MLB Player News

Merrifield will start at second base and bat second in Wednesday's game against the White Sox.

After going a collective 1-for-10 with six strikeouts at the dish while starting both of the past two games out of the leadoff spot while the Royals opposed left-handed pitchers, Merrifield will drop down a spot in the order with Chicago bringing a right-hander (Dylan Cease) to the hill. Though Merrifield doesn't appear in any jeopardy of dropping lower than second in the order, he's undoubtedly been a disappointment for fantasy managers who were banking on him being a stabilizer in the batting-average category. He's hitting just .127 heading into Wednesday's contest, but a .151 BABIP and a Statcast-measured .243 expected batting average suggest that Merrifield is due for some considerable correction in that category.

McNeil is not in the starting lineup for Wednesday's series finale against the Cardinals, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports.

After producing four hits in the first two games of the series, McNeil will take a seat Wednesday. The 30-year-old has put together a nice five-game hitting streak and has at least two hits in three straight. He'll be replaced in the lineup by Luis Guillorme who will start at second base and bat eighth in the contest.

Espinal went 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, a run scored and two RBI in Tuesday's 6-5 extra-inning win over the Red Sox.

He was the first Toronto batter to reach base in the game, drawing a walk off Nick Pivetta to lead off the third inning, and Espinal just kept on reaching base all night. The 27-year-old has been one of the Blue Jays' biggest contributors lately, putting together a five-game hitting streak in which he's gone 7-for-17 (.412) with two doubles, two homers, four runs and five RBI, and he is giving the team no reason to remove him from the starting job at second base.

Hernandez batted fifth and went 1-for-3 with two RBI in Tuesday's 6-5 extra-inning loss to the Blue Jays.

Hernandez had a run-producing sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and singled in another during a four-run rally in the eighth inning, an encouraging sign for a team that has been unable to post a crooked number of late. For Hernandez, who opened the season as Boston's leadoff hitter, this was the fifth time in the last six games he has not been atop the order. Trevor Story has filled that role instead.

Marte batted sixth in the order for the first time this season in Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Dodgers. He went 0-for-3 with a walk.

Marte consistently batted second until being dropped to sixth Tuesday. The move appears to be a result of the second baseman's early slump, designed to take pressure off him. Marte, who signed a lucrative five-year deal this spring, is zero for his last 15 at-bats and batting .149 over 67 at-bats overall.

Rojas (oblique) played five innings of a game at extended spring training Tuesday, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

Rojas had been taking batting practice and doing fielding drills, but Tuesday's activity was his first game action while recovering from injury. He's scheduled to take Wednesday off before returning to action Thursday. Rojas was seemingly headed for an everyday role at third base when the oblique injury cropped up during spring training. Since then, shortstop Nick Ahmed returned from a shoulder injury and shortstop prospect Geraldo Perdomo has been eased in to third base. If Perdomo remains in the majors to play the hot corner, Rojas could revert to the utility infield role he filled when he first came up in 2019. The Diamondbacks do not plan to use him in the outfield, a nod to the defensive lapses made by several players that have been asked to defend positions at which they are less familiar.

India (hamstring) went 1-for-4 with a double in a loss to the Padres on Tuesday.

There wasn't much to write home about in India's return from the injured list, but he did show the hamstring is fine by legging out a double against Joe Musgrove in the fifth inning. India has resumed tablesetting duties for an underperforming Reds offense.

Altuve (hamstring) took part in all running drills prior to Tuesday's game against the Rangers, Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest reports.

In addition to getting in some sprinting work, Altuve also tested out his strained left hamstring by moving around side-to-side. The second baseman also performed fielding drills a day earlier, so he appears to be making good progress in his recovery from the injury. He could be ready to return from the 10-day injured list this weekend when first eligible.

Triple-A Jacksonville activated Diaz (undisclosed) from its 7-day injured list Tuesday.

Diaz, who was outrighted to Jacksonville on March 29 after clearing waivers, made his debut for the affiliate a week later but has since been sidelined for the past two and a half weeks. After he made a pair of rehab appearances at Single-A Jupiter, Diaz looks prepared to reclaim an everyday role for Jacksonville.

Drury is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Padres.

With Jake Fraley (knee) back in the lineup as the Reds' designated hitter after he was on the bench for the past five games, Drury doesn't look as though he'll see regular at-bats against right-handed pitching moving forward. He could still serve as a short-side platoon mate at DH for either Fraley or Tyler Naquin, both of whom are left-handed hitters.