MLB Player News
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Ezequiel Duran SS | TEX
Rangers' Ezequiel Duran: Drawing third straight start
Duran will start at designated hitter and bat ninth Wednesday against the Royals.
Duran will get a third consecutive start, this time handling a non-defensive role after he filled in at third base for Josh Jung in the previous two contests. Jung is back in the lineup Wednesday, and Josh Smith (hamstring) is expected to be back in the starting nine by the weekend, so Duran appears likely to be headed back to a bench role in the near future.
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Josh H. Smith SS | TEX
Rangers' Josh Smith: Remains out Wednesday
Smith (hamstring) remains out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Royals.
Smith will miss a second straight start due to left hamstring tightness and isn't expected to play Thursday, either. However, the Rangers appear optimistic that the super-utility player can avoid the 10-day injured list and return to action this weekend in Pittsburgh. Smith has arguably been the Rangers' most valuable hitter this season, producing a 127 wRC+ while slashing .288/.357/.443 with seven home runs and eight stolen bases across 245 plate appearances.
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J.P. Crawford SS | SEA
Mariners' J.P. Crawford: Idle against lefty
Crawford is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Red Sox.
The left-handed-hitting Crawford typically starts against opposing southpaws, but he'll take a seat for the day game after a night game while the Red Sox send ace lefty Garrett Crochet to the bump. Dylan Moore will fill in for Crawford at shortstop and bat leadoff.
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Mikey Romero SS | BOS
Red Sox's Mikey Romero: Shelved at Double-A
Double-A Portland placed Romero on its 7-day injured list June 4 due to an unspecified injury.
Romero was slashing .246/.335/.457 with five home runs and three steals across 159 plate appearances before being shut down with the injury. The Red Sox haven't provided a timeline for the 21-year-old infielder's return to the Double-A lineup.
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C.J. Abrams SS | WAS
Nationals' CJ Abrams: Stays busy on basepaths
Abrams went 2-for-4 with a walk, a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base in Tuesday's loss to the Rockies.
The steal was the third in two games for the shortstop, giving him 14 on the season in 16 attempts. Abrams is locked in at the plate right now, racking up four multi-hit performances in the last eight games while batting .375 (12-for-32) with a homer, three RBI and eight runs scored.
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Xavier Edwards 2B | MIA
Marlins' Xavier Edwards: Three hits in Tuesday's win
Edwards went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base in Tuesday's win over the Phillies.
The Marlins' leadoff hitter continues to rack up hits in June. Tuesday's effort was Edwards' sixth multi-hit performance in 13 games on the month, a stretch in which he's slashing .404/.466/.462 with five RBI and seven runs. The steal was his 12th of the season, but his first successful attempt since he returned to action from a back issue at the end of May.
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Willy Adames SS | SF
Giants' Willy Adames: Logs two hits in loss
Adames went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a walk during Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Guardians.
Adames drew a walk in the third inning before coming around to score. The shortstop also tallied a pair of singles in the matchup, marking his second multi-hit game since sitting out June 8 against Atlanta. Over seven games since that absence, Adames is slashing .321/.364/.679 with seven runs scored, six RBI, three home runs and a double across 33 plate appearances.
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Josh H. Smith SS | TEX
Rangers' Josh Smith: Likely to avoid IL
The Rangers don't believe Smith will need to go on the injured list after suffering from left hamstring tightness during Sunday's 2-1 win over the White Sox, MLB.com reports.
Smith missed Tuesday's series-opening loss to the Royals while recovering from the hamstring injury and could miss a couple more games, but the Rangers belive the super-utility player will be ready to return by the weekend. In Tuesday's contest, Smith ceded his spot in the lineup to rookie Alejandro Ozuna, who served as Texas' designated hitter.
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Gabriel Arias SS | CLE
Guardians' Gabriel Arias: Homers in win
Arias went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a double in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Giants.
Arias had gone 0-for-8 with a walk and five strikeouts over his previous three games. He was given Sunday off ahead of a team off day Monday before returning to the lineup for Tuesday's game. The shortstop has handled the majority of the workload at that position, but he's yet to really separate himself in a playing-time battle that also includes Angel Martinez and Daniel Schneemann in the middle infield. Arias is at a .239/.301/.376 slash line with five homers, 26 RBI, 26 runs scored, 16 doubles and three stolen bases over 67 contests this season. His 29.6 percent strikeout rate, while a bit better than in previous years, continues to hold him back from being a consistent contributor.
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Bobby Witt SS | KC
Royals' Bobby Witt: Goes deep in multi-hit game
Witt went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 6-1 win over the Rangers.
Witt had just one hit in five games from June 10 through June 14, but he's tallied back-to-back multi-hit games following the brief slump. The All-Star shortstop is putting together a productive month so far, hitting .273 with three homers, three doubles, eight RBI and eight runs scored through 14 outings. Witt has just one stolen base over 55 at-bats in June after stealing 11 bags in May, so he does have some room for improvement in that area.