MLB Player News

Brujan will sit Friday against the Orioles, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

He has been the primary beneficiary of Brandon Lowe's back injury, as he'd started five straight games prior to Friday's contest. Brujan's done very little with his 30 plate appearances this season, hitting .111/.200/.185, but his 10.0 percent strikeout rate is encouraging and he's attempted three steals, albeit with only one successful robbery. Isaac Paredes will be the second baseman Friday.

Altuve went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a run scored Thursday against the Rangers.

Altuve has eight extra-base hits in his last eight games, and he's maintained a .355 average with 10 RBI and 16 runs scored across 16 games in May. For the season, he owns a .286/.364/.571 line across 110 plate appearances.

Semien went 1-for-4 with a double and a stolen base in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Astros.

The stolen base was Semien's third of the season and first in 28 contests. The second baseman and leadoff batter had his fourth hit in the last two games, but he's still batting just .175 with eight RBI through 36 games. For the optimists, Semien is batting .200 during the month of May, up from a .157 April.

Rosario went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Thursday's loss to the Reds.

It's been a tough start to the season for Rosario, but he's been better at the plate since getting a few days out of the lineup to manage wrist soreness earlier this month. Rosario has now hit safely in six of his last eight games. The steal was his first since April 16.

Frazier went 3-for-5 with two runs in a win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Frazier's third multi-hit effort over the last four games pushed his average to its highest point since April 21. Factoring in Wednesday's production, Frazier boasts a .370/.442/.522 slash line over his last 12 games.

Semien went 3-for-5 at the dish in Wednesday's 6-5 win over the Angels.

The three hits were a season high for Semien and exceeded his combined output (two) from his previous nine games combined. Semien's lowly .173 batting average is destined to climb from here, but the 31-year-old has yet to show any signs of bouncing back in the power department. With his move to Texas this offseason, Semien was already expected to see a downturn from the career-best 45 home runs he delivered with Toronto in 2021, but his decline as a power hitter has been even more severe than anticipated. He has yet to leave the yard through 35 games and has only seven extra-base hits (all doubles) over his 153 plate appearances. Per Statcast, Semien sits in the bottom-10 percentile of all hitters in terms of average exit velocity, barrel rate, expected slugging percentage and hard-hit percentage, so it's tough to count on him staging a major turnaround as a power hitter.

Lopez went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the White Sox.

Lopez has gone 5-for-11 with a double and a pair of stolen bases in the first four contests of a rare five-game series versus the Pale Hose. He's gotten off to a slow start in 2022, posting a .216/.304/.252 slash line with three RBI, 12 runs scored and three stolen bases in 36 games. His solid defense will keep him in the lineup at either second base or shortstop most days, but he'll often hit at the bottom of the order as he has for much of May.

Merrifield went 1-for-5 with an RBI and his sixth stolen base of the season in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the White Sox.

Merrifield's season-long batting average (.204) barely sits over the Mendoza Line, but after a brutal first month, he's at least started to settle in nicely at the plate. His base hit Wednesday extended his hitting streak to a 10 games, with the 33-year-old having slashed .372/.391/.558 with two home runs, two doubles, three stolen bases, 10 runs and 10 RBI over that stretch. He's since recaptured the leadoff job for Kansas City and once again finds himself atop the lineup for Thursday's series finale.

Altuve went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Wednesday against Boston.

Altuve led off the game with his eighth home run of the season, which was the only offense Houston mustered against Nick Pivetta. He's hit well since returning from a hamstring injury May 2, maintaining a .316 average with seven home runs, 10 RBI and 15 runs scored across 15 games. That stretch has helped him recover from a slow start, and he's now hitting .258/.343/.538 through 105 plate appearances on the season.

Arraez went 3-for-5 with a walk, two doubles, a stolen base, four runs scored and two RBI on Wednesday against the Athletics.

Arraez turned in his third multi-hit game across his last seven starts. The highlight of his performance was his two extra-base hits, as he entered the game with only three doubles and a home run across 107 plate appearances on the campaign. Despite the lack of power, Arraez has a .425 on-base percentage and has regularly hit near the top of the Twins' order, so he should be a good source of runs.