MLB Player News

Petit hit his second home run of the season, a grand slam, in Monday's loss to the Astros.

Petit continues to make the most of the chance he is getting with Andrelton Simmons injured. Although he has a rough 7:25 BB:K, he now has two home runs and 10 doubles to give him a sharp .446 slugging percentage. As long as he hits for this kind of power, the Angels will have to find a spot for him in the infield just to keep his bat in the lineup. He has 15 career starts at third base and 21 at second base, versatility that will only help his case.

Giavotella is not in the lineup for Monday's matchup with the Astros, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports.

Giavotella will sit while Gregario Petit gets the start at second base and bats ninth. The second baseman is on an eight game hitting streak, but he'll rest while righty Doug Fister starts on the mound. Giovatella has struck out three times and gotten one hit in his 10 career at-bats against Fister, so this will be a good day for him to get some rest.

Forsythe went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base in Sunday's loss to the Giants.

He's now hitting .286 (12-for-42) in nine games since coming off the DL while scoring six runs from the leadoff spot in Tampa's order. The steal was his fourth of the year, and after swiping nine in 2015 he's got a shot at the first double-digit campaign of his career.

Merrifield went 3-for-5 with a walk, four RBI and a run against the Tigers on Saturday.

Merrifield's four RBI were a career high for the rookie second baseman. He's riding a seven-game hitting streak in which he's amassed five multi-hit performances while raising his average 17 points. Through his first 115 MLB at-bats, the 27-year-old is slashing .339/.356/.469.

Marte will bat leadoff Friday against the Red Sox.

The 22-year-old will be atop the order for a third straight game with the Mariners set to face their third straight opposing left-hander in Roenis Elias. Marte has hit safely in seven of nine games since his return from the DL, adding three stolen bases. He's hit at the bottom of the lineup against right-handers.

Motter went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs in Thursday's 6-4 loss to the Mariners.

The struggling 26-year-old came through with the first three-hit effort of his career in the series finale, pushing his average over the Mendoza Line for the first time since May 30 in the process. Motter had gone 0-for-10 in his last four games, so the breakout performance was a badly-needed one. The two-bagger was only his second of the season, and fourth extra-base hit overall. Motter's line is up to .204/.323/.352 following Thursday's production.

Forsythe enters Thursday's series finale versus the Mariners having gone 5-for-11 with a double, triple, walk and a run over the first two contests of the three-game set.

The veteran infielder has hit the ground running after his DL stint, and scored the winning run in Wednesday's 13-inning victory when Logan Morrison drew a bases-loaded walk. Forsythe was on base four times during the extra-inning win, and has a .778 OPS in his first five games back from injury.

Giavotella went 2-for-4 with a homer and a stolen base Tuesday against the Twins.

Giavotella has now homered in back-to-back games for the first time this season, and has registered eight hits over his last four contests. Giavotella is enjoying his best power season in the major leagues, but that still equates to just a .396 slugging percentage. While the power he has shown of late is likely unsustainable, Giavotella is registering a hard contact rate of over 28 percent, and could be worth a look at a shallow position in deeper leagues.

Andrus went 3-for-5 with a homer, two runs and two RBI Tuesday against the Athletics.

Andrus' third home run of the year gave the Rangers an insurance run in the eighth inning of a winning effort. He's now collected nine hits over his last four games to raise his slash line to .294/.342/.417.

Giavotella hit a solo home run, his third, as part of a 4-for-4 game with two runs scored in Monday's loss to the Twins.

Giavotella still has a mediocre .269/.294/.378 batting line, but he has picked it up since May. Monday's performance brought his numbers in June up to a robust .304/.331/.415. He has just two home runs in that span and shouldn't be expected to provide much in the way of power, but Giavotella makes consistent enough contact to hit for solid average and has played his way into regular at-bats in the Angels' infield, and that makes him worth a look at least in AL-only formats and deep mixers.