MLB Player News

Story went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 8-3 loss to the Braves.

The homer was his first of the season. Story also struck out twice and is only 5-for-30 to begin the season, but anyone with fantasy shares in the shortstop knows what to expect at this point -- strong power numbers, but a lot of empty swings and a batting average that even Coors Field can't keep afloat.

Swanson went 3-for-5 with a double, a triple, a run scored and three RBI in Friday's 8-3 win over the Rockies.

The 24-year-old is off to a good start to 2018, going 10-for-27 through six games, and while Swanson is still looking for his first home run he does have four extra-base hits (three doubles and a triple) and six RBI. The shortstop's fantasy stock took a hit after he managed only a .636 OPS last year, but he seems intent on proving he still deserves to be mentioned among all the other young building blocks in the Braves' organization.

Nelson has a minor knee injury and is expected to be ready for game action by the end of April, MLB.com's Mike Rosenbaum reports.

Nelson was held back in extended spring training due to the injury, and while Rosenbaum did not specify which level he will head to, High-A seems most likely, as the 20-year-old third baseman played 102 games at Low-A last year. He has a lightning quick bat and at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, he should eventually grow into 20-plus homer pop.

Diaz (back) will not be in Friday's lineup against the Rangers, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Though Diaz was expected to return for the series opener, manager John Gibbons will give the shortstop another day of rest after he exited Tuesday's contest with back spasms. In his place, Yangervis Solarte will draw another start at the shortstop position and bat cleanup. Consider Diaz day-to-day ahead of Saturday's affair.

Diaz (back) is expected to be back in the lineup Friday against the Rangers, the Toronto Sun reports.

Diaz was pulled from Tuesday's game against the White Sox with back spasms and sat out Wednesday's game as well. The issue wasn't thought to be a major one, though, so he's expected to be back in action Friday, barring setbacks.

DeJong went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.

It appears he's human after all, as Thursday's clunker snapped DeJong's six-game hitting streak and marked his third multi-strikeout performance of the young season. Contact rate thus remains one of the few weaknesses in DeJong's game, as he also generated an unsightly 28.0 percent strikeout rate in his rookie 2017 campaign, his third straight professional stop with a figure well above 20.0 percent. Despite the blanking, DeJong is still hitting an impressive .385 over his first 28 plate appearances, a testament to how torrid his start had been prior to Thursday.

Anderson went 1-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base, and a run scored in Thursday's 9-7 loss to the Tigers.

Anderson stole his fourth bag in four attempts on the season after he opened the second inning with a single, then moved to third on a groundout before scoring on Adam Engel's sacrifice fly. It was the second such instance over the first week in which Anderson's legs led directly to a run. He vowed to run more in 2018, and so far he's following through. What would enhance his base-stealing and run-scoring opportunities is if the hitter with a career OBP of .291 can develop the patience to take more walks. Thursday's two-walk game was just the second of his career.

Owings went 3-for-3 with a double, a walk and two runs scored in a 5-2 win over the Cardinals on Thursday.

Owings has been in a nice little groove to start off the season, with the three-hit game leaving him with a .429/.500/.667 slash line through 21 at-bats. That's obviously not sustainable for a whole year, but Owings was providing some sneaky value last season before he went down with an injury -- at 26 years old, it's not all that far-fetched to think he could improve on the .741 OPS he put up over 362 at-bats in 2017.

Baez went 1-for-1 with three walks, two runs scored and two RBI in Thursday's win over the Brewers.

Baez had been scuffling a bit out of the gates, going just 2-for-18 over the Cubs' first five games, but he put together some great plate appearances Thursday. The three walks are particularly encouraging considering Baez walked just once over the first five games.

Ahmed (illness) is not in the lineup for Thursday's matchup with the Cardinals.

This marks the third day in a row Ahmed will be sidelined due to being sick. Ketel Marte and Chris Owings will cover the middle infield in his stead. Look for Ahmed to try to get back in the lineup for Saturday's contest.