MLB Player News

Ahmed is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Dodgers.

Ahmed sat Tuesday as well. Ketel Marte will again slide over to shortstop, with Daniel Descalso at second and Deven Marrero receiving another start at third. There have been no reports that Ahmed is dealing with an injury, and there are no platoon factors at play, as the Diamondbacks have faced lefties in both games. It appears that the team is just giving Ahmed a pair of off days in a row.

Ahmed is hoping that improved pitch selection and a swing path change will allow his hot offensive start to continue, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

He is working on not swinging at sinkers down and in or breaking balls down and away, which tend to lead to weak groundballs. Instead he is focusing on waiting for pitches that he can do damage on. "I think in the past I've probably not locked in a specific zone as much as I should and chased more of the pitchers' pitches, either on the corners or down and out of the zone," Ahmed said. His swing path has also evolved. He has worked with several hitting coaches and gurus recently to try to generate more balls in the air in the middle of the field. So far his production fits the narrative, as he is hitting .471 (.538 BABIP) with one home run and a 3:2 K:BB through 19 plate appearances. Of course, his career .230 batting average in 1,039 plate appearances looms as a reminder that this could very easily just be the result of good luck in a small sample size. However, it's at least not impossible, given his reported changes to his approach, that we could be witnessing a breakout.

Swanson is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Nationals.

After a nightmarish 2017 campaign, Swanson has opened the current season on a much better note, producing three multi-hit games in his first five starts. That strong performance at the dish will keep him locked in as the Braves' everyday shortstop, but Swanson will get a breather in the day game after a night game, opening up a spot in the lineup for Charlie Culberson.

Ahmed is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Dodgers.

Coming off Monday's 15-inning outing, Ahmed will have the night off. Ketel Marte will move to shortstop while Daniel Descalso covers second base, sending Ahmed to the bench. Look for Ahmed to return to action for Wednesday's series finale against Los Angeles.

Cordoba (concussion) was shifted to the 60-day disabled list Tuesday.

This was always expected, and it frees up a spot on the Padres' 40-man roster for Tyson Ross, who is scheduled to start against the Rockies on Tuesday. Cordoba remains without a timetable for his return as he continues to deal with concussion-like symptoms stemming from a mid-February car crash. He won't be eligible to return until June.

Camargo (oblique) will head to High-A Florida on Thursday to begin a rehab assignment, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Camargo battled a sore back and oblique throughout much of spring training. He'll appear in at least a pair of games for Florida before returning to the Braves. He's expected to take over as the Braves' primary third baseman when he returns, bumping Ryan Flaherty from the starting lineup.

Crawford, who has batted ninth for the Phillies in two of his three starts, is starting at shortstop and hitting ninth again Tuesday against the Mets.

It was rumored during spring training that Crawford could bat ninth for the Phillies with manager Gabe Kapler an apparent fan of batting the pitcher eighth, and so far the worst has been realized. He hit sixth on Opening Day but will hit ninth for the third straight game, and figures to do so for the foreseeable future. There are plenty of formats where Crawford needs to be owned, but in standard mixed leagues, this lineup placement could be a tie breaker for those deciding between similar middle-infield options.

Ahmed went 3-for-6 with a double, walk, run and RBI on Monday in the Diamondbacks' 8-7 win over the Dodgers in 15 innings.

Despite entering the season with a lowly .618 career OPS, Ahmed has surprisingly emerged as the Diamondbacks' top hitter through four contests. He's notched an extra-base hit in each of those games while collecting seven RBI and four runs out of the No. 7 spot in the lineup. While it's unlikely that manager Torey Lovullo is ready to move Ahmed up in the order just yet, the shortstop may be worth a short-term look in deeper mixed leagues until his bat begins to cool.

Owings went 1-for-6 with a three-run home run and a walk Monday in the Diamondbacks' 8-7 win over the Dodgers in 15 innings.

Though Owings struck out a game-high four times, he came through with the biggest moment of the night when he took Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen deep with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the score. With Nick Ahmed thriving as the Diamondbacks' everyday shortstop, Owings doesn't have a clear path to regular at-bats, but he's already picked up two starts in four games thanks to his ability to play right field. Expect Owings to stick in the lineup again Tuesday, when the Dodgers send a lefty (Clayton Kershaw) to the mound for the second straight day.

Story went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base in Monday's victory over San Diego.

Story has struggled out of the gate, collecting just two hits in 16 at-bats thus far (both singles), but to his credit he hasn't struck out in his last two games. The 25-year-old fanned seven times in his first two starts (nine at-bats), leading to a drop from fourth to seventh in the order. The steal is nice to see as Story swiped all of seven bags last year, and the offensive production should pick up once he starts playing in Coors Field. He's a streaky player -- you'll want to stick around for the highs.