, ESPN.com reports. Tejada, who has played in all 15 games this season to produce a .232 batting average, said he was held out as a precaution and was available to serve as a pinch hitter.

Brandon Crawford's third home run Thursday put him one off his career high and made him the No. 3 shortstop in standard Head-to-Head leagues so far this season, behind only Jed Lowrie and Troy Tulowitzki. Yet as much as I'd like to believe it's at least halfway legitimate, I don't see any evidence of it.

I've scoured the Internet looking for explanations but can't find anything concrete. Some sources point to his improvement in the second half last year, but he still produced only a .697 OPS then, which would relegate him to the bench for just about any other team. Apart from the heavy-hitting California League, where his numbers were as silly as everyone else's, his OPS was right around .700 throughout his minor-league career as well. I'm thinking that's who he is.

For now, I'm dismissing his early-season production as an aberration, but I'd love to hear any theories suggesting otherwise.

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford responded positively to being moved up to fifth in the batting order Thursday against the Brewers. Crawford led the offensive charge in a 7-2 loss, going 3 for 4 with a solo home run, a double and two runs.

Crawford is batting .354 (11 for 31) with three home runs and seven RBI in nine career games at Miller Park. Crawford extended his hitting streak to 11 games Thursday. He's batting .432 (16 for 37) with three doubles, three home runs and seven RBI during the streak.

Mets manager Terry Collins said he gave no thought to benching shortstop Ruben Tejada, who has committed six errors through 13 games. Tejada made a 14th-straight start Thursday at Colorado.

"He's got to play," Collins said to ESPN. "I wish we could always say we could have perfect conditions, but he's going to play."

With catcher Buster Posey out of the lineup Thursday at Milwaukee, Giants manager Bruce Bochy moved shortstop Brandon Crawford from eighth to fifth in the batting order. Crawford carried a 10-game hitting streak into Thursday.

He's batting .394 (13 for 33) with two doubles, two home runs, five walks, six RBI and nine runs during his hitting streak. Bochy hinted Thursday he might continue to hit Crawford higher in the lineup.

"He shortens up really well now," Bochy said, per CSN Bay Area. "He’s shorter to the ball, his swing is more compact and he’s using the whole field."

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford extended his hitting streak to 10 games on Wednesday against the Brewers. He went 2 for 4 with a run scored in a 4-3 loss.

Crawford is batting .394 (13 for 33) during his streak with two homers and six RBI.

With Aaron Hill going on the disabled list and Didi Gregorius being activated on Tuesday, Cliff Pennington will see some playing time at second base for the Diamondbacks going forward, MLB.com reports.

Pennington will slide over to second when Gregorius starts at shortstop. He played second down the stretch for the A's last season.

The 28-year-old is batting .267 (12 for 45) through 12 games with three RBI.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told the Los Angeles Times Tuesday that the club has not considered recalling Dee Gordon. Mattingly added that he has been satisfied with Justin Sellers at shortstop with Hanley Ramirez sidelined.

Gordon is batting .319 (15 for 47) through 11 games at Triple-A Albuquerque with seven RBI and eight stolen bases.

First-year Diamondbacks shortstop Cliff Pennington might not be making a big impression offensively, the team is pleased with his contributions, especially on the defensive end.

"He's been outstanding," Diamondbacks bench coach Alan Trammell said, per MLB.com. "He's come over and done everything we were hoping for, we've been impressed. He's one of the reasons why we're at where we are. It's so far so good with him, he's brought what we needed and solidified the position."

Pennington, who has two errors through 12 games, ranks fourth among all qualifying shortstops in zone rating, which the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive zone, as measured by STATS, Inc. He's also sixth in range factor, which is an advanced fielding percentage stat that takes into account the player's individual ability to get to each batted ball.

"He's able to do it all," Trammell said. "He often shows he has a real good God-given talent in certain plays, but that's a bonus for me. It's more about making the routine plays, and that's what I've seen out of him."

I'm not sure if I'm ready to buy into the Brandon Crawford hype just yet. Though, his start to the season is certainly intriguing.

Crawford has been on a nice run since spring training. He hit .375 with a .609 slugging percentage in 23 spring games. He's carried that over into the start of the regular season, batting .282 with a .378 on-base percentage and .814 OPS in 12 games. I've read many times where the Giants feel Crawford is just beginning to scratch the surface offensively, but I just can't find any empirical evidence to support those claims.

His slash line in the minors (.266/.331/.403/.734) was hardly impressive and Crawford had a pretty stellar spring in 2012 to only have a poor offensive season in the majors. 

With all that said, however, I don't want to completely write off Crawford because he's just entering the prime of his career and he might finally be hitting his stride in the majors. While I don't think he has a high ceiling, I do feel Crawford can be useful in larger Fantasy formats.