MLB Player News

Altuve went 3-for-4 with two steals, an RBI and three runs Monday against the Royals.

With six steals in seven games, Altuve's off to a rip-roaring start to 2016. Six of his eight hits have been singles, but that's just given him extra chances to run. Of course, we should expect more pop to come after Altuve ripped 15 homers and 40 doubles last year. He's well on his way to another box-score-stuffing campaign.

Giavotella is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the A's, reports MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez.

Giavotella has three hits and two RBI in nine career at-bats against A's starter Sonny Gray, but manager Mike Scioscia won't rely on the small sample size, and will instead start Cliff Pennington at second base Monday in order to get another left-handed hitter in the lineup against Gray.

Altuve went 1-for-3 with a solo Homer and a walk Sunday against the Brewers.

Altuve led off the game with his first homer of the season, and gave the Astros a lead they'd never relinquish. Despite picking up his fourth steal of the season, he otherwise struggled on the base paths, as he was caught stealing third and was also picked off of second base. He's now collected hits in five of his first six games while adding a stolen base in each of his last three.

Chavis went 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI for Low-A Greenville on Friday.

Chavis, a first-round pick in 2014, had a rough year for Greenville in 2015, his first year in full-season ball, but showed some promise late in the year. He's repeating Low-A to start 2016, but no longer needs to share third base with the highly touted Rafael Devers, who is with High-A Salem in 2016. Some polish is needed here, but Chavis projects as an above-average power hitter.

Giavotella is out of Friday's lineup against the Rangers.

He is 2-for-10 with zero extra-base hits and zero walks to start the season, so he will start Friday's game on the bench. Cliff Pennington will start at the keystone and bat ninth.

Andrus went 0-for-1 at the plate but had a sacrifice fly and a walk in Thursday's loss to the Angels. He was also caught stealing for the second time this season.

Hitting eighth in the lineup, Andrus is making the most of his at-bats thus far despite a .686 OPS. He will need to continue his strong production as he battles for playing time at shortstop with Hanser Alberto.

Marte will drop to ninth in the order for Wednesday's game against the Rangers, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News-Tribune reports.

After batting out of the second spot in the order for the first two games of the Mariners' series against the Rangers, Marte will drop down to ninth in the order Wednesday to allow the Mariners to get more left-handed bats higher in the order against righty Colby Lewis. In fact, manager Scott Servais said over the weekend that Kyle Seager will be batting second against right-handers, so Marte batting out of the ninth spot could be a regular occurrence against righties early in the season.

Andrus is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Mariners, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

He started the season 2-for-6 with a RBI, a walk and a strikeout. This seems a little early in the year for Andrus to be getting the day off, but Hanser Alberto will start at shortstop and hit ninth, nonetheless.

Forsythe went 3-for-4 with a double, a two-run homer and a run scored in Tuesday's 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays.

The new Rays leadoff hitter broke out with his first three hits of the new season, and his one-out, eighth-inning homer proved to be the game winner. He was also involved in the game-ending controversial play, as his errant throw to first baseman Steve Pearce that had apparently allowed the go-ahead runs to score was negated by an application of the new slide rule. Despite the slow start over the first two games prior to Wednesday, confidence in Forsythe's ability to be a table-setting presence at the top of the lineup-- and provide occasional pop with the bat as well-- is high.

Motter was selected as the winner of the 2016 Al Lopez Award for most outstanding Rays rookie in spring training, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports.

Motter tallied a .250 average with a homer and four RBI while impressively manning six different positions in the field. With the Rays starting lineup firmly set barring injury-- and some effective depth across the roster in the form of Steve Pearce, Tim Beckham and Brandon Guyer-- Motter's propsects of cracking the big-league roster this season aren't overly bright.