MLB Player News

O'Malley got the start at shortstop Sunday and went 2-for-4 with a double in a win over the Reds.

It's his second appearance at shortstop since being called up from Triple-A, but with Chris Taylor now joining the roster to replace the injured Ketel Marte (thumb), O'Malley may not get a chance to reach the five-game threshold that would qualify him at the position in many fantasy formats. Without that extra position flexibility, his value remains fairly low.

Pennington (hamstring) is expected to be activated by Saturday, Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com reports.

Pennington was placed on the 15-day disabled list in mid-May with a hamstring injury. Saturday is the first day he's eligible to be activated. Until then, look for Gregorio Petit to receive most of the starts at shortstop.

Story is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding.

He's hitting .313 this month and tallied five hits over his last three games, but manager Walt Weiss decided it was time to give Story his first day off since April 26. Cristhian Adames will get the start at shortstop in Story's place.

Story went 2-for-4 with a run scored in Saturday's 5-1 victory over the Pirates.

The rookie shortstop continues rolling along, managing his eighth multi-hit game of May. He's tallied a stellar .313/.360/.500 line over 80 at-bats during the month, with the only blemish being that he's seen a steep drop-off in his power numbers. After blasting 10 homers in what was a memorable first month in the majors, Story has only a pair of long balls to date in May. However, the increase in OBP has certainly helped offset that, and has raised Story's average 24 points to .285.

d'Arnaud went 3-for-5 with a double in Saturday's 2-0 victory over the Phillies.

The 29-year-old led off and posted his second consecutive multi-hit game, and third in the last five. He's slashed an outstanding .394/.459/.576 to date in 33 major league at-bats, though he's yet to provide a homer or RBI. However, he's certainly shown a propensity for getting on base so far, which is affording him a nice dose of playing time.

Lindor went 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored in Friday's 4-2 victory over the Red Sox.

The Indians shortstop is enjoying a month for the ages, with Friday's effort bringing his May line to .382/.434/.513. He's done it all at the plate except for tripling, as he's managed four doubles, two homers, 10 RBI, six walks and four stolen bases. His plate discipline has been outstanding as well, with only nine strikeouts in 76 at-bats during the month. His outstanding multi-category production has made Lindor a fantasy superstar.

Ahmed is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Cardinals.

As good as Ahmed is defensively, he's been so bad offensively that it's negated his impact with the glove. The 26-year-old is now batting .188/.247/.297 on the season following an 0-for-3 showing Wednesday. Chris Owings will replace him at shortstop for Friday's game.

Crawford went 2-for-4 with his sixth home run of the season in Thursday's 3-1 win over the Padres.

Crawford appears to be heating up again with his second homer over his last three games. He can be a very streaky hitter, but he is currently on pace to repeat his excellent 2016 power numbers. His .257/.325/.444 slash line is nearly identical to his 2015 results (.256/.321/.462) which had him finishing as a top-three shortstop. Unlike last year, he is only a fringe top-10 shortstop due to the emergence of new talent at the position (Trevor Story, Aledmys Diaz and Eugenio Suarez to name a few).

The Angels acquired Jackson from the Phillies on Friday, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports.

The Angels were in need of shortstop depth in the minors with Gregorio Petit seeing regular action with the big club and two other shortstops -- Andrelton Simmons and Cliff Pennington -- on the disabled list, so they decided to pick up Jackson in exchange for cash. Jackson has 42 MLB games under his belt, but he will report to Triple-A Salt Lake and will likely need another injury to occur to see action with the Angels at any point soon.

The Phillies promoted Crawford to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday.

Crawford will get his first taste of Triple-A action after posting a .265/.398/.390 slash line with three home runs, eight doubles, and 13 RBI over 36 games with Double-A Reading. While he did not hit for much power, he posted an impressive on-base percentage, and backed that up with a 30:21 K:BB ratio. Crawford is the Phillies' best prospect and could see action with the big club before this season comes to an end.