MLB Player News
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Jose Abreu 1B | HOU
White Sox's Jose Abreu: Finishes road trip in style
Abreu went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI in Wednesday's 9-1 loss to the Yankees.
Abreu entered Wednesday's game with a .380 OPS and had been 2-for-31 in the first eight games of the White Sox's road trip. So, having the slugger snap out of his funk, even a little bit, was an encouraging sign for manager Rick Renteria.
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Kole Calhoun 1B | CLE
Angels' Kole Calhoun: Sitting out Wednesday
Calhoun is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Astros, Maria Guardado of MLB.com reports.
This is hardly a surprise considering the Angels are facing a tough lefty in Dallas Keuchel and Calhoun is coming off another 0-fer Tuesday -- a four-strikeout showing against Houston. Calhoun's average has dropped nearly 100 points (from .316 to .218) over the course of the last five games. He is 1-for-12 against southpaws so far after batting .290/.366/.465 against left-handed pitching last season.
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Kole Calhoun 1B | CLE
Angels' Kole Calhoun: Wears golden sombrero Tuesday
Calhoun had a rough day at the plate Tuesday, going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in a 5-2 win over Houston.
After a hot start to the season, the 29-year-old's bat has gone ice-cold recently. Calhoun has failed to record a hit in his last 17 at-bats, watching his batting average dip to .218 in the process. He has too much of a recent track record to simply be dumped this early in the season, so owners should ride out the slump or simply bench the outfielder until he turns things around.
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Yuli Gurriel DH | SD
Astros' Yulieski Gurriel: Hits first homer Tuesday
Gurriel went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run in Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the Angels.
He came out of the gate slowly, but the 32-year-old Cuban has now collected nine hits in his last six games to push his slash line on the season up to a semi-respectable .268/.286/.390. With A.J. Reed hitting just .238 in Triple-A, Gurriel's starting role at first base seems secure.
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Chris Carter 1B | LAA
Yankees' Chris Carter: Absent from lineup Sunday
Carter is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cardinals.
The Yankees will go with the left-handed Jacoby Ellsbury at designated hitter against righty Adam Wainwright for Sunday's series finale. Carter is slashing .182/.240/.273 with no home runs through his first 22 at-bats of the season. He'll have a chance to draw back into the lineup Monday against southpaw Derek Holland.
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C.J. Cron 1B | BOS
Angels' C.J. Cron: Returns to lineup in series finale
Cron is back in the lineup at first base for Sunday's game against the Royals, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports. He'll bat sixth in the order.
Cron had curiously vanished from the lineup card in each of the previous three games, with manager Mike Scioscia deployed either Albert Pujols or Jefry Marte at first base. Since Pujols sees most of his at-bats as a DH these days, Marte looks like Cron's primary competition for starts, and up to this point, the numbers have favored Cron, who has gone 7-for-23 with three runs and an RBI.
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Carlos Santana 1B | ARI
Indians' Carlos Santana: Breaks slump with three-hit effort
Santana went 3-for-6 with a double, a homer and four RBI in Saturday's win against the Tigers.
Santana launched his second homer of the season in the second inning to give the Indians a 5-0 lead of a game they'd win easily. After collecting just a single hit over his previous 22 at-bats, his performance moved his batting average up 38 points, but it's the homer that likely got his fantasy owners excited, as he's looking to replicate the career-high 34 of them he hit in 2016.
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Casey Gillaspie 1B | CHW
Rays' Casey Gillaspie: Showing strong plate discipline at Triple-A
Gillaspie, 24, has slashed .258/.333/.419 across 36 plate appearances with Triple-A Durham this season.
Gillaspie, a first-round pick in 2014, has shown excellent plate discipline throughout every stop of the minors, but since he can only play first base, the Rays will probably need him to flash more power in the upper minors before giving him his first taste of the big leagues. With the Rays currently deploying a low-ceiling platoon at first base of Logan Morrison and Rickie Weeks, it's not hard to envision Gillaspie eventually finding steady at-bats once he's promoted.
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C.J. Cron 1B | BOS
Angels' C.J. Cron: Not in Saturday lineup
Cron is not in the lineup Saturday against Kansas City, 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City reports.
Cron sat against left-hander Danny Duffy on Friday, and he'll remain out of the lineup Saturday, even with righty Nate Karns on the mound for Kansas City. Albert Pujols will get the nod at first base, while Mike Trout serves as the DH.
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Kole Calhoun 1B | CLE
Angels' Kole Calhoun: Moves to fifth in order
Calhoun will drop down to fifth in the order for Saturday's game against the Royals.
Saturday marks the first time this season that Calhoun isn't batting second in the Angels' order. That said, it's possible that manager Mike Scioscia wanted to shake things up in the lineup after the Angels were held to seven combined runs over their last three games. Calhoun and the Angels will be facing right-hander Nathan Karns on Saturday.