MLB Player News

Anderson (illness) was activated from the COVID-19 injured list and will start at third base Friday against the Brewers, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

The 28-year-old has been on the COVID-19 IL for the past week but has rejoined the Marlins after a one-game rehab assignment with Single-A Jupiter. Anderson has seen most of his action at third base but has also started eight games in the outfield, and he should see most of his action at the hot corner for the foreseeable future with Joey Wendle (hamstring) moving to the 10-day IL.

Reynolds is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Pirates.

Reynolds will take a seat for the second time in the past three games after starting the previous four contests. Albert Almora enters the lineup in center field in his absence with Mike Moustakas shifting to the hot corner and Tyler Naquin handling DH.

Castro went 0-for-3 with a strikeout Thursday against the Reds.

Castro was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis prior to Thursday's game and started at shortstop while hitting ninth. It was his first appearance in the big leagues this season, though he accrued 93 plate appearances with Pittsburgh in 2021 and posted a .198/.258/.395 line. Cole Tucker was optioned in the corresponding move, so Castro should be able to find playing time at second base and shortstop until Kevin Newman (groin) is activated from the injured list.

Segura went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and a stolen base in Thursday's 9-7 win against the Dodgers.

Segura's second-inning double extended his hitting streak to 10 games, and he subsequently stole third base before coming home on a Kyle Schwarber single. During the hitting streak, the veteran infielder is slashing .457/.525/.743 with three homers, six RBI, 10 runs and two stolen bases.

Baty had his biggest game of the year for Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a homer, a walk, two RBI and three runs. He's now hitting .283/.372/.455 with two homers and 11 doubles across 27 games.

It's good to see Baty hit the ball over the fence, as his only other long ball came in Binghamton's season opener April 8. It's also encouraging to see him go a game without striking out, which is only the fifth time this season he's been able to do so. Despite that, Baty has a solid season line, as he's hitting a bit better than he did in his first taste of Double-A last season. To punch his ticket to the big leagues, though, Baty's going to have to translate his tremendous raw power to game action far more often. That said, there's nothing wrong with his all-fields approach, and Baty is hitting far more line drives and fly balls than he did last year, which is promising.

Anderson (illness) will begin a rehab assignment at Single-A Jupiter on Thursday, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Anderson is gearing up for a return from the COVID-19 injured list, with his upcoming rehab assignment representing the final stage of his recovery program before he's reinstated to the 26-man active roster. He may only need one game at Jupiter before the Marlins sign off on him returning from the IL ahead of Friday's series opener with the Brewers.

Castro was recalled by the Pirates on Thursday, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Castro spent a stretch of time in the majors in the second half of last season but largely failed to impress, hitting .198/.258/.395 in 31 games. He did hit the ball hard, posting a 10.2 percent barrel rate and homering five times, but he didn't hit it often, striking out 29.0 percent of the time. That latter number looks especially poor next to his 6.5 percent walk rate. Through 29 games for Triple-A Indianapolis this season, he's hit .250/.397/.402, offsetting a still-elevated 26.7 percent strikeout rate with an excellent 17.2 percent walk rate. Contact and plate discipline look like they'll be the keys to whether or not he's given enough opportunities to let his power shine.

The Cardinals activated Sosa (illness) from the COVID-19 injured list Thursday.

He'll assume the active roster spot of Kramer Robertson, who was optioned to Triple-A Memphis in a corresponding move. Sosa has been on the IL since testing positive for the virus May 3, but he cleared all COVID-19-related protocols a week later and played in rehab games Tuesday and Wednesday at Double-A Springfield, going a combined 3-for-8 at the plate. Though he'll be on the bench for Thursday's game against the Orioles as he rejoins the Cardinals, Sosa should get the chance to vie for an everyday role at shortstop following the demotion of Paul DeJong to Triple-A earlier in the week. Brendan Donovan will pick up his third consecutive start at shortstop Thursday.

Escobar is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Escobar will get a day off to mentally reset himself while he remains in the midst of a rough stretch at the plate. Through his first nine starts in May, Escobar is getting on base at a .205 clip and has provided just one extra-base hit (a double). Luis Guillorme will fill in for the veteran at third base.

Newman (groin) is expected to begin a rehab assignment "in the coming days," Jake Crouse of MLB.com reports.

Newman will test his injury by running the bases by the end of the week. Assuming that goes well, he'll begin what will likely be a relatively lengthy rehab assignment. Newman was expected to miss 3-to-5 weeks after landing on the injured list April 27, and he appears likely to return in the middle of that estimate.