MLB Player News

Nationals manager Blake Butera revealed Friday that Abrams will be the team's primary second baseman moving forward, with Nasim Nunez shifting to shortstop, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.

Abrams remains at shortstop for Friday's game against the Mets, and he will still see occasional starts at the position. However, his main spot on the diamond will be second base, a position he hasn't played since 2022 with the Padres. The alignment should improve the Nationals' middle-infield defense, as Abrams has long been a poor defender at shortstop, while Nunez is considered an above-average fielder. Additionally, several of the team's top prospects are shortstops, so an eventual shift to the keystone for Abrams felt inevitable.

The Mariners placed Emerson on the 10-day injured list Friday with left wrist inflammation, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports.

It was originally reported that Emerson was on his way back to Triple-A after getting off to a slow start in the big leagues, but he will instead end up on the major-league injured list due to a wrist injury he suffered while with the big club. Brock Rodden will come up from Tacoma to replenish Seattle's infield depth and could take over as the Mariners' primary shortstop until Emerson or J.P. Crawford (wrist) returns from the IL.

Neto is not in the starting lineup Thursday night against the Rangers, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Neto will get a breather after he went 2-for-12 with a double, an RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases over the first three games of the series against Texas. Denzer Guzman will draw the start at shortstop and bat sixth in the series finale versus the Rangers.

The Mariners optioned Emerson to Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Emerson hasn't quite lived up to the expectations that come with being a top prospect since arriving in the majors in May, slashing just .190/.246/.335 across 241 plate appearances while striking out at a 34.4 percent clip. The Mariners will now send him back to Tacoma in an effort to help him rediscover his swing, leaving Leo Rivas as the favorite to start at shortstop until J.P. Crawford (wrist) returns from the injured list.

Betts isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Brewers, Jack Harris of the California Post reports.

Betts will get a breather Thursday after going 6-for-11 with two homers, three RBI and three runs scored during the Dodgers' last series against the Royals. Miguel Rojas will fill in at shortstop and bat sixth.

The Rays optioned Williams to Triple-A Durham on Thursday.

Williams will lose his place with the big club after the Rays signed Jorge Mateo to a major-league deal Thursday. Williams owns a .710 OPS across 358 plate appearances in the minors this year but has been overmatched by big-league pitching, slashing just .108/.154/.216 over 16 games with the Rays.

Bogaerts went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a 4-3, extra-innings win over Milwaukee on Wednesday.

Bogaerts plated the Padres' first run with a solo shot to left field in the third inning. The long ball snapped a 25-game stretch without a homer for the veteran shortstop, who batted a meager .205 with only four RBI during the power drought. Bogaerts has now belted double-digit home runs in 11 straight seasons, though he hasn't reached 20 long balls since the 2021 campaign, when he was still with Boston.

Emerson is absent from the lineup for Thursday's contest versus the Yankees.

Emerson wore the golden sombrero in Wednesday's loss to the Yankees and is 0-for-14 with nine strikeouts over his last four games. With lefty Max Fried on the hill Thursday, the lefty-swinging Emerson will get a day to regroup. Leo Rivas is handling shortstop for Seattle.

Pena has hit safely in 13 straight games for Single-A St. Lucie, slashing .375/.444/.607 over that span with four doubles, three home runs, two steals, 11 RBI and 15 runs.

The 18-year-old shortstop is doing everything he can to earn a promotion to High-A Brooklyn before the end of 2026. Pena collected the first multi-homer game of his young pro career during that stretch, launching two solo shots against Jupiter on Tuesday. Per Max Ralph of MLB.com, Pena smoked three balls in that contest with exit velocities of 100 mph or greater.

Perdomo went 2-for-6 with a run scored in Wednesday's 6-4 loss to the Rockies.

Perdomo was back at shortstop and led off for the Diamondbacks after missing one game due to a knee issue. The multi-hit effort was his sixth in the last 12 contests, during which Perdomo is 18-for-48 (.375) with four extra-base hits (one home run), five RBI and six runs scored.