MLB Player News

Walker (oblique) participated in batting practice Tuesday, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports.

The 30-year-old landed on the 10-day injured list April 12, and this is the first significant update in his recovery process. Walker is already eligible to be activated from the injured list, but it's unclear when he's expected to return to game action.

White is not in Tuesday's lineup against the Astros.

He's gone 5-for-32 with zero extra-base hits over his last nine games. Jose Marmolejos will start at first base and bat fifth.

Vaughn is not in Tuesday's lineup against the Tigers.

He has a mini five-game hitting streak going but has still failed to wrangle a true everyday role just yet. Jake Lamb will start in left field and bat seventh.

Flores went 2-for-5 with two runs scored in a 12-0 shellacking of the Rockies on Monday.

Flores was effective hitting out of the two-hole Monday, keeping the line moving in both the first and second innings. The two-hit performance raised his batting average to a meager .216 on the campaign with eight runs scored. Despite his modest results, the 29-year-old has been one of the best contact hitters in the league this year, connecting with pitches 88.2 percent of the time and only striking out at a 10.2 percent clip.

O'Hearn is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against Pittsburgh.

O'Hearn started three of the Royals' first four games after making his season debut Friday, going 2-for-10 with a homer and a pair of walks. With the team now heading to a National League park for a two-game series, someone has to miss out. That someone will be O'Hearn on Tuesday.

White has slashed .156/.229/.156 with five singles, three walks and a run over the nine games he's played since hitting his only home run of the season April 16.

The dearth of extra-base hits is certainly a concern and a major drain on White's fantasy value, even as he's improved his contact rate considerably in the early going. The primary issue for the 25-year-old appears to be his consistent failure to square up with authority; he's sporting a middling 27.3 percent hard-hit rate and a weak average exit velocity of 79.2 mph while seeing his soft-contact percentage rise to 29.5 percent from last season's 14.1 percent figure.

Cooper went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, two RBI and two runs in Monday's win over the Brewers.

He took Angel Perdomo deep in the ninth inning to cap the scoring on the night. The 30-year-old is only slashing .200/.294/.350 through 20 games with two homers and nine RBI, but with Adam Duvall seeing more action in center field while Starling Marte (ribs) is sidelined, right field has opened up on a regular basis for Cooper.

Blandino went 0-for-2 with three walks, a stolen base and a run scored in Monday's 5-3 win over the Dodgers.

Blandino found ways to make an impact despite not being able to make any hard contact. The 2014 first-round pick reached base three times for the first time all year and was able to notch a steal for the first time in his young career. Blandino is slashing .318/.464/.455 with three extra-base hits, four RBI, five runs scored and a 5:6 BB:K over 15 games but could see his role diminish with Mike Moustakas (illness) set to return from the 10-day injured list in the coming days.

Gurriel went 3-for-4 with an RBI in Monday's 5-2 win over Seattle.

This was his league-high-tying ninth multi-hit game of the season. He's up to 28 hits, which ties him for fifth in MLB. With Houston's stars returning from a stay on the COVID-19 protocols list, Gurriel's hits are producing runs. He's collected an RBI in six consecutive games, totaling 11 over that span.

Naylor went 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of singles in Monday's 5-3 extra-inning win over the Twins.

Naylor produced his second three-hit game of the year. The 23-year-old utilityman has settled into a near-everyday role at first base after Jake Bauers and Yu Chang both struggled to start the season. Naylor is slashing .258/.290/.348 with no home runs, no stolen bases, two RBI and four runs scored through 69 plate appearances. In addition to first base, he can also play in the corner outfield positions.