MLB Player News

Fletcher had his contract selected by the Angels on Tuesday.

Fletcher -- who is slashing .350/.394/.559 with Triple-A Salt Lake this season -- will join the Angels on Tuesday with fellow infielders Andrelton Simmons (ankle) and Jefry Marte (wrist) both sidelined with injuries. The 24-year-old will likely operate in a reserve capacity with the big-league club.

Correa (side) is starting at shortstop and batting fourth in the lineup Tuesday against the A's.

As expected, Correa will slot back into the cleanup spot for the Astros after missing the past four games with soreness in his right side. The star shortstop was 5-for-18 at the plate in June before suffering the injury and is coming off a rough month of May in which he slashed just .192/.292/.394. He'll look to find his stroke Tuesday against righty Daniel Mengden.

Ahmed is not starting Tuesday against Pittsburgh.

Ketel Marte will slide over to shortstop, with Daniel Descalso starting at second base. Ahmed is hitting just .223 on the saeson, though his nine homers (already tied for his career high) are a fair total for a shortstop.

Wendle is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

As per usual, the lefty-hitting Wendle will take a seat on the bench with a left-handed pitcher (Jaime Garcia) toeing the rubber for the opposition. Christian Arroyo will start at the keystone and hit sixth in his stead.

Gordon, who's been manning second base during Robinson Cano's 80-game suspension, is slated to continue logging regular playing time there upon Cano's return in mid-August, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

Kramer is essentially relaying the details of a conversation that general manager Jerry Dipoto had with ESPN.com in which he explained the reasoning behind the decision. Not only has Gordon handled himself well at a position that he'd already played 502 big-league games at prior to Cano's suspension, but the latter would also be ineligible for any postseason play under the terms of his ban. With the Mariners looking like one of the top five teams in baseball over the first two months-plus of the campaign, Dipoto emphasizes that the player that would man the keystone during a potential playoff run needs to continue receiving regular reps at the position, especially during the season's stretch run. "That could allow for a time-share, so to speak, where we keep everybody sharp," Dipoto said. "But we do know Dee is going to have to play second base as we come down the stretch. Because if we want to be in the postseason -- which we do -- then we know who our second baseman is going to be. And it's going to be Dee Gordon."

Adames went 1-for-2 with two RBI from a run-scoring single and a sacrifice fly and also walked once in a win over the Blue Jays on Monday.

The rookie wasted no time making an impact in his return to the big leagues, getting the Rays to within a run with a timely third-inning single that plated Jake Bauers and then closing out the scoring on the night with his seventh-inning sacrifice fly. Adames' current stay with the big-league club figures to last through Daniel Robertson's DL stint at minimum, and he could conceivably carve out a long-term roster spot with an impressive enough performance.

Owings went 0-for-2 with two runs scored Monday in the Diamondbacks' 9-5 win over the Pirates.

Though Owings is expected to occupy the short end of a platoon with Jarrod Dyson in center field following the recent acquisition of Jon Jay, Owings was surprisingly awarded a start over Dyson on Monday even with a right-hander (Joe Musgrove) on the bump for Pittsburgh. Owings rewarded manager Torey Lovullo's decision to include him in the lineup, as he came around to score both times he reached base and made the defensive highlight of the night, snaring a deep fly off the bat of Jordy Mercer in the sixth inning and then doubling Josh Bell off at first base. Owings is still hitting a weak .193/.267/.301 for the season, so he'll need several more quality games before earning a regular role.

Cordoba (concussion) played his first game of the season for High-A Lake Elsinore on Monday, Bill Center of MLB.com reports.

Cordoba had been out all season after suffering a concussion in a car crash in mid-February. He's listed as being on a rehab assignment, but there's no guarantee he'll end up back in the majors once the assignment concludes, as he'd never played above rookie ball before being taken by the Padres in the Rule 5 draft prior to the 2017 season. He didn't do much to demand major-league time last season, hitting just .208/.282/.297. With the Padres having fulfilled their obligation to keep him in the majors all season last year, they can now continue his development at a more appropriate level this season.

DeJong (hand) began light baseball activities Monday, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.

DeJong was able to field grounders for the first time since fracturing his hand last month. He'll be reevaluated later in the week, but barring any setbacks, the Cardinals are hoping to have the shortstop back before the end of June, according to Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Fletcher is hitting .353/.398/.566 with six home runs, seven stolen bases and a 16:21 BB:K across 270 plate appearances for Triple-A Salt Lake this season.

Throughout all of his stops in the minors prior to this season, Fletcher has always displayed impressive contact skills along with a modicum of speed, but his lack of slugging production was expected to damage his chances of emerging as a big-league regular. The 24-year-old has seemingly altered his long-term outlook for the better in his repeat season at Triple-A, as he has maintained his high contact rate while tapping into more power than anticipated. Fletcher has already racked up a minors-best 36 extra-base hits on the campaign, putting him well on track to top his total from the previous two years combined (47). Though the Angels currently have a void in the middle infield with Andrelton Simmons (ankle) on the 10-day disabled list, Fletcher's lack of a 40-man roster spot likely hurts his chances of a promotion in the near future, even though his performance at Salt Lake has warranted one.