MLB Player News
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Ezequiel Duran 2B | TEX
Rangers' Ezequiel Duran: Swipes bag in loss
Duran went 0-for-3 with a stolen base in Tuesday's loss to the Reds.
Duran saw his six-game hitting streak end Tuesday, though he did pick up his second steal of the year in the loss. Duran has gotten off to a nice start this season, seeing an increase in playing time with Corey Seager (hamstring) sidelined. The 24-year-old Duran is slashing .289/.319/.422 with a home run, six RBI and five runs scored through his first 47 plate appearances.
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Jorge Mateo SS | ATL
Orioles' Jorge Mateo: Gets day off Wednesday
Mateo is not in the starting lineup for Wednesday's series finale with the Red Sox, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reports.
Mateo will get a breather after he went 2-for-7 with a solo homer, a double and three runs scored over the first two games of the series. Gunnar Henderson will take over at shortstop while Ryan O'Hearn enters the lineup at first base and bats seventh against Boston.
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Jose Barrero SS | BAL
Reds' Jose Barrero: Hits bench Wednesday
Barrero is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rangers.
Barrero had been scheduled to receive the day off Tuesday, but he was ultimately added to the lineup late as a replacement for Wil Myers (neck) and proceeded to 0-for-3 with a walk and a run in the Reds' 7-6 win. With Myers back in action for Wednesday's series finale, Barrero will now get a chance to rest.
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Jorge Mateo SS | ATL
Orioles' Jorge Mateo: Swats fourth homer
Mateo swent 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Tuesday's 8-6 loss to the Red Sox.
His fifth-inning shot was the only run the Orioles managed against Corey Kluber, with the rest of their offense coming in a futile ninth-inning comeback attempt. Mateo continues to enjoy a blistering start to 2023, and through 19 games he's slashing .351/.400/.649 with four homers, eight steals, 13 RBI and 17 runs.
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Tommy Edman 2B | LAD
Cardinals' Tommy Edman: Goes deep in loss
Edman went 1-for-4 with a solo homer and two runs scored in Tuesday's 5-4 loss to the Cardinals.
Edman took a changeup offering from Sean Manaea over the wall in center field for his fourth home run of the season and the third over his last six games. He would reach again on a fielder's choice in the eighth and later score in the inning. The 27-year-old has turned it up at the dish over the last week, slashing .353/.450/1.059 with three homers, seven RBI, six runs and a 3:0 BB:K. Even with his recent surge at the plate, Edman is still seeing himself bat at the bottom of the order against righties while he's near the top of the lineup against lefties.
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Corey Seager SS | TEX
Rangers' Corey Seager: Still multiple weeks away
Texas manager Bruce Bochy estimated Tuesday that Seager (hamstring) is still "two or three weeks away" from returning, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Bochy touched on a few subjects, including Seager, who began baseball activities this week. He played catch and did some soft-toss swinging, but until Seager can run, any timeline is a guess.
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Josh H. Smith SS | TEX
Rangers' Josh Smith: Hits first homer
Smith went 1-for-4 with a home run in Tuesday's 7-6 loss to Cincinnati.
Smith extended Texas' lead to 6-0 in the sixth inning with a solo homer off Luke Weaver, his first of the season. Smith is still slashing just .171/.382/.244 with an RBI and seven runs scored through 56 plate appearances this season. The 25-year-old Smith has been platooning with Ezequiel Duran at shortstop, though he'll likely be relegated to a bench role when Corey Seager (hamstring) is able to return.
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Aledmys Diaz 1B | HOU
Athletics' Aledmys Diaz: Sitting out again Tuesday
Diaz is out of the lineup for Tuesday's contest against the Angels, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Diaz is out of the starting lineup for the second time in three games. The veteran infielder takes a seat with Kevin Smith getting the start at shortstop and hitting ninth against the Angels on Tuesday.
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Matt McLain 2B | CIN
Reds' Matt McLain: Strong opening act at Triple-A
McLain has a .284/.429/.567 slash line with five home runs, six steals and a 19:15 K:BB in 20 games with Triple-A Louisville.
McLain had a 1.049 OPS after his first 20 games at Double-A last season and he proceeded to hit .219 with 106 strikeouts over his final 83 games, so we don't want to overreact to this small sample. However, his 22.6 percent strikeout rate and 17.9 percent walk rate are very encouraging marks, as are his 31.9 percent hard-hit rate and 52.1 percent flyball rate. McLain has made 15 starts at shortstop and four starts at second base.
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Miguel Rojas SS | LAD
Dodgers' Miguel Rojas: To take live BP on Wednesday
Rojas (hamstring) is scheduled to take live batting practice Wednesday, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.
The bigger test for Rojas will be agility drills and running, but he's at least back to doing some amount of baseball activity a week after straining his hamstring. Mookie Betts will fill in at shortstop for Rojas on Tuesday against the Pirates in what marks his second straight start at that position.