MLB Player News
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Bobby Witt SS | KC
Royals' Bobby Witt: Showcases power and speed
Witt went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and one steal in Monday's 7-0 win over the Cardinals.
Witt stole his 16th bag of the season and hit his 10th home run of the year. The only other players with double figures in each of those categories already are Ronald Acuna and Josh Lowe. Witt hit 20 long balls and stole 30 bags as a rookie last year, and the 22-year-old is on pace to shatter both of those marks in 2023, barring he stays healthy.
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Corey Seager SS | TEX
Rangers' Corey Seager: Stays hot Monday
Seager went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run and an additional RBI in Monday's 5-0 victory over Detroit.
Seager missed over a month on the injured list due to a hamstring injury, and since going 0-for-3 in his return, the shortstop has collected 14 hits (eight for extra bases), 18 RBI and eight runs over his past 10 appearances. The 2012 first-round pick signed a 10-year, $325 million deal with the Rangers following the 2021 campaign and went on to hit a career-high 33 homers in his first season with Texas. He already has five long balls through 22 appearances in 2023, but Seager's shown more diversity at the plate this year, slashing .333/.398/.607 across 84 plate appearances.
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Nick Allen SS | HOU
Athletics' Nick Allen: Sitting after four straight starts
Allen is out of the lineup for Monday's game against Atlanta.
After starting each of the past four games and going 2-for-12, Allen's season-long batting average now sits at .200 for the season. Since he isn't hitting for much power and owns a weak 6.6 percent walk rate, Allen could be starting to lose some security as the Athletics' top shortstop. Oakland will turn to Aledmys Diaz as their starting shortstop and cleanup hitter Monday with the hope that he can offer more production from the position.
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Casey Schmitt LF | SF
Giants' Casey Schmitt: Back in lineup Monday
Schmitt (ankle) will start at second base and bat fifth Monday against the Pirates.
Schmitt sat out Sunday's loss to the Brewers after tweaking his ankle a day earlier, but he's feeling well enough to give it a go for the start of San Francisco's homestand. The rookie made his last three starts at shortstop, but he'll give way to Brandon Crawford on Monday while moving back to the keystone.
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Jacob Amaya SS | ARI
Marlins' Jacob Amaya: Power surge at Triple-A
Amaya has hit safely in five straight games for Triple-A Jacksonville, going 11-for-20 (.550) with a double, four home runs and 12 RBI.
The 24-year-old shortstop missed about a week of action after getting hit by a pitch May 16, but since returning to the Jumbo Shrimp lineup, Amaya has been on a tear. He's now slashing .297/.367/.494 on the season, a sharp contrast to the .587 OPS that Miami shortstops have produced this season -- the second-worst mark in MLB, ahead of only the .573 OPS generated by Oakland shortstops. While he's not viewed as a top prospect, Amaya's big-league debut seems like it should be coming sooner rather than later.
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Josh H. Smith 2B | TEX
Rangers' Josh Smith: Sits against lefty
Smith is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Tigers.
With southpaw Matthew Boyd on the bump for Detroit, Smith and fellow lefty hitter Travis Jankowski will both head to the bench while the righty-hitting Bubba Thompson picks up a start in left field. While Ezequiel Duran (oblique) is on the shelf, Smith and Jankowski will likely be jockeying for one spot in Texas' everyday lineup versus right-handed pitching.
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Matt McLain 2B | CIN
Reds' Matt McLain: Four more hits in win
McLain went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI, a run scored and a steal in Sunday's win over the Cubs.
McLain capped off his big week with a bang, tallying multiple hits for the third straight game while also notching his first big league steal. Over the last seven games, the 23-year-old has gone 15-for-31 with two homers, seven RBI, nine runs and a 3:6 BB:K. McClain has strictly hit out of the two spot across 12 starts thus far and is contributing to what is becoming a dangerous hitting trio at the top of the order with Jonathan India and Spencer Steer.
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Geraldo Perdomo SS | ARI
Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo: Better hitter this year
Perdomo went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Sunday's 4-2 win over Boston.
Perdomo led off the second inning by turning on a Tanner Houck four-seamer for his fifth home run. Perdomo's average against four-seam fastballs thus far is .362 compared to the .168 average he had as a rookie in 2022. The shortstop is a much better hitter overall his second time through MLB. Perdomo's slashing .304/.403/.522 through 41 games compared to the .214/.333/.274 line he had at this point during his rookie year.
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Carlos Correa SS | HOU
Twins' Carlos Correa: Base hit in return to action
Correa went 1-for-4 in his return to Sunday's lineup against the Blue Jays.
Correa was slotted back in at shortstop and hit third after sitting out Saturday's game while managing some foot and heel discomfort. He singled his first time up and nearly missed a home run to center in the eighth. It's been an unusually slow season thus far at the plate for the 28-year-old, who is now slashing .216/.392/.700 with six homers, 24 RBI, 14 runs and a 24:45 BB:K over 201 plate appearances.
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Jeremy Pena SS | HOU
Astros' Jeremy Pena: Lifts homer in blowout win
Pena went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and a walk in Sunday's 10-1 win over the Athletics.
Pena hadn't homered in 22 games entering this weekend, but he's gone deep in back-to-back contests. During the power drought, he hit .244 (20-for-82) with five extra-base hits, and he was caught stealing four times in that span. It's been a tough start to 2023 for the shortstop, whose .247/.292/.439 slash line through 51 games isn't all that different from where he ended last year. He's added eight homers, 26 RBI, 28 runs scored and six stolen bases while maintaining a near-everyday place in the lineup.