MLB Player News
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Kevin Newman 3B | LAA
Diamondbacks' Kevin Newman: Swats first home run
Newman went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's 14-1 win over the Cardinals.
Newman launched his first home run of the season as part of Arizona's six-run fifth inning. He made a second consecutive start at shortstop while Blaze Alexander tended to a hamstring injury that the Diamondbacks do not consider serious. Newman is batting .189 over 12 games.
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Bobby Witt SS | KC
Royals' Bobby Witt: Three hits in win
Witt went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base during Tuesday's 3-2 win over Toronto.
Witt's fifth-inning double proved to be the difference-maker in Tuesday's contest, plating two runs to give the Royals a 3-2 lead they would hold for the rest of the game. The 23-year-old shortstop remains one of baseball's top young stars with a .316/.362/.582 slash line through 105 plate appearances, and he's now logged a base hit in each of his last four games.
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Elly De La Cruz SS | CIN
Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Seventh homer, 12th steal in win
De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, a stolen base and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 8-1 win over the Phillies.
De La Cruz has been on a tear, going 7-for-18 with three homers and six steals in his last seven games. The 22-year-old shortstop has looked like a budding star over the first month of the season, slashing .295/.402/.641 with seven homers, 22 runs scored, 17 RBI and a league-leading 12 stolen bases through 23 games.
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Blaze Alexander SS | BAL
Diamondbacks' Blaze Alexander: Out again Tuesday
Alexander (hamstring) remains out of the lineup for Tuesday's contest in St. Louis.
Alexander tweaked his right hamstring Sunday and has now missed two straight starts. He was reportedly available off the bench Monday, so it shouldn't be long before he's ready to return to the lineup. However, with a team off day coming Thursday, the Diamondbacks might elect to hold him out until Friday. Kevin Newman will be at shortstop again Tuesday.
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Masyn Winn SS | STL
Cardinals' Masyn Winn: Notches steal Monday
Winn went 1-for-2 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored in Monday's 5-3 win over the Diamondbacks.
Winn has gone 3-for-13 with two walks, a double, a steal and two runs scored over his last four contests. The shortstop is in a starting role and leads the Cardinals with a .323 batting average. He's added an .824 OPS, four steals, six RBI, eight runs scored, three doubles and two triples, but he has yet to hit a home run this season. Winn should see a majority of the playing time at shortstop, with Brandon Crawford around to spell him occasionally.
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Bo Bichette 3B | NYM
Blue Jays' Bo Bichette: Drives in three in win
Bichette went 1-for-4 with a triple and three RBI in Monday's win over the Royals.
He opened the scoring on the night with a bases-loaded three-bagger in the third inning. Bichette only has one homer on the season so far, but he's finding ways to stay productive. Over the last 10 games, the 26-year-old shortstop is batting .282 (11-for-39) with three steals, five RBI and five runs.
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Jose Caballero 2B | NYY
Rays' Jose Caballero: Smacks second homer
Caballero went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Monday against the Tigers.
Caballero has made his mark with seven stolen bases across his first 22 games this season. However, he swatted his second homer of the campaign against Shelby Miller in the eighth inning, and he now has an extra-base hit in each of his last three games. Caballero has a clear path to playing time for the foreseeable future, as Taylor Walls (hip) has been shut down from baseball activities and is ineligible to return from the injured list until late May.
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Oneil Cruz SS | PIT
Pirates' Oneil Cruz: Collects three hits
Cruz went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI on Monday against the Brewers.
Cruz hit eighth in the order for the third straight game against a right-handed pitcher as the Pirates seek to get him on track at the plate. He showed some reasons for optimism with his three-hit performance, highlighted by a two-RBI single in the sixth inning that gave the team some insurance runs. Most importantly, Cruz struck out only once after punching out multiple times in seven of his previous 10 games.
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Javier Baez SS | DET
Tigers' Javier Baez: Scores twice in win
Baez went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in Monday's 7-1 win over the Rays.
Relegated to the eighth spot in the lineup, Baez managed to contribute, and he's been good over his last five games with a .350 batting average. The shortstop is still batting just .203 for the season, so he'll need more performances like the one he delivered Monday if he wants to get his overall numbers up to a more acceptable range.
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Elly De La Cruz SS | CIN
Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Steals base in loss
De La Cruz went 0-for-3 with a stolen base in Monday's 7-0 loss to the Phillies.
De La Cruz stole his MLB-leading 11th bag, and the Reds lead the league with 39 steals in 22 games. Other than De La Cruz's steal, nothing much happened for Cincinnati's offense, which managed just two hits and a walk against Philadelphia pitching.