MLB Player News

Marte went 1-for-3 with a home run, two walks and two RBI in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Cardinals.

While Marte has been a below-average offensive contributor over his 68 plate appearances with the big club this season, he's started to come around since the All-Star break, providing a .265/.375/.588 line. The slugging percentage is particularly impressive for Marte, whose four home runs on the campaign are more than what he had supplied (three) with the Mariners over 713 plate appearances the last two seasons combined. The enhanced power coupled with strong defense at shortstop has allowed Marte to vault ahead of Brandon Drury on the depth chart in the middle infield.

Merrifield recently accomplished something only six other players in MLB history have been able to do -- in his first 162 games, Merrifield had 175-plus hits, 80-plus runs, 40-plus doubles and 20-plus steals, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

Considering he began 2017 in the minors, it's safe to say Merrifield sat on waivers in many fantasy leagues on Opening Day. He's since transformed into a legitimate keeper option, even in leagues with limited keeper slots available. The 28-year-old should enter 2018 with eligibility at both second base and outfield, making Merrifield an even more intriguing fantasy option.

Solarte (oblique) is expected to return from the disabled list Sunday.

The switch-hitting infielder began a rehab assignment earlier in the week and it appears it has gone well enough to where Solarte may be back in a Padres uniform by Sunday. The Padres hinted at Solarte seeing some reps at shortstop during his rehab stint, which adds to his already strong infield versatility. The official move to activate Solarte will likely come in the hours before first pitch of Sunday's series finale against the Pirates.

Drury is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Cardinals, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

Drury has found himself sitting regularly since Ketel Marte's promotion from Triple-A -- Saturday marks his seventh absence already since the All-Star break. The 24-year-old has been a net positive in the field, but he's disappointed at the dish with a .278/.328/.441 slash line 338 plate appearances this season.

Franklin was designated for assignment by the Angels on Saturday, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times reports.

This marks Franklin's second DFA in just over a month and third since April 1. The 26-year-old has hit .214/.285/.360 in parts of five seasons in the majors and he's limited defensively, realistically capable of helping out only at second base and the outfield corners. He will be subjected to waivers once again.

Andrus went 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI in Friday's 8-2 win over the Orioles.

After going just 2-for-29 in his first seven games after the All-Star break, Andrus has turned on the jets with a .364 surge over the last week that includes three homers. The 28-year-old continues to pad his career-high home-run total, which now stands at 14, and his .796 OPS is just a few points shy of last year's career best as well.

Altuve went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and two runs scored in Friday's 6-5 win over the Tigers.

He extended his hitting streak to 19 games with another impressive performance, and Altuve's hitting .524 (44-for-84) over that stretch with four homers, five steals, 19 RBI and 21 runs. The second-base dynamo has pushed his OPS up to a career-high 1.018 with the surge, and after finishing third in AL MVP voting last year he could be headed for his first major award in 2017.

Semien went 3-for-4 with an RBI single, a walk and a run in Thursday's 8-4 extra-inning loss to the Blue Jays.

The surging shortstop logged the only three-hit effort on the night for the Athletics, his third multi-hit game in the last seven contests. Semien also has six of his 11 RBI on the season during that stretch and has boosted his average 85 points to .230 since July 18.

Albies went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored for Triple-A Gwinnett in Thursday's extra-inning win over Lehigh Valley.

He's turned his season around in July, slashing .303/.336/.475 in 23 games, although he only has two steals in two attempts over that stretch. Dansby Swanson's demotion would seem to open up a spot in the Atlanta infield for Albies, but the club will keep the 20-year-old at Triple-A for now while the coaching staff takes a look at Johan Camargo. Albies and Swanson still project to be the club's double-play duo of the future, and that future could arrive as soon as this season depending on what moves the front office makes at the trade deadline.

Marte went 1-for-4 with a strikeout in Thursday's 4-0 win over the Cardinals.

Marte was making his fourth start in the last six games while Brandon Drury was on the bench for the fourth time during that span, suggesting that there may be a changing of the guard in the Diamondbacks infield. Drury has the superior offensive track record of the two players at the big-league level, but he's been in a tailspin at the dish since the beginning of June and doesn't offer as much defensive value as Marte, who has been playing shortstop lately. That has allowed Chris Owings to move over to the keystone, where he's less of a liability. With a .263/.307/.356 career line in the majors, Marte is unlikely to develop into a high-end fantasy asset while he's seeing regular at-bats, but he's shown some burgeoning pop this season and offers an impact as a base stealer. Those attributes, along with the shallow pool of talent at shortstop relative to other positions, might be enough for Marte to carry some value in NL-only or deeper mixed leagues.