MLB Player News

Marte will start at third base and bat second Sunday against the Nationals.

Due to J.D. Martinez (hand) still recovering from injury and manager Torey Lovullo opting to rest some established regulars over the last few days, Marte has seen more at-bats of late, with Sunday marking his fourth consecutive start. Marte's placement in the No. 2 spot is a new development, however, as he had hit seventh in the preceding three contests. The cushy landing spot ahead of the red-hot David Peralta and MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt would normally give Marte appeal as a low-cost DFS option, but a tough matchup with Stephen Strasburg could make it difficult for the infielder to get much going offensively.

Frazier is out of the lineup Sunday against the Rockies.

After maintaining an everyday role with the Pirates since mid-May, Frazier looks bound to serve as a lightly used utility man off the bench following Starling Marte's reinstatement from suspension earlier in the week. It looks like Frazier, who has started just one of the Pirates' last seven games, won't warrant much consideration for duties in right field either after Gregory Polanco (hamstring) landed on the disabled list Saturday. John Jaso picked up the start at the position Saturday and Jose Osuna will man right field Sunday, so those two players could end up working in a platoon until Polanco returns.

Herrera (shoulder) is probably done for the season, at least according to his Triple-A manager Delino DeShields, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The Reds' team doctors in Cincinnati will examine Herrera in the upcoming week, but the initial prognosis doesn't look good. Herrera has started only 66 games since the Reds acquired him in the Jay Bruce deal. The lack of progress from Herrera and Jose Peraza has been one of the biggest disappointments for the Reds this season.

Polanco has lost the everyday shortstop job for Minnesota as the team will use a committee approach that will involve Eduardo Escobar and Ehire Adrianza, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. "We're going to look for more matchups than an everyday guy right now," manager Paul Molitor said.

Polanco is hitting just .157 with a .429 OPS since June 1. He also has eight errors in his last 32 games. It sounds like he may move to a limited bench role with a few spot starts until he gets hot at the plate.

Andrus went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and two runs Saturday against the Rays.

Andrus blasted his 13th home run of the season to open the scoring for the Rangers in the fourth inning of a game they'd go on to win. His strongest fantasy assets are his .291 batting average and 20 steals, but his .466 slugging percentage is hardly a liability.

Franklin is not in the lineup Saturday against the Red Sox.

This marks the second lefty in a row that Franklin will not face, which makes it seem like he and fellow switch-hitter Cliff Pennington are in a full-blown platoon at second base. Although Franklin has the fortune of being on the larger side of the timeshare, his uninspiring batting line on the season makes him a rather unattractive asset in most fantasy formats.

Semien went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI singles, a stolen base and a run in Friday's 7-5 loss to the Mets.

The slugging shortstop has been sluggish at the plate since returning from his wrist injury, but perhaps Friday's outburst will serve as a springboard for better things. The extent of Semien's struggles is such that despite his four-hit night raising his average a whopping 41 points, it still sits at a sub-Mendoza-Line .192. However, the 26-year-old has only logged 43 at-bats overall since returning on July 6, and he certainly has the upside to considerably improve his numbers across the board in the second half.

Polanco is not in the lineup Saturday against the Tigers, Brandon Warne of ZoneCoverage.com reports.

This marks the second game in a row that Polanco will watch from the bench. Polanco still seems to be a big part of the Twins' future, although he continues to get plenty of rest while he struggles at the plate. For Saturday's contest, Eduardo Escobar will log a start at shortstop in his stead.

Andrus went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI in Friday's extra-inning win over the Rays.

His first-inning solo shot got the Rangers on the board, while his 10th-inning single brought home Delino DeShields for the winning run. Andrus had been in a 2-for-29 rut since the All-Star break, but he snapped out of it in fine fashion Friday and his 12 homers on the season has already blown past his previous career high of eight.

Herrera was placed on the 7-day disabled list with Triple-A Louisville on Friday due to right labrum inflammation, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports.

Herrera will get his shoulder examined by team doctors sometime next week, but hasn't been able to consistently play through the injury. Following his check-up, the team should be able to provide a diagnosis and a timetable for the 23-year-old. Moving forward, if Herrera is able to recover from this setback, he would be a solid candidate to join the Reds come September.