MLB Player News

Rangers infield prospect Mike Olt , who is on the minor-league disabled list with an eye issue, began a hitting program with Triple-A hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh.

General manager Jon Daniels told ESPN Sunday that eye specialists have not been able to locate a problem with Olt's vision. Olt was hitting .139 with a home run and six RBI in 20 minor-league games.

"You always like to have answers," Daniels said. "You deal with what you have."

The Orioles recalled third baseman Danny Valencia from Triple-A Norfolk Sunday before a game against the Rays, MLB.com reports. 

Valencia has hit .306 with 11 home runs over 171 plate appearances at Norfolk this season. He fills the team's need for a right-handed hitter with Nolan Reimold on the DL.

Orioles third baseman Danny Valencia is expected to be recalled Sunday after not being in the lineup for Triple-A Norfolk Saturday, MASN Sports reports.

Valencia has hit .306/.339/.600 with 11 home runs in 171 plate appearances at Triple-A this season. He would fill the team's need for a right-handed hitter with Nolan Reimold on the disabled list.

Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson hit his sixth home run of the season Friday in a win over the Royals.

Donaldson hit a solo blast in the seventh inning off James Shields to score the first run of the game for the A's.

He finished 2 for 3 and is batting .323 on the year. Donaldson has hit in six straight games with three doubles, two homers and two RBI over that span.

Comparisons to Alex Rodriguez and a .343 batting average through 172 at-bats have most Fantasy owners expecting big things from Orioles third baseman Manny Machado. But is he on the same level as Mike Trout and Bryce Harper?

Special guest Brian Kenny of MLB Network said on Thursday’s Fantasy Baseball Today that he sees Machado on a tier just below that of Trout and Harper, which he considers a future perennial All Star.

Twins infielder Eduardo Escobar muscled up on Wednesday during a loss to the White Sox. Escobar hit his second home run of the year. 

Escobar took starter Dylan Axelrod deep in the second inning with one out for a solo shot. He went 1 for 4 in the game and is batting .298. 

The 24-year-old infielder has just three hits in his last 10 games after starting the year out red hot for Minnesota. 

Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson went 4 for 5 in Tuesday's loss to Texas.

Donaldson doubled twice and scored a run but somehow managed to avoid even a single RBI. Donaldson is now hitting .315 after he had just a .241 mark last year. His strikeout rate has also been slashed from 20.7 percent to 15.5 percent, which suggests there's a chance some of this improvement could stick for the rest of the season.

When Orioles third baseman Manny Machado was a standout high school player in Miami, he elicited comparisons to another phenom who hailed from South Florida: Alex Rodriguez. The parallels continued when Machado was selected as the third overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft; Rodriguez had been chosen first by the Mariners in 1993.

Naturally, the two paths of their major-league careers will be analyzed and it appears Machado, who was roughly 13 months older than A-Rod at the time of his debut, holds a slight edge approaching his 100th game. According to the Baltimore Sun, through the first 89 games of their careers, Machado has more runs scored (52 to 38), doubles (22-18), homers (12-11), RBI (50-44) and a higher batting average (.294-.253).

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria took home AL player of the week honors Monday after he managed a seven-game hitting streak from April 6-12. Longoria hit .464 (13 for 28) with three home runs, four walks, five doubles, eight runs and 11 RBI in that span.

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado singled in the first, doubled in the fifth and singled in the seventh in Sunday's series finale against the Twins. He finished 3 for 5 and improved his batting average to .331 after Sunday's 6-0 victory.

Machado, 20, became the first player under 21 years old to have three-consecutive three-hit games since Rennie Stennett of the Pirates in September 1971. He is hitting .563 with two doubles and two RBI in his last three games -- all against Minnesota.