MLB Player News

De La Cruz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game in Arizona.

For the first time all season, De La Cruz will exit the starting nine for what looks to be a routine maintenance day before the Reds continue their road trip Thursday in Los Angeles. Santiago Espinal will step in at shortstop in place of De La Cruz, who has slowed down a bit at the plate of late with two hits and six strikeouts in 14 at-bats over his last three games.

Abrams is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the White Sox, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

The lefty-hitting Abrams started in both ends of Tuesday's doubleheader and the White Sox are bringing a lefty (Garrett Crochet) to the hill for Wednesday's series finale, so Nationals manager Dave Martinez likely decided that Abrams could benefit from a game off. With Abrams out of the lineup for the first time since April 8, lightly used Rule 5 pick Nasim Nunez will pick up a rare start at shortstop.

Johnson is hitting .172 with a .390 OBP, one home run and four steals in 31 games for High-A Greensboro.

Johnson was touted by some evaluators as the best prep hitter since Joe Mauer or Ken Griffey Jr. when he was drafted fourth overall in 2022, so it's a bit jarring to see his career average sitting at .227. His career OBP is .409, and that's the area of his game he has leaned into thus far, as he is swinging less than 45 percent of the time and making contact less than 65 percent of the time. Once his luck on balls in play (.242 BABIP) stabilizes, his season line should look a bit better, but it's certainly been a disappointing return trip to the Sally League for Johnson, who turns 20 in June.

Tovar went 2-for-5 with a solo homer, a double and two runs scored in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Padres.

Tovar doubled to lead off a five-run sixth for the Rockies and then homered to kick off the seventh. He continued his recent hot streak at the plate and now has at least a hit in eight straight games, slashing .343/.361/.686 with two homers, five RBI and five runs scored over that span. The 31.1 strikeout rate is a bit alarming, but Tovar continues to hit toward the top of the lineup and is still making solid contact with a .275 average over 180 plate appearances thus far.

Perdomo (knee) has started to take live at-bats, hit in the cages and field ground balls, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports reports.

Perdomo, who's putting in five-to-seven hours per day while rehabbing at Salt River Fields, expressed optimism that he'll return by the end of the month. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo is not ready to put a timeline on the shortstop's return, but acknowledged Perdomo looks good executing the work he's currently doing. Next up, per the manager, is getting spikes on Perdomo's feet and having him run, cut, make turns and the agility to start and stop.

Alexander started at second base and went 1-for-4 with two RBI in Tuesday's 6-2 loss to the Reds.

Alexander filled in for a resting Ketel Marte and plated both Arizona runs with a two-out single in the third inning. Those were his first RBI in 13 contests. His playing time has been spotty, as the Diamondbacks are intent on Kevin Newman as the primary shortstop while Geraldo Perdomo (knee) works his way back.

Winn went 1-for-5 with a stolen base in Tuesday's 7-6 win over the Angels.

The Cardinals tried a new look Tuesday, with Winn hitting atop the order. It didn't go particularly well for him on an individual level, but the team did win and he logged a theft. Winn is 9-for-27 (.333) over his last eight games, adding two steals and two doubles in that span. The shortstop is slashing .280/.341/.364 with no home runs, seven steals, eight RBI and 11 runs scored over 38 contests on the year. It's unclear if Winn will continue to get looks at leadoff, but his speed and contact abilities likely make him a better option there than Matt Carpenter or Brendan Donovan, at least against southpaws.

The Giants recalled Luciano from Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday.

Luciano has spent the entire season with Sacramento so far, slashing .266/.399/.344 with 20 RBI across 158 plate appearances. He'll come up from the minors to give San Francisco additional infield depth, taking the roster spot of Patrick Bailey (concussion).

Amador is slashing .138/.312/.149 with zero home runs, 12 steals and more walks (19) than strikeouts (17) in 25 games for Double-A Hartford.

Coming into the year, Amador was seen as one of the best pure hitters in the minors, so it's a bit jarring to see his batting average sitting at .138 through the first five weeks of the season. Perhaps more concerning though, is Amador's complete lack of power, as his .171 BABIP and overly patient approach largely explain his low batting average. Amador's 20.6 percent hard-hit rate and 63.2 percent groundball rate are very troubling marks. He is playing half his games in Hartford, which is essentially a neutral hitting environment, after getting to play half his High-A games at the very hitter-friendly park in Spokane, which helped him slug .514 in 54 High-A games last year.

Newman went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI in Monday's 6-5 win over the Reds.

Newman ended the night with a walk-off, two-run single off Cincinnati closer Alexis Diaz, who had hit a batter and walked two before the shortstop played hero. It was the third consecutive game with multiple hits for Newman, who is 8-for-12 with four doubles, a triple, two RBI and four runs scored during that stretch. He's added 74 points to his batting average -- from .179 to .253 -- due to this outburst and is more in line with his career mark of .259. He had become the team's primary shortstop, because his glove was more reliable than rookie Blaze Alexander. Newman should continue to serve that role until Geraldo Perdomo (knee) is ready, which is expected to be at some point in June.