MLB Player News

Espinosa is not in the lineup Friday against the Royals, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Despite picking up hits in four of his last five games, Espinosa is still hitting just .168 on the season. He'll hit the bench for a night off, with Cliff Pennington grabbing a start at the keystone to replace him.

Forsythe is not in the lineup Friday against the Reds, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Forsythe will get the day off after starting each of the last three contests. The Dodgers will go with Justin Turner at third base, while Chase Utley gets the nod at second.

Semien (wrist) will take batting practice prior to Friday's game against the Yankees, Joe Stiglich of NBC Sports California reports.

This is the first time that Semien will be able to do full swinging off a pitched ball, which is great progress considering he just progressed to soft toss drills Sunday. There's no timetable for him to head out onto a rehab assignment, although he certainly is getting closer to that event happening, making an early July return reasonable.

General manager Sandy Alderson said Rosario won't be recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas yet, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.

With Neil Walker (hamstring) and Asdrubal Cabrera (thumb) both on the disabled list, Alderson quashed rumors that the top prospect may be joining the big club to fill the void left in the middle of the infield. "When Rosario or any of our top prospects come up we don't want them to have to go back," the GM noted. Alderson didn't rule out a change of plans if Cabrera's rehab doesn't progress as scheduled, but for now the Mets seem content stashing the 21-year-old in Las Vegas. Rosario is slashing .333/.374/.496 through 64 games at Triple-A this season.

Urias is not in the lineup for Double-A San Antonio the day after getting hit by a pitch on the elbow, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

This is a tough break for the 20-year-old, who is slashing .314/.417/.427 in 62 games with San Antonio despite a recent slump. He is expected to be reevaluated Friday, at which point there should be an update regarding his condition.

Arroyo was removed from Wednesday's game with Triple-A Sacramento after being hit on the wrist by a pitch, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. X-rays came back negative.

This appears to be good news for Arroyo, as he seems to have avoided a more serious injury. The Giants will still proceed cautiously with the top prospect, who should be considered day-to-day for now. The 22-year-old was slashing .292/.414/.417 in seven games since being optioned back to Triple-A.

Hernandez entered Wednesday's game as a pinch-hitter, going 2-for-2 with his sixth home run of the season in a win over the Indians.

Hernandez entered the game in the eighth inning to take on Andrew Miller and delivered against one of the league's top left-handed relievers. The utility man naturally owns a batting average over 50 points higher against southpaws than he does against righties, as he has done for his entire career. Hernandez was seeing semi-regular playing time while several Dodger starters were on the disabled list, but with the team looking the healthiest it has in a while, the veteran will move back into a platoon role, primarily seeing starts against southpaws while spelling regulars across the diamond.

Espinosa went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run during Wednesday's win over the Yankees.

With just a single multi-hit game through his past 21 games and a 44.3 strikeout percentage during that stretch, Espinosa continues to be a feast-or-famine hitter. In deep settings, his six homers, 24 RBI and 24 runs are respectable marks, but his .166/.244/.304 slash line is atrocious. Espinosa's glove will keep him in the lineup, so his full-time role should continue to help his counting stats.

Altuve went 3-for-3 with two doubles, was hit by a pitch and scored three runs in Wednesday's 13-2 rout of the Rangers.

Usually a prolific producer of base knocks, Altuve had been scuffling over the past 10 games, posting just a .216/.302/.324 batting line. You can't keep the star second baseman down for long -- he is hitting .320, after all -- but it's worth noting that he's dropped off a bit in terms of both power and speed; Altuve is on pace to fall short of last year's 24-homer breakout and post his first full season with fewer than 30 steals.

Merrifield went 3-for-6 with a stolen base and three runs during Wednesday's win in San Francisco.

A pair of singles and his seventh double of the season boosted Merrifield's average to .292 through 48 games. The second baseman has enjoyed the club's stay on the west coast, going 7-for-18 with five RBI and five runs over the past five games. He hasn't been particularly good hitting leadoff (averaging .185 through 81 at-bats), but Wednesday might just be what the doctor ordered to get Merrifield rolling in the top spot.