MLB Player News

Langford batted second and went 3-for-4 with a walk and a solo home run in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Athletics.

Langford was moved up to second in the batting among a slew of lineup and batting order tweaks enacted by manager Bruce Bochy, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports. The other major changes involved Josh Smith moving to leadoff and Marcus Semien dropping from leadoff to fifth. Obviously, moving up to second gives Langford more plate appearances, which is a good thing for fantasy managers and an offense that's been struggling (27th in runs). Langford has a 1.011 OPS with five home runs through 14 games played.

Corbin (2-0) picked up the win in Tuesday's 8-5 victory over the A's, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks over five-plus innings. He struck out four.

The 35-year-old lefty tossed 85 pitches (57 strikes) as he continues to give an injury-thinned Texas rotation surprisingly solid innings. Through three starts, Corbin has a 3.77 ERA, but his 1.53 WHIP and 10:5 K:BB are bright red flags that he's still the same pitcher that was saddled with a 5.71 ERA over the prior four seasons with the Nationals. With Kumar Rocker beginning to come around, the Rangers could have a tough choice to make once Jack Leiter (finger) is ready to return from the IL.

Martin (1-3) took the loss Tuesday against the Twins, allowing two runs (zero earned) on three hits and three walks while striking out three in five innings.

Martin allowed a season-low three hits, all singles. Fielding errors in the second and third innings helped the Twins push across two runs, but Martin was able to post his third start of the season of at least five innings and one earned run or fewer allowed. He has a 3.95 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 16:9 K:BB in 27.1 innings thus far and will aim to get back in the win column this weekend against the Athletics.

Keaschall went 1-for-2 with two walks, two steals and two runs scored in Tuesday's win over the White Sox.

Keaschall notched a hit for the fourth straight game since his promotion and ran wild with two stolen bases. He's the first player in Twins history to steal three-plus bases in their first four career games. Keaschall had 23 steals in the minors last year and is already up to seven steals between the minors and majors this season in just 75 plate appearances.

Semien was dropped from leadoff to fifth in the order for Tuesday's game against the Athletics, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports. He went 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run and four RBI in an 8-5 win.

Texas manager Bruce Bochy enacted lineup and order changes in hopes of shaking the team out of an offensive malaise. That appeared to work for Semien, who entered the night batting .141. Josh Smith took over at leadoff against a right-hander, though it's unclear if Bochy will continue this practice against lefties.

Simpson went 2-for-4 with a stolen base in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.

The 24-year-old is getting his first look in the majors due to multiple injuries in the Rays' outfield, and Simpson has gone 4-for-12 with a double, an RBI a run and two steals in his first three games. He's hitting leadoff against right-handers, and his plus-plus speed makes him an enticing fantasy target, so long as he can get on base often enough to use it. Jonny DeLuca (shoulder) has yet to begin a rehab assignment and Josh Lowe (oblique) is expected to be sidelined into May, so Simpson has a window to establish himself before the Tampa Bay outfield begins to get crowded.

Larnach went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, a walk and two runs scored in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the White Sox.

Larnach accounted for the Twins' only extra-base hit of the evening when he took Mike Vasil deep in the eighth to put Minnesota up 4-1. The homer was his second in his last four games after he didn't hit any through the first 18 games of the season. Larnach now has a hit in four straight games, but his batting average still sits at .200 for the campaign.

Smith batted leadoff and went 1-for-4 with a walk, a home run, an RBI and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Athletics.

Among the several lineup tweaks made by Texas manager Bruce Bochy, Smith was moved to the leadoff spot with Marcus Semien being dropped to fifth. The move, designed to fix a struggling offense, paid off for at least one night. The lineup and batting order tweaks came against a right-hander, and it's uncertain if Bochy will continue the practice against lefties. That will be determined Wednesday when the Rangers face southpaw JP Sears. One thing for certain is that Smith is hitting well out of the gates and getting his bat in the lineup is needed. He started in center field in place of Leody Taveras on Tuesday and eventually moved to shortstop when Corey Seager was removed due to a hamstring injury. In the past, Smith has been the primary fill-in at short whenever Seager dealt with an injury.

Duran earned his second save of the season in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the White Sox, allowing one run on a hit and two walks while striking out a batter.

Duran was staked to a three-run lead after Trevor Larnach homered in the eighth, but he nearly imploded. The White Sox loaded the bases after a single and two walks to begin the inning, but Duran responded with a strikeout and groundout before Byron Buxton saved his bacon with a spectacular diving catch on a potential extra-base hit by Andrew Benintendi to end the game. Tuesday was Duran's first outing allowing a run since his season debut, as he's pitched to an excellent 1.74 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 11 appearances thus far.

Littell (0-5) took the loss Tuesday, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk over six innings as the Rays were downed 5-1 by the Diamondbacks. He struck out two.

The right-hander delivered his second straight quality start and third in five trips to the mound on 99 pitches (61 strikes), but he once again couldn't get into the win column. Tampa Bay has scored a total of five runs in Littell's five outings, which certainly isn't helping his chances of collecting a win, but he's also served up eight homers in 29 innings to begin the season -- including two in Tuesday's loss. Littell will carry a 5.28 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 21:7 K:BB into his next start, which lines up to come on the road this weekend in San Diego.