MLB Player News

The Angels moved Soto from Triple-A Salt Lake to Double-A Rocket City on Tuesday, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

The 22-year-old infielder looked to be something special during the brief time he spent in the majors last season, slashing .400/.414/.582 through 59 plate appearances. However, a slow start in Triple-A (.554 OPS) through 13 games has derailed any potential plans for Soto to rejoin the Angels anytime soon. If he's able to get things going in Double-A, there's a good chance he might get the call to return to Salt Lake relatively quickly.

Crawford is not in the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the Brewers.

Crawford is getting a breather for the first time in the 2023 season. The shortstop takes a seat with Jose Caballero getting the start at shortstop and hitting eighth against Colin Rea and the Brewers.

Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters that Franco underwent a root canal before Tuesday's game against the Reds but is in the lineup and feeling better, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Franco played through his tooth issue Monday and 0-for-4 against the Reds in Great American Ballpark. The shortstop is hitting second against Nick Lodolo and Cincinnati and has compiled a .300/.347/.586 slash with four home runs and three steals over 70 at-bats in 17 games.

Smith isn't starting Tuesday against the Royals.

It's been a struggle for Smith at the plate lately -- he's slashing just .067/.263/.067 over the past week. His slump will cost him another start Tuesday, with Ezequiel Duran taking over at shortstop and batting seventh.

Anderson (knee) recently began doing some jogging, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

The shortstop is reportedly tracking toward a return closer to the early side of his projected 2-4 week recovery timetable, which points to him having a good shot to be activated before the end of the month. Anderson is working his way back from a left knee sprain and it's not clear whether he'll need a rehab assignment before returning.

Volpe will bat leadoff again for the Yankees on Tuesday against the Angels, manager Aaron Boone said in an interview on the Talkin' Yanks podcast.

It will be the second straight game that Volpe is in the leadoff spot in a lineup which also features DJ LeMahieu. LeMahieu batted fifth Sunday, and it appears he might remain in more of an run-producing spot while Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) is sidelined. Volpe has struggled on the whole at the plate so far but does have exactly one hit -- including his first home run -- in each of his last five games, along with three walks over that span. It would certainly be a boost to his fantasy outlook if he's going to be hitting leadoff for a while after previously being stuck batting ninth.

The Angels outrighted Fletcher to Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Fletcher remains with the organization after clearing waivers but is off the Angels' 40-man roster. The infielder was sent down to Salt Lake to make room for top prospect Zach Neto on Saturday, and the Angels are still on the hook for the remainder of the five-year, $24.5 million extension Fletcher signed with the team in April 2021.

Mateo went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 8-4 win over the White Sox.

Mateo's RBI came on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly to plate Adam Frazier for the Orioles' first run of the game. In the eighth, Mateo hit a double, stole third and came home on a Cedric Mullins go-ahead RBI single. Baltimore continues to give its speedier players a green light on the basepaths -- Mateo and Mullins are two of the three players leading the majors in steals with eighth, along with the Cubs' Nico Hoerner. Mateo owns a .372/.431/.651 slash line with three home runs, 12 RBI, 13 runs scored and three doubles through 53 plate appearances.

Chang is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Angels, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Chang's run of five consecutive starts will come to an end with the Angels bringing a right-hander (Shohei Ohtani) to the hill for the series finale. Given that four of those five starts came against left-handed pitching, the righty-hitting Chang still looks like he'll be deployed as a short-side platoon player.

Smith went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Mets.

Smith kicked off the fifth inning with a single and then stole second before coming around to score on a base hit by Esteury Ruiz. The 26-year-old has just three hits and a 10:0 K:BB over 23 plate appearances since being called up April 10.