MLB Player News

Casas is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the White Sox, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

The 25-year-old will take a seat against Chicago lefty Martin Perez, as the first baseman has yet to receive a start against a southpaw this season. Casas has struggled to a .172/.243/.266 slash line through 70 plate appearances this year, and he's unlikely to break out of the platoon without first coming alive versus righties. Romy Gonzalez will receive another start at first base for Boston.

Burleson is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Mets.

With lefty David Peterson on the bump for the Mets, Burleson will yield to Luken Baker in the designated hitter slot. Burleson has been absent from the lineup all six times the Cardinals have faced a southpaw this season.

Torkelson went 2-for-4 with one walk, one double and three RBI in Thursday's 6-1 win over the Royals.

Torkelson opened Thursday's scoring with a two-run double in the third inning, and he tallied a third RBI in the eighth frame when his single to center field brought Ryan Kreidler home. Torkelson has logged at least one RBI in five of his last six games and has a 1.035 OPS over that span.

Naylor went 1-for-4 with a walk and a solo home run in Thursday's 6-4 win over the Marlins.

Naylor went deep for a third straight game and is up to four homers through 19 contests this season. He's hit safely in nine of the last 10 games, batting .368 with seven extra-base hits, 10 RBI and seven runs scored during that stretch.

Wade isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Phillies, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The lefty-hitting Wade will step out of the starting nine Thursday while southpaw Cristopher Sanchez starts on the mound for Philadelphia. Casey Schmitt will pick up a start at first base and bat fifth while Wade rests.

Mervis is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Diamondbacks.

With southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez taking the hill for Arizona, Mervis will be one of three left-handed-hitting Marlins regulars who will retreat to the bench. Eric Wagaman will pick up a start at first base in place of Mervis, who has gone 9-for-25 with six home runs and 11 RBI over his last eight games.

The Reds placed Encarnacion-Strand on the 10-day injured list Thursday with low-back inflammation.

Encarnacion-Strand had a two-RBI double in Wednesday's loss to the Mariners, but he's been playing through a back issue for a while and the Reds have decided that the best course of action is to rest him for a bit. Jeimer Candelario is likely to handle the bulk of reps at first base while Encarnacion-Strand is out, with Gavin Lux, Santiago Espinal and Noelvi Marte representing the Reds' options at third base.

Walker went 0-for-4 with a strikeout Wednesday against the Cardinals.

Walker hasn't produced much this season, as he's collected only 10 hits across 65 at-bats with two extra-base knocks. He is also hitless across seven of his last nine starts. If there is a positive to take away, Walker has struck out multiple times in only one of his last six games after doing so seven times in his first 11 matchups.

Horwitz (wrist) is likely to head to the Pirates' complex in Florida to begin a rehab assignment in the near future, MLB.com reports.

Horwitz has been cleared for all baseball activity and has been taking batting practice for the last several days. He'll likely still require some time to get in a rhythm after missing all of spring training, meaning a return in early May could be realistic.

Burger went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Angels.

Burger returned to the lineup after missing one game due to an illness and recorded his first multi-hit game of the season. A slow start has given way to hot stretch for the first baseman. Burger, who batted .105 over his first 11 games, has now hit safely in five straight, going 7-for-19 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.