MLB Player News

Goins is not in the lineup Saturday against the Dodgers, Eric Stephen of SB Nation reports.

Goins will sit for the second time in three games, as the Jays will go with Darwin Barney at second base and Troy Tulowitzki at short. Goins is off to a rough start to the season, hitting just .149 with 22 strikeouts in 87 at-bats.

Stanton launched a 475-foot home run, his 10th of the season, to lead the Marlins to a 6-4 win against the Phillies on Friday.

Stanton's blast in the bottom of the eighth gave the Marlins a two-run lead and helped secure their 11th win in the last 12 games. Stanton has simply been the best hitter in baseball over that stretch, cranking seven home runs while posting a .395/.531/1.026 line. For the season, he's now slashing .274/.391/.632 with 24 RBI. As Giancarlo goes, so go the Marlins.

Blackmon is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Giants.

With lefty Madison Bumgarner due up for San Francisco, Blackmon will take a seat in favor of Gerardo Parra in center field. Ryan Raburn will man left as DJ LeMahieu slots in atop the batting order. Blackmon is 8-for-28 with two doubles and a homer since his return from the DL late last month.

Manager Brad Ausmus confirmed that Martinez is not sitting Friday due to injury, the Oakland Press reports. "[Martinez] was really last man standing, that hasn't had a day off," Ausmus said. "And you can tell, watching him in batting practice, that mentally he could use a day, when he doesn't have to grind over every single pitch or every single at-bat."

Mike Aviles is starting in right field with Martinez on the bench for the first time this season. Martinez will miss out on an enticing matchup against a lefty on Friday, but hopefully the day off will allow him to recharge his batteries. The 28-year-old Martinez is just 3-for-26 with one extra-base hit over the past week.

Manager Ned Yost said Friday that Colon could see more action at second base in the near future, MLB.com's Jeffrey Flanagan reports.

Regular second baseman Omar Infante is not doing much at the plate this season, so it appears the Royals are ready to give Colon -- their top pick in the 2010 draft -- more opportunities on the field. The process seems to have started already, as Colon will start Friday -- at third base, however -- for the third time in five days.

Martinez is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Rangers.

Mike Aviles will man right field and bat second against lefty Cole Hamels. The team has not given any indication Martinez is ailing, but his absence against a southpaw is odd to say the least. Martinez has posted an OPS well over .900 against lefties since the start of last season.

Brantley went 4-for-5 with a double, three RBI and a run as part of Thursday's 16-hit parade against the Tigers.

Brantley, who missed most of April after offseason surgery on his right shoulder, raised his batting average from .167 to .276. The outfielder had four hits in 24 at-bats since being activated April 24 and doubled that with Thursday's breakout performance. Assuming he remains healthy, there's not much reason to believe Brantley can't once again reach the 15-15 mark. And, if he gets really hot this summer, then a 20-20 year could be within the realm of possibility.

Cespedes went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer during Thursday's road loss in San Diego.

After breaking up Colin Rea's no-hit bid with a single in the seventh, Cespedes slammed a line-drive homer over the left-field fence as the Mets attempted to make a comeback from a five-run deficit in the ninth. It wasn't enough, but you won't hear the slugger's fantasy owners complaining. Cespedes has made a habit of these out-of-the-park-in-a-hurry liners to left so far this year, and those big rips are no small part of the reason that he's been carrying an OPS over 1.000 for more than two weeks now.

Goins is out of the lineup Thursday against the Rangers, Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star reports.

Hitting just .155 on the season, Goins is a last-ditch option in the deepest of leagues. Darwin Barney will start at the keystone Thursday, and since he can't possibly be worse than Goins offensively, he could start to steal more playing time going forward while Devon Travis (shoulder) is out.

Soler is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals.

Soler has been struggling this season, hitting just .185/.276/.292 with two home runs through 25 games this season. He should no longer be considered an every day player considering how well Javier Baez and Tommy La Stella have been playing off the bench, as well as the ability of Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist to shift to the outfield if necessary. Soler has been known to heat up with the weather, so he is worth keeping an eye on still.