MLB Player News

Peterson is out of the lineup Friday against the Cardinals.

The left-handed Peterson will be replaced by Gordon Beckham on Friday with the Braves squaring off against southpaw Jaime Garcia. Peterson has a hold on the Braves' every day second base job for the most part, but there will be instances where he sits against lefties. Expect Peterson to return to the lineup Saturday against right-hander Carlos Martinez.

Ramirez is starting in left field and hitting ninth Friday against the White Sox.

So far it appears that Ramirez will hit near the top of the order against righties (usually second) and at the bottom of the order against lefties while serving as the go-to left fielder while Michael Brantley is out. Of course, with shoddy options at the other outfield positions, Ramirez could emerge as a starting option even after Brantley comes back if he continues to hit at a solid clip.

LeMahieu will slide back to eighth in the order for Friday's game against the Padres.

LeMahieu batted out of the leadoff spot for Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks and answered the bell by going 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs. However, with Charlie Blackmon back in the top spot Friday, LeMahieu will slide back down to the bottom third of the order. He'll be facing San Diego right-hander Colin Rea.

Rendon went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored in Thursday's loss to the Marlins.

He's got just three hits through three games to begin the season, but Rendon's capable of heating up at any time. Given his career .471 OBP in 17 plate appearances against Miami starter Tom Koehler, he could be producing a lot of RBI opportunities Saturday for Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman.

Donaldson did not take ground balls on the new dirt infield at the Rogers Centre on Thursday, but manager John Gibbons expects him to start Friday against the Red Sox, the Toronto Sun reports.

If the third baseman can play Friday, he'll have a nice matchup with Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly on the hill as Donaldson is 8-for-14 against the right-hander in his career. Also, it will be the home opener for the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre, where Donaldson did most of his damage last season, slashing .330/.398/.647 while hitting 24 home runs.

Segura hit an inside-the-park home run as well as one of the more traditional variety in Thursday's loss to the Cubs.

Unfortunately for the Cubbies, that in-the-parker cost them more than just a run, as power-hitting left fielder Kyle Schwarber was hurt in a collision with center fielder Dexter Fowler when the two tried to run down Segura's fly ball deep into the gap. For Segura's part, he's collected four consecutive two-hit games (including three homers, a triple and a steal) to open the year. After two consecutive seasons of unimpressive production, it could be that a change of scenery into Arizona's supercharged lineup was just what Segura needed to jump-start his once-promising career.

Escobar went 2-for-4 with a double -- his fourth in three games -- and a run scored Thursday against the Twins.

Escobar's cleared 30 doubles in consecutive seasons already, and he's off to a fine start in his pursuit of accomplishing that for the third straight time. If last year's power improvement (he doubled his previous career high in homers with 12) can be sustained, he'll have value as a low-end starting shortstop in deeper mixed leagues.

Machado went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's win over Minnesota.

The sixth-inning shot was the first for Machado htis season, but it surely won't be the last for the young star, who busted out with 35 long balls last season. It's worth noting that Machado's struck out five times in the first three games of the year, including twice Thursday, but he's also hit safely in each game.

Suarez went 2-for-5 with a grand slam in Thursday's win over the Phillies.

Suarez's fourth-inning grand slam was his second home run in as many days. Suarez was one of the few bright spots in the Reds' miserable 2015 season, heisted from the Tigers in the Alfredo Simon deal. The 24-year-old shortstop appears locked in and ready for a breakout season.

Manager John Gibbons thinks that Donaldson (calf) has a good chance of returning to the lineup Friday and that Donaldson "is feeling better today," Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports.

Donaldson left Wednesday's game against the Rays in the seventh inning due to the ailment, although between the team's off day Thursday and how much the team downplayed the issue, a Friday return for the third baseman is seeming to be more realistic as game-time approaches. Of course, how he's feeling on the day of the game is most important and a start isn't set in stone until the lineup is released, but this development is definitely an encouraging sign for the Blue Jays and Donaldson's fantasy owners.