MLB Player News

Loperfido is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Mariners.

Loperfido started in center field in Friday's series opener versus Seattle after Jake Meyers (oblique) was placed on the injured list prior to that game, but Taylor Trammell has manned that position in each of the subsequent three contests. Even if the Astros proceed with Trammell as their primary center fielder in Meyers' absence, Loperfido should still see regular reps against right-handed pitching as Houston's left fielder. Shortstop Jeremy Pena's (hamstring) move to the IL on Monday should free up playing time on the left side of the infield for both Carlos Correa and Isaac Paredes in the short term, enabling Yordan Alvarez to serve as a designated hitter on a full-time basis rather than poaching starts from Loperfido in left.

Canzone is not in the lineup for Monday's game versus the Astros.

Right-hander Mike Burrows will toe the rubber for the Astros, but the left-handed-hitting Canzone will be absent from the lineup for just the second time against a righty this season. Cal Raleigh is getting a start at designated hitter and Mitch Garver will do the catching for Seattle.

Gonzales is slashing .276/.344/.517 with two home runs and a 21.9 percent strikeout rate in 32 plate appearances for High-A Greenville.

Gonzales' inability to consistently lift the ball in the air has been the one thing holding him back from ascending way up prospect lists, and so far his 45.5 percent groundball rate and 31.8 percent flyball rate are career-best marks. These early adjustments have allowed him to produce a career-best .241 ISO and .517 SLG through this tiny sample. Gonzales is the second-youngest hitter at High-A, behind Rainiel Rodriguez, so he could climb into a lofty spot on prospect rankings by season's end if he can maintain these early batted-ball trends.

Gillen is hitting .333 with four home runs, three steals and a 22.6 percent strikeout rate in eight games for High-A Bowling Green.

Gillen had an excellent first full season last year (151 wRC+ in 73 games at Single-A), save for the fact he didn't hit for much over-the-fence power (five home runs, .119 ISO). Less than 10 games into his first season at High-A and he's already one homer shy of tying his career high. Gillen leads the Sally league in ISO (.556) and wRC+ (251), but the Rays will likely keep him there for at least another couple months before challenging the 20-year-old center fielder with a bump to Double-A.

Carter went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and two walks in Sunday's 5-2 victory over the Dodgers.

Carter tied the game at one apiece in the third inning, turning on a Roki Sasaki fastball and sending it over the right-field fence for his second homer of the series. The outfielder's .233 batting average isn't overly impressive, but nine walks have boosted his on-base percentage to .365, giving the 23-year-old an .807 OPS through 15 games. Carter is penciled in as the primary center fielder against right-handed pitching.

Nimmo went 2-for-5 with two RBI in Sunday's win over the Dodgers.

Nimmo followed up Saturday's two-homer performance with another multi-RBI effort in Sunday's win. In his first season with the Rangers after spending the first 10 years of his big-league career with the Mets, the 33-year-old is off to a strong start, slashing .367/.433/.600 with three homers, 10 runs and nine RBI in 15 games. Nimmo has recorded multiple hits in nine of those contests.

Carpenter went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk in Sunday's 8-2 win over the Marlins.

Carpenter mashed his third homer of the campaign Sunday, taking Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara deep in the sixth inning. The lefty-swinging slugger went just 2-for-19 in March, but he's starting to pick up some momentum in April. Over his last 29 at-bats, Carpenter is batting .276 with four extra-base hits, eight RBI and four walks.

Simpson went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a RBI in Sunday's 5-4 win over the Yankees.

It's early, but Simpson has been excellent at the top of the lineup for the Rays. On the season, the 25-year-old brought his slash line up to .411/.441./.482 after recording three more hits Sunday. It also extended his current hit streak out to eight games and keeps the amount of games he's been held without a hit to one contest so far.

Judge went 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and a two-run home run in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Rays.

Aside from a ninth-inning home run to cut a three-run deficit down to just one, it was a relatively nondescript game for Judge. The home run was the third of the season for the Yankees slugger, who is off to a slower start than usual this season. The 33-year-old has seven RBI and is slashing just .218/.328/.455 on the young campaign. The homer snapped a streak of seven straight games without one for Judge.

Raley went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored in Sunday's 6-1 win over the Astros.

Raley doubled and scored in the third inning, singled in the fifth and smacked a two-run double in the sixth to extend Seattle's lead to 6-1. Raley is slashing .255/.314/.532 with four doubles, three homers, nine RBI, six runs scored and a 2:20 BB:K across 47 plate appearances. Raley homered in each of his first three games of the season but is now up to 11 games without one.