MLB Player News

Gonzales will start at second base and bat seventh in Wednesday's game against the Tigers, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Gonzales is back in the lineup after he had been on the bench for two of the Pirates' previous three games. Both of his absences came against right-handed pitchers, with Liover Peguero drawing starts at the keystone over Gonzales on both occasions. Since receiving a call-up from Triple-A Indianapolis in late June, Gonzales is slashing .222/.275/.364 with a 27.5 percent strikeout rate over 109 plate appearances. He could be on the odd man out of the Pittsburgh infield when Ji Hwan Bae (ankle) returns from the 10-day injured list.

Peguero is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Tigers, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Though he appears to have ceded primary duties at shortstop to Alika Williams, Peguero has manned second base on both of the past two occasions the Pirates faced right-handed starting pitchers. Peguero may have the edge on playing time at the keystone over Nick Gonzales, though the former will give way to the latter in the series finale. Both Peguero and Gonzales could see their opportunities at second base take a hit in the near future with Ji Hwan Bae (ankle) closing in on a return from the 10-day injured list.

Alu went 1-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base in Tuesday's loss to the Brewers.

Getting the start at third base and batting eighth, Alu scored his first career run and picked up his first career RBI in his sixth big-league game. With Jeimer Candelario now a Cub, the door is open for Alu to get a long look at the hot corner, but if the 26-year-old isn't consistently productive, the Nats could turn to another option such as Carter Kieboom (oblique) or even top prospect Brady House, who has a .302/.364/.496 slash line across three levels of the minors this season.

Ibanez is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game in Pittsburgh.

Ibanez's hold on a near-everyday role appears to be slipping, as he'll now hit the bench for the fifth time in eight games. Nick Maton will get the nod at the keystone Wednesday, and the Tigers may continue to take a committee approach to second base until one player separates himself from the other as the best option. Ibanez has produced an underwhelming .660 OPS since the beginning of July.

Andrus went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts Tuesday against the Rangers.

Andrus drew the first start at second base for the White Sox after the team dealt away Jake Burger at the trade deadline. He had previously slipped into a backup role for the team, but Andrus could see an uptick in playing time while also competing with Zach Remillard for reps at the position. Andrus has only seven hits across his last 31 at-bats and 13 games.

Peguero went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run Tuesday against the Tigers.

Peguero has started seven of Pittsburgh's last nine games, five of which have come at shortstop. Of late, he's started primarily at second base, however, with Alika Williams getting a look at shortstop. Peguero had an inconsistent production profile while rising through the minors, but he's taken advantage of his opportunities in Pittsburgh to this point by slugging three homers, driving in eight and scoring four runs across 24 plate appearances.

Diaz went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Tuesday's 7-3 loss to the Dodgers.

Diaz has done fairly well since the All-Star break, batting .289 (11-for-38) over his last 13 games. The infielder could have a chance for steadier playing time with Jace Peterson getting traded to Arizona on Monday. Diaz is slashing a decent .254/.294/.433 with seven homers, 16 RBI, 11 runs scored and three doubles over 45 contests this season.

Marte went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Giants.

Marte has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 18-for-47 (.383) with seven extra-base hits in that span. The second baseman had one of three homers for Arizona in this contest. Marte is now at a solid .294/.372/.517 slash line with 18 long balls, 57 RBI, 73 runs scored and six stolen bases through 101 contests.

Turang went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, two RBI and two runs in Tuesday's 6-4 win against the Nationals.

Turang still has just one extra-base hit in his past eight games, but he delivered plenty of value on his two singles. It's just the fifth occasion this season the 23-year-old has collected multiple RBI in a game and just the fourth time he's scored multiple runs. Turang has come alive at the plate over the past week, having gone 7-for-19 with a double, two walks and two runs in addition to Tuesday's run production.

Hoerner went 3-for-6 with a solo home run and three runs scored in Tuesday's 20-9 win over the Reds. He also stole a base.

Hoerner did a little bit of everything in the blowout win, popping his eighth home run of the season and also recording his 26th stolen base. The infielder is closing in on his career high of 10 home runs but has already set a new career high in steals, and that's the category that should continue to fuel his fantasy value the rest of the year.