MLB Player News

Forsythe has dropped down to fifth in the order for Friday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Andrew Toles is set to lead it off for the Dodgers for Friday's series opener after Forsythe batted in that spot Thursday. It appears that Forsythe will continue to lead off against southpaws while Toles will hit in that spot against righties. Forsythe has just five hits in his last 25 at-bats and has struck out 10 times in that span.

Espinosa went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and three RBI during Thursday's loss to Texas.

At this point of his career, you know what you're getting from Espinosa. The 29-year-old infielder has ample pop, decent speed and an excellent glove, but he struggles in the batting average and on-base percentage columns. With full-time at-bats, Espinosa should approach last year's career-high 24 home runs and 72 RBI, though.

Motter went 2-for-4 with a double and two-run home run in Wednesday's 10-5 loss to the Astros.

Motter blasted his first long ball of the season in the third with Kyle Seager aboard, giving the Mariners a seemingly comfortable 5-0 lead at the time. The 27-year-old has been red-hot in his first two games starting in place of Jean Segura (hamstring), going 5-for-8 with four doubles in addition to Wednesday's round-tripper and pair of RBI. Motter was not quite ready for big-league pitching in a 34-game cup of coffee with the Rays last season (.188/.290/.300 over 93 plate appearances), but appeared much more comfortable this spring while hitting .295 with three homers and 11 RBI. That improvement has translated to the regular season thus far, leaving the shortstop position in good hands while Segura recovers.

Hernandez is in the Dodgers' lineup Thursday, batting eighth and playing left field, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

The Dodgers will frequently put Hernandez on the card against left-handed pitchers, as is the case Thursday as he replaces Andrew Toles against the Cubs' Brett Anderson. Hernandez holds NL-only fantasy value for this arrangement, but it's hard to count on him in most other formats.

Urias is hitting .190/.320/.571 with two home runs, one triple and a 1:4 K:BB in 26 plate appearances with Double-A San Antonio.

He sports a 147 wRC+ despite hitting below the Mendoza Line due to a .111 BABIP, so while the batting average is ugly, this has been an amazing start to the year for the 19-year-old middle infielder. In addition to his prodigious plate skills and sneaky pop, Urias has played four games at shortstop and just two games at the keystone. That defensive versatility could allow him to reach the majors sooner than expected.

Barreto is hitting .440/.516/.800 with two home runs and an 8:3 K:BB in 25 at-bats with Triple-A Nashville.

He has been extremely fortunate on balls in play, so his slash line can be largely ignored, but it's clear that he is making plenty of hard contact, with four extra-base hits through seven games. Barreto is also walking at a career-best 9.4 percent clip, which is offset by his career-high 25 percent strikeout rate. The A's will likely wait until June or July to promote Barreto, but it's good to see the 21-year-old showing no early signs of being overmatched at Triple-A.

Altuve went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two walks during Wednesday's 10-5 win over the Mariners.

Altuve struggled to begin the year but has looked more and more like himself over the last four games, collecting seven hits and five walks to drive his OBP up to .356. He has also stolen his first two bases and scored all four of his runs on the season. He still has just one extra-base hit to his name, but one could assume that will not last long as he continues to heat up.

Andrus went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Angels.

The 28-year-old is showing early signs of a power spike in 2017. After hitting 14 home runs from 2011-14, he popped 15 over the last two years including a career-high eight in 2016, but now has three -- along with three doubles and a triple -- through eight games to begin the current season. If Andrus is able to add 15 or so homers to his typical 25-plus steals, he could plant himself firmly in the top 10 among fantasy shortstops.

Semien went 0-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and his fourth stolen base of the season in Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Royals.

The 26-year-old came into the season better known for his power and strikeouts but seems to be taking his new leadoff duties very seriously, walking eight times in nine games to begin 2017. Semien's previous career high in steals is only 11, set back in 2015, but at this rate he could blow past that mark in May. All that said, he is hitting .172 (5-for-29) and is still looking for his first homer of the campaign, so while the shortstop is providing value it's likely not coming in the form Semien's fantasy investors expected.

Drury went 1-for-4 with an RBI single and a strikeout in Wednesday's loss to the Giants.

Drury left four men on base over the course of the evening, but he also managed to bring home half of the Diamondbacks' runs with one swing of the bat. Despite the relatively meager showing, the 24-year-old's batting average is still at an excellent .344 mark, and although he hasn't flashed much power in the early going, it's hard to complain about six RBI in nine games combined with such a good average.