MLB Player News

Owings went 1-for-4 with a solo home run during Sunday's win over Philadelphia.

The shortstop is beginning to heat up again with at least one hit in nine of his past 10 outings, plus two homers, nine RBI, seven runs and a respectable .275 batting average. Owings is moving the fantasy needle in the majority of fantasy settings because of his cross-category production and attachment to a high-powered offense. For the year, he's now up to eight homers, 39 RBI, nine stolen bases, 28 runs and a .292/.327/.465 slash line.

With J.J. Hardy (wrist) facing the possibility of an extended absence, Tejada could be in line for a major uptick in playing time, Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Hardy was hit by a pitch Sunday, and his X-rays came back with discouraging results. More tests will be run Monday, but initial reports suggest Hardy could be sidelined for quite a while. Assuming that holds true, Tejada is the Orioles' last man standing at short. Ryan Flaherty is already on the DL with a shoulder strain. Third baseman Manny Machado can shift over, but giving Tejada a crack at the starting gig makes the most sense for now.

Cordoba will start in left field and lead off Sunday against the Brewers, Bob Scanlan of Fox Sports San Diego reports.

Jose Pirela is receiving the day off after going 0-for-13 over the last three games, so Cordoba will move up to the leadoff spot after previously having occupied a spot in the bottom third of the order. Since Pirela is still hitting .341 over his 11 games since being called up to the Padres, it's likely that he'll stick around as the team's table setter for the time being, so Cordoba's assignment atop the lineup will likely be short-lived.

D'Arnaud came off the bench and delivered the go-ahead home run in Saturday's extra-inning win over Milwaukee.

After getting a brief run of playing time with his new club, d'Arnaud has been relegated to a bench role over the Padres' last eight games. With three options capable of playing shortstop, manager Andy Green has been rolling with the hot hand. Saturday's timely home run could net the 30-year-old another look in the lineup, but he won't warrant deep-league consideration until he is seeing regular at-bats.

Arcia went 2-for-4 with an inside-the-park home run during Saturday's loss to San Diego.

A full-time gig has enabled Arcia to accumulate 21 RBI and 25 runs this season, but his .258/.300/.378 slash line, five homers and four stolen bases are underwhelming virtual numbers. In cavernous mixed and NL-only settings, the 22-year-old shortstop offers a modest fantasy floor through consistent playing time, but his ceiling is low.

DeJong went 3-for-4 with three RBI from a run-scoring single and a two-run home run in Friday's 11-2 win over the Orioles.

One of the more impressive aspects of what was the best game of the 23-year-old's nascent career was the fact that he did his damage out of the nine-hole. DeJong is likely in for a stretch of starts with Kolten Wong (forearm) back on the shelf for the time being, and he's proven capable of holding his own against major-league pitching in his brief stints with the Cardinals; factoring in Friday's production, he's slashing .286/.469/.286 with three doubles, two home runs and seven RBI over his first 49 big-league at-bats.

Crawford is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Rockies, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Crawford will rest as the Giants load up on right-handed bats to face southpaw Kyle Freeland on Saturday. Kelby Tomlinson replaces him at shortstop, leading off for San Francisco, but expect Crawford to rejoin the starting nine for Sunday's series finale.

Lindor is out of the lineup for Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader.

Manager Terry Francona is giving several of his star players a breather for the first installment of Saturday's doubleheader. Erik Gonzalez will get the start at shortstop and bat ninth for Game 1, but look for Lindor to draw back in for the night game.

Gordon went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two stolen bases in Friday's 5-0 win over the Braves.

The second baseman is now hitting .361 (13-for-36) over his last eight games with five steals and 10 runs. Gordon is streaky, but he's capable of tremendous three-category production when he's as locked in as he is right now.

Story is not in the lineup Friday against the Giants, Jenny Cavnar of ROOT Sports reports.

Story will get the day off after starting each of the last five games at shortstop. The Rockies will go with Alexi Amarista in his place, and Amarista will bat seventh against the Giants' Jeff Samardzija.