MLB Player News

Torres went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in Friday's 7-6 win over Cleveland.

The blast was the first of his big-league career, making him the youngest Yankee to homer since John Ellis in 1969. Torres now has an impressive .333/.367/.467 slash line through his first 13 MLB games.

Marte is not in the lineup Friday against the Astros.

Despite his 2-for-3 showing Thursday, Marte is hitting just .190 over the past seven games. As such, he'll head to the bench for a night off Friday, allowing Chris Owings to pick up a start at the keystone in his stead.

Albies went 2-for-6 with a three-run home run in Thursday's 11-0 rout of the Mets.

The evolution of Albies into a feared power hitter has been nothing short of extraordinary. Coming into 2017, the switch hitter had only seven homers in 293 career minor-league games, but he swatted 15 in 154 games between Triple-A Gwinnett and the majors last year and now has 10 in 30 games to begin the 2018 campaign. He'll eventually slow down on that front -- his 20.8 percent HR/FB rate seems unsustainable -- but adding even double-digit homers to his offensive profile makes the 21-year-old a legitimate five-category fantasy asset, and he's headed for a lot more than merely double digits.

Marte went 2-for-3 with a walk, RBI, run and a stolen base in the Diamondbacks' 5-2 loss to the Dodgers on Thursday.

Marte was the Diamondbacks' most productive hitter on the afternoon, but he'll probably need to cluster together several solid performances before recapturing his old role as the club's No. 2 hitter, which has fallen to Nick Ahmed of late. A career-worst .250 BABIP has contributed to Marte's sickly .224 average, but with his groundball rate sitting at 62.4 percent, it's difficult to see the 24-year-old's batting line climbing significantly until he adjusts his approach at the plate. Perhaps more troubling than Marte's low average and lack of power is that he hasn't been active as a base stealer, despite ranking in the 86th percentile in sprint speed in 2018, per Baseball Savant. The stolen base Marte collected Thursday was just his fourth (on five attempts) across 379 plate appearances with the DIamondbacks the last two seasons.

Solarte went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs scored in the second game of a doubleheader Thursday against the Indians.

Solarte had a huge day at the plate, going a combined 8-for-10 with two home runs, seven RBI and four runs scored. The performances raised his average from .238 to .287 and accounted for nearly one-third of his runs driven for the season. After hitting an uninspiring .218 through 87 at-bats, Solarte has turned it on with four multi-hit games across his past six games.

Ngoepe was designated for assignment Thursday Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Just hours after being optioned down to Triple-A, Ngoepe is now without a spot on the 40-man roster after the Blue Jays made a flurry of moves between games in Thursday's doubleheader. Reliever Luis Santos had his contract selected and he will take Ngoepe's spot. Ngoepe had seen inconsistent playing time in the weeks leading up to his demotion and he had just one hit in 18 at-bats. He'll now be subject to waivers, but could return to the Blue Jays' organization if he goes unclaimed.

Giavotella revealed Wednesday via his personal Twitter account that he was released by the Marlins.

After failing to win a reserve infield spot with the Marlins while attending spring training as a non-roster invitee, Giavotella was assigned to Triple-A New Orleans to begin the season. He appeared in 10 games in the Pacific Coast League, hitting .214 across 28 at-bats before being cut loose to make room for JT Riddle (shoulder), who was optioned to New Orleans after being activated from the 10-day disabled list. Giavotella will try to latch on with another organization as infield depth in the high minors.

Ngoepe was sent down to Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday.

Ngoepe only appeared in one game since re-joining the big-league team at the beginning of this week, but didn't record an at-bat, instead serving as a pinch-runner and scoring one run against the Twins on Tuesday. He will continue to receive everyday at-bats at the Triple-A level instead of being utilized as a reserve for the Blue Jays.

Andrus is expected to begin rehabilitation on his right elbow during the Rangers' upcoming homestand, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

That was the good news for Andrus, who was transferred to the 60-day disabled list Wednesday, pushing out his return to June 11 at the earliest. The injured shortstop will meet with the team medical director Thursday and could begin some arm strengthening exercises after giving his fractured right elbow three weeks to heal. Jurickson Profar and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will help fill in at shortstop while Andrus is unavailable.

Andrus (elbow) was moved to the 60-day disabled list Wednesday.

Andrus went down with a fractured elbow on April 11. An initial timetable left Andrus sidelined for 6-to-8 weeks, and it looks as though the latter will be more accurate after he was transferred to the 60-day DL in order to make room for the recently acquired Carlos Perez. Andrus will be eligible to return against the Dodgers on June 12.