MLB Player News

Merrifield went 1-for-5 with a home run in Sunday's 8-5 victory over the Tigers.

After a quiet start to the season, Merrifield has hit three home runs over the last five games. In that time, he's gathered five of his seven RBI for the year and scored four runs. Although Merrifield seems to be finding his power, his .266 batting average has room to climb after finishing at .288 in 2017.

Torres went 0-for-4 with a strikeout during Sunday's 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays.

Although Torres' first game with the Yankees was subpar, the highly regarded prospect will have plenty of chances to improve as he's in line to serve as the team's everyday second baseman. Prior to being called up, Torres had hit .347 with a .903 OPS over 14 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that the team's "general" plan is to use Torres as its everyday second baseman, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.

Torres is a natural shortstop, but with Didi Gregorius proving to be both an offensive and defensive standout at that position, the 21-year-old will instead have to pick up reps at the keystone. Since he has already seen plenty of action at both second and third base in spring training and the minors, Torres doesn't enter the big leagues with many defensive concerns, which should help his case for sticking in a full-time role even if his bat doesn't play as well as expected in his first exposure to the majors. Given his seemingly stable playing time, long track record of strong on-base percentages and contact rates in the minors and presence in a powerful Yankees lineup, Torres is worth an immediate speculative pickup in most fantasy formats.

Torres was officially promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and will start at second base and bat eighth in Sunday's game against the Blue Jays, Meredith Marakovits of YES Network reports.

Torres was likely in line for a promotion to the big leagues last season, but his efforts were derailed by an elbow injury in June that required Tommy John surgery. The 21-year-old required only 14 games at Triple-A this season to prove to the Yankees' brass that he's back to full strength, with Torres' .347/.393/.510 line in the International League prompting his callup to the big club. It's expected that Torres will see at least semi-regular action at either second or third base initially, though if he struggles more than expected offensively, a demotion to Triple-A isn't out of the question. Neil Walker -- who is sitting out Sunday -- Tyler Austin and Miguel Andujar would seem most at risk of losing out on starts while Torres is up with the Yankees.

Hernandez hit a solo homer as a pinch hitter Saturday against the Nationals.

Hernandez came off the bench in the seventh inning and popped his second home run of the season. He is known for being able to hit left-handed pitching well, but he;s been dismal at the plate regardless of the handedness of the pitcher to begin the season. He has gotten inconsistent at-bats of late, but if he builds off this performance, he could find himself back in the lineup regularly again.

Semien went 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and an RBI while also stealing a base Saturday against the Red Sox.

Semien scored all three of his team's runs Saturday, with the highlight being a solo home run against Chris Sale in the third inning. He also stole his second base of the season in as many attempts. While many of his numbers don't stand out as impressive in the early going, he has benefitted from batting exclusively first or second in the A's lineup, scoring 16 runs with just a .320 on-base percentage.

The Yankees plan to promote Torres to their 25-man roster Sunday, Jack Curry of YES Network reports.

Torres was dealing with back tightness earlier this week but is apparently healthy enough for his long-awaited promotion to the majors. The Yankees' top prospect has raked at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season with a .370/.415/.543 slash line in 46 at-bats. Miguel Andujar has seen significant time at third base with Brandon Drury (impaired vision) on the disabled list, but Torres could seize that opportunity if he hits the ground running in the majors.

Rosario is not in the lineup Saturday against the Braves, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Rosario will sit in favor of Jose Reyes for just the third time this season. The 22-year-old is hitting a mediocre .250/.297/.367 so far this season.

Frazier is not in the lineup against Philadelphia on Saturday.

Frazier will retreat to the bench following three straight starts, including an 0-for-5 day at the plate during Friday's tilt. In his place, Sean Rodriguez will start at second and bat atop the Pirates' order.

Frazier, who batted leadoff and played second base Friday, went 0-for-5 against the Phillies.

He has only three hits in 22 at-bats since starting second baseman Josh Harrison (hand) was placed on the disabled list. Overall, the 26-year-old is batting .213 with a .543 OPS in 50 plate appearances. Considering Frazier's defense is below average, it's possible that Max Moroff -- who is better with the glove -- could soon steal starts at second base unless Frazier starts hitting.