MLB Player News

Baez is batting seventh and playing shortstop Tuesday against the Brewers.

The 24-year-old has only started at second base this season, but he'll give Addison Russell a day off by switching to the other side of the infield. Baez is currently riding a modest four-game hit streak, and given his versatility, he could get more looks around the diamond if other players need days off.

Sardinas started at shortstop on Monday, going 1-for-3 with a stolen base in a loss to the Braves.

The 23-year-old fell out of favor to the 33-year-old Erick Aybar this spring, failing to claim the Padres' starting shortstop job despite entering camp as the leading candidate. The latter has done nothing to lose his role as the team's everyday shortstop, so Sardinas will continue to ride the pine on most nights.

Seager went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in Monday's 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Even some of the best young players have bad nights like these, and the soon-to-be 23-year-old is no exception. Seager is now sporting an uncharacteristic 28.3 percent strikeout rate in the early going, but he also has a slash line of .283/.350/.491 despite the bad night at the plate. He's hitting .250 (5-for-20) with a home run against lefties so far, and he'll sometimes sit against them, but Seager remains a must-start whenever he's in the lineup.

D'Arnaud has gone 2-for-6 with one walk and two strikeouts during the early stages of the 2017 season.

D'Arnaud has started only once this season, as he normally enters games as a pinch hitter or pinch runner. When he's stayed in the game, he's played in left field, usually replacing Jace Peterson. Emilio Bonifacio is Atlanta's fourth outfielder, ahead of d'Arnaud, and the 30-year-old utilityman could also see time in the infield, primarily at shortstop as the backup to Dansby Swanson.

Baez isn't included in the lineup for Monday's game against the Brewers.

Manager Joe Maddon wanted to open up a start for Albert Almora on Monday, so Ben Zobrist will move from the outfield to second base, leaving no lineup spot available for Baez. Though Baez has recorded at least one hit in four straight games, he's gone just 7-for-31 (.226 average) at the plate on the season and is still looking for his first home run.

Seager went 0-for-4 to snap a six-game hitting streak during Sunday's loss to Arizona.

The shortstop has recorded a hit in 11 of 13 games this season and already has two home runs, a steal, 10 RBI and eight runs along with a .306/.375/.531 slash line. Expect more of the same from Seager going forward, and his game-to-game consistency is worth keeping in mind for daily contests -- especially in favorable matchups.

Owings went 2-for-4 in his return to the lineup Sunday against Los Angeles.

Owings took a seat Saturday, but it was right back to business Sunday. He's now sporting a .356/.383/.489 slash line with four runs, a home run, six RBI and four stolen bases. His cross-category profile and multi-position eligibility makes Owings a nice depth piece for your roster in deep settings.

Gordon went 3-for-4 with a run scored in Sunday's win over the Mets.

A week ago, Gordon was barely hitting over the Mendoza Line, but after piling up four three-hit performances in his last six games, he now has a .333 (18-for-55) batting average, He's also scored eight runs through 12 games, and with Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto showing signs of putting together breakout seasons behind him in the batting order, Gordon could be well on his way to his first 100-run campaign.

Crawford is hitting just .086 with a .343 OPS through his first 10 games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

It's a really bad start for the Phillies' top prospect, but this is also an extremely small sample size. Crawford's walk rate is solid, but he's striking out 30 percent of the time, which is more than double his career average and may indicate that he's pressing at the plate. The Phillies have no need to rush Crawford to the majors, so they'll give him plenty of time to figure things out in Triple-A.

Story went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Giants.

It's been night and day for Story compared to his April in 2016. His three-strikeout clunker Sunday moves him down to a slash line of .114/.264/.250 in 53 plate appearances. It's still early, and Story has been rather streaky in his young career, but he'll need to reduce his lofty 37.7 percent strikeout rate in order to turn things around. The 24-year-old is showing why he was somewhat of a risky early-round pick in drafts. There's plenty of time for him to turn it around, but now would be a good time to see if his owner is panicking.