MLB Player News
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Bobby Witt SS | KC
Royals' Bobby Witt: Homers to extend streak
Witt went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and an additional RBI in Thursday's 8-2 win over Tampa Bay.
Witt put the Royals ahead 3-1 with a two-out, opposite-field blast off Shane Baz, his third homer of the year. The long ball extends Witt's hitting streak to a career-best 22 games. The shortstop is now slashing .322/.400/.496 with 15 RBI, 20 runs scored and nine steals across 140 plate appearances this season.
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Josh H. Smith SS | TEX
Rangers' Josh Smith: Idle against lefty
Smith is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics.
The left-handed-hitting Smith will retreat to the bench for the series finale while the Athletics send southpaw Jeffrey Springs to the hill. Nick Ahmed will step in at shortstop in place of Smith, who had been included in the lineup in each of the last seven games while batting .192 with no extra-base hits and a stolen base.
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Corey Seager SS | TEX
Rangers' Corey Seager: Aiming for Saturday activation
Seager (hamstring) took live batting practice Thursday and also did some running, Jeff Wilson of AllDLLS.com reports.
Barring a setback, Seager is likely to be activated from the 10-day injured list when first eligible Saturday. The veteran shortstop is sporting a .286/.345/.468 batting line with four home runs over his first 21 contests for the Rangers this season.
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Taylor Walls 3B | TB
Rays' Taylor Walls: Fading into part-time role
Walls is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Though the Rays have valued Walls' dependable glove at shortstop over the last few seasons, he's routinely struggled to make much of an impact at the plate. Walls has taken another step back with the bat so far in 2025, slashing just .155/.247/.197 with one extra-base hit (a home run) and a 24.7 percent strikeout rate across 81 plate appearances. While the Rays probably won't phase Walls out entirely, he seems to have moved into more of a part-time role of late, as he'll hit the bench for the fifth time in the last eight games. Jose Caballero may have overtaken Walls as manager Kevin Cash's preferred option at shortstop.
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Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2B | TOR
Pirates' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Exiting lineup Thursday
Kiner-Falefa is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Cubs.
Kiner-Falefa had started each of the last nine games while batting .303 with a stolen base, three runs and two RBI, but he'll get a breather while Pittsburgh wraps up its series with Chicago with a day game after a night game. Jared Triolo will pick up a start at shortstop in place of Kiner-Falefa.
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Mookie Betts RF | LAD
Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Drives in four Wednesday
Betts went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and four RBI in Wednesday's 12-7 win over Miami.
Betts extended the Dodgers' lead to 3-0 in the third inning with a two-run single before driving in two more runs with a triple in the sixth. Betts is starting to heat up at the plate, going 6-for-17 (.353) with eight RBI in his last four games following a 4-for-35 (.114) slump in his previous nine contests. Overall, he's slashing .250/.339/.407 with four homers, 19 RBI, 19 runs scored and two stolen bases across 124 plate appearances this year.
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Geraldo Perdomo SS | ARI
Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo: Plates three in victory
Perdomo went 1-for-1 with three RBI and a stolen base in a 4-3 win over the Mets on Wednesday.
Perdomo began the game on the bench, but he ended up making a big impact on the outcome anyway. The switch-hitting shortstop entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning and gave Arizona its first lead with a two-run single. Perdomo then tacked on another run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth. He's already at 24 RBI through 30 contests on the campaign, putting him more than halfway to his career-high mark of 47 RBI established over 144 regular-season games in 2023.
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Elly De La Cruz SS | CIN
Reds' Elly De La Cruz: Swipes two more bags in matinee
De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Cardinals.
The star shortstop then went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the nightcap -- the only run the Reds would score across the entire twin bill. De La Cruz leads the majors with 13 steals through 31 games to go along with a .281/.348/.438 slash line, five homers 21 runs and 24 RBI. He's currently in the midst of a 14-game hit streak and is batting .352 (19-for-54) during that stretch.