MLB Player News

Owings went 0-for-2 with two runs scored Monday in the Diamondbacks' 9-5 win over the Pirates.

Though Owings is expected to occupy the short end of a platoon with Jarrod Dyson in center field following the recent acquisition of Jon Jay, Owings was surprisingly awarded a start over Dyson on Monday even with a right-hander (Joe Musgrove) on the bump for Pittsburgh. Owings rewarded manager Torey Lovullo's decision to include him in the lineup, as he came around to score both times he reached base and made the defensive highlight of the night, snaring a deep fly off the bat of Jordy Mercer in the sixth inning and then doubling Josh Bell off at first base. Owings is still hitting a weak .193/.267/.301 for the season, so he'll need several more quality games before earning a regular role.

Cordoba (concussion) played his first game of the season for High-A Lake Elsinore on Monday, Bill Center of MLB.com reports.

Cordoba had been out all season after suffering a concussion in a car crash in mid-February. He's listed as being on a rehab assignment, but there's no guarantee he'll end up back in the majors once the assignment concludes, as he'd never played above rookie ball before being taken by the Padres in the Rule 5 draft prior to the 2017 season. He didn't do much to demand major-league time last season, hitting just .208/.282/.297. With the Padres having fulfilled their obligation to keep him in the majors all season last year, they can now continue his development at a more appropriate level this season.

DeJong (hand) began light baseball activities Monday, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.

DeJong was able to field grounders for the first time since fracturing his hand last month. He'll be reevaluated later in the week, but barring any setbacks, the Cardinals are hoping to have the shortstop back before the end of June, according to Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Fletcher is hitting .353/.398/.566 with six home runs, seven stolen bases and a 16:21 BB:K across 270 plate appearances for Triple-A Salt Lake this season.

Throughout all of his stops in the minors prior to this season, Fletcher has always displayed impressive contact skills along with a modicum of speed, but his lack of slugging production was expected to damage his chances of emerging as a big-league regular. The 24-year-old has seemingly altered his long-term outlook for the better in his repeat season at Triple-A, as he has maintained his high contact rate while tapping into more power than anticipated. Fletcher has already racked up a minors-best 36 extra-base hits on the campaign, putting him well on track to top his total from the previous two years combined (47). Though the Angels currently have a void in the middle infield with Andrelton Simmons (ankle) on the 10-day disabled list, Fletcher's lack of a 40-man roster spot likely hurts his chances of a promotion in the near future, even though his performance at Salt Lake has warranted one.

Bichette went 3-for-4 with a trio of base hits, a walk, two RBI and three stolen bases for Double-A New Hampshire in its 7-5 win over Bowie on Sunday.

With uber prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (knee) on the shelf for at least the next four weeks, Bichette becomes the main attraction at New Hampshire. He certainly didn't disappoint in the lead role Sunday, putting his speed and high-contact and on-base skills on full display in one of his more complete performances of the season. After struggling at the plate for much of May, Bichette's bat has heated up of late with a .361/.425/.500 slash line through the first 10 games of June. He has also been efficient on the basepaths throughout the campaign, posting a 20-for-25 success rate on stolen-base attempts.

Adames was promoted to the majors Monday to replaced the injured Daniel Robertson (hamstring).

Adames made a brief major-league debut in late May, going 2-for-12 with a homer over three games. He has a promising profile, with the potential to hit for both power and average from the shortstop position. The 22-year-old has hit a solid .286/.356/.424 in 54 games for Triple-A Durham so far this season. Whether or not Adames will be up for good this time is not yet clear. The Rays are notoriously slow with their prospects, but the young shortstop has now played nearly a season and a half at the Triple-A level and has little left to prove in the minors.

Owings went 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and an RBI in the Diamondbacks' 8-3 win over the Rockies on Sunday.

After moving to the bench for the first two games of the series, Owings entered the lineup Sunday in place of a resting David Peralta and kept the Diamondbacks offense humming. With a .770 OPS to go with two stolen bases over his last 12 games, Owings' production has been on the upswing of late, but it may be too late for him to recapture a full-time role in the outfield after the Diamondbacks acquired Jon Jay from the Royals on Wednesday to give the team a much-needed on-base threat atop the order.

Ahmed went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, a run and an RBI in the Diamondbacks' 8-3 win over the Rockies on Sunday.

After sitting out Friday's victory, Ahmed came up big in the final two games of the series in Colorado, going 4-for-8 with a home run, four RBI and three runs. The RBI and run totals exceeded Ahmed's production from the previous eight games combined, so it will be difficult to rely on him outside of very deep mixed leagues and NL-only formats as he returns to a more neutral offensive environment in Arizona for the Diamondbacks' seven-game slate this week.

Anderson went 0-for-2 with two walks, a run scored and an RBI in Sunday's win over Boston.

Anderson worked a bases-loaded walk against Rick Porcello in the third inning, then alertly came around from second base on a 3-1 putout on which Porcello stumbled after taking the throw from Mitch Moreland. This was Anderson's fourth multi-walk game of the season, three more than the free-swinging shortstop had during his first two seasons in the majors. He has now walked 20 times over 243 plate appearances (8.3 BB%) this season, after accepting just 13 free passes over 606 plate appearances (2.2 BB%) in 2017.

Crawford went 4-for-4 with a two-run home run and a double in the Giants' 2-0 victory over the Nationals on Sunday.

Crawford continued his ridiculous hot streak of recent weeks with this four-hit performance bringing his slash line up to a shiny .338/.385/.536 through 222 at-bats. Those numbers make him one of the best offensive shortstops in baseball to start the season, and even if Crawford's average ends up evening out back toward his career mark of .257 as the year progresses, he certainly has the look of a player primed for a career-best campaign at the plate.