MLB Player News

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez was not in the starting lineup Thursday against the Tigers after having his wisdom teeth taken out earlier in the day. It unknown how long he will be out of the lineup as a result of this procedure. Brandon Inge started in his place. 

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura continued to swing a hot bat as he matched a franchise record with six hits -- all singles in Tuesday's 6-5 defeat to the Twins in extras.

Segura finished 6 for 7 to raise his batting average to an NL-leading .366. He is hitting .667 (10 for 15) with four runs scored, one home run and two RBI in his last three games.

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura brought an 11-game homerless streak to a halt Monday, as he took Twins starter Kevin Correia deep for a solo home run in the sixth inning. He finished the game 2 for 4, in a 6-3 loss.

With how well Segura opened the season, he has mostly managed to avoid falling off in the month of May, thanks to a power surge. Segura posted a .985 OPS in April, thanks to a .367 batting average. His average is down to .330 in May, but he still has a .902 OPS with five home runs. 

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez continues to show off his power, as he homered twice in a 5-2 wni over the Brewers Saturday.

Alvarez went 2 for 3 with a walk and three RBI. He has four home runs over the last six games, while batting .278.

Alvarez went 14 games to open the season with out a home run and has hit his 10 homers over the last 29 games. He is hitting .248 in that span, but he has 23 RBI and 16 runs scored to go with his 10 homers. 

With the Rockies demoting Josh Rutledge on Wednesday, DJ LeMahieu is expected to take over the starting second base job. Owned in six percent of leagues, it might benefit an owner in a deeper format to take a closer look at the 24-year-old. 

LeMahieu has never hit below .314 in any of his five minor league campaigns (he has a .321 career minor league BA). In 306 major league at-bats, he has a .294 average. I wouldn't expect much in the way of power or speed from LeMahieu, but 20 doubles the rest of the way (assuming he gets regular at-bats) wouldn't be out of the question, and you can pretty much bank on the average to be there. 

In NL-only, he's a must-add. But I would consider adding him in formats as shallow as 15-team Roto leagues (at MI or UT), based on his promise in batting average. 

With Josh Rutledge's demotion to Triple-A Wednesday, Rockies infielder DJ LeMahieu is expected to assume a starting role.

LeMahieu has started four of seven games since being called up May 16, and he is hitting .412 with two extra-base hits and two RBI in 17 at-bats. He will likely be the full-time starter at second base with Rutledge gone. 

Rockies second baseman DJ Lemahieu went 3 for 4 in Tuesday's win over Arizona.

Lemahieu doubled twice and knocked in two runs. He's 6 for 13 to open 2013 for the Rockies and is proving to be a solid backup to primary second baseman Josh Rutledge.

Nationals infield prospect Anthony Rendon has started the process of learning to play second base. He made his fifth start at the position for Double-A Harrisburg Monday.

It begs the question with Danny Espinosa struggling: Are the Nationals looking for Rendon to possibly take over at second base at the major-league level? Nationals manager Davey Johnson said that's not the plan quite yet.

"We like him -- we like him a lot," Johnson said of Rendon, per FOX Sports. "But putting him at second at the major-league level, he’s not there yet. He’s not (playing second) specifically. He’s just occasionally going over there."

Johnson added reserve infielder Stephen Lombardozzi and Triple-A infielder Zach Walters are options ahead of Rendon, who is widely considered the team's best prospect, if the team made a decision to replace Espinosa in the starting lineup.

Rendon continues to rake for Harrisburg. His slash line through 30 games is .346/.654/1.136. He has two triples, six home runs, 11 doubles and 23 RBI.

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit his eighth home run, the decider in a 1-0 win Sunday over Houston.

Alvarez continues to struggle with his average (.201) and making contact (31.5 percent strikeout rate), but his power continues to show up. He's on pace for another 30 home run season with Sunday's blast.

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura went 3 for 4 in Saturday's victory over St. Louis.

Segura scored a run and had two RBI with his fourth triple. Segura is hitting .361/.404/.542 in 158 at-bats after he hit .258/.315/.325 in 151 at-bats last season.