MLB Player News

Kemp will be called up and available for Saturday's doubleheader against the Mets, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Kemp had an .845 OPS with a career-high 10 home runs, nine triples, 23 doubles and 24 steals at Triple-A Fresno this season.

Lopez will play in this year's Arizona Fall League, Max Rieper of SB Nation reports.

Lopez had a solid season, hitting .283/.353/.364 with 38 RBI and 21 steals over 123 games split between High- and Double-A. With a strong showing in Arizona, the 22-year-old shortstop should have an opportunity to make a splash in spring training next year.

Fontana was recalled by the Angels on Friday, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

A second-round pick in 2012, Fontana fared far better with Salt Lake than he did with the Astros' Triple-A affiliate in 2016, nearly tripling his wRC+ from a year ago. The 26-year-old has displayed great patience at the dish throughout his minor-league career as well as decent speed and some emerging pop, but with Brandon Phillips coming aboard via a waiver trade, there simply doesn't seem to be a path to regular at-bats for Fontana.

Barreto was recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Friday, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports.

Barreto homered in his big-league debut in July, but he didn't do much else of note during his first stint in the majors. The 21-year-old put together a strong season with Nashville and really came on strong in August (.349/.393/.550), but he may only see occasional starts in the middle infield over the rest of the season with Marcus Semien and Jed Lowrie holding down regular roles.

Merrifield went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and a steal in Wednesday's loss to the Rays.

He pretty much was the Kansas City offense in this one, with his 17th homer providing all the team's runs. Add those long balls to Merrifield's 26 steals and .283 average, and you're looking at fantastic fantasy value from a guy who went undrafted in most leagues this year. He'd been cold lately, going 4-for-25 (.160) over a six-game stretch, albeit with a pair of homers, but Merrifield's few slumps haven't tended to linger.

Andrus went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs against the Astros on Wednesday.

There are a number of impressive hot streaks that can be picked out of Andrus' season, but these last five games have been something particularly special, as he's gone 13-for-23 (.565) with four doubles, a triple, three RBI and six runs scored. Andrus has seen his fence-clearing power dry up some -- he has just one homer in his last 25 games -- but he's been racking up hits like nobody's business.

Andrus went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, an RBI and three runs in Tuesday's 12-2 rout of the Astros.

The veteran shortstop's sudden outburst of power has been quite something, as he's now set a new career high in doubles with 36 and he's already doubled his previous career high in homers with 16. Andrus has done all that while hitting for the best average of his career (.303) and stealing 20-plus bases for the ninth time in his nine seasons, leaving him with an unimpeachable five-category fantasy line.

Polanco went 2-for-3 with a pair of solo homers, a walk and a steal in Tuesday's 6-4 win over the White Sox.

Polanco launched a solo shot off James Shields in the third inning to make it a 3-0 game and took Aaron Bummer deep in the seventh for his team's final run. The switch-hitting shortstop is slashing just .256/.304/.408 for the year, but a recent hot streak has elevated him to third in the batting order. Polanco's hit safely in 12 of 13 games since Aug. 17 while producing six long balls, 10 runs scored, 17 RBI and three steals over that stretch.

Semien went 1-for-3 with three RBI from a fielder's choice and a two-run single in Sunday's 8-3 win over the Rangers. He also walked twice and scored once.

Semien has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 contests, a span during which he's also compiled four doubles, a triple, a home run and all 10 of his RBI for the month. The surge has boosted his season average 23 points to .258 since Aug. 1.

Altuve went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and another run scored in Sunday's 7-5 win over the Angels.

Altive did his damage early, taking Ricky Nolasco deep with a man on in the first inning. The diminutive second baseman reached the 20-homer mark for the second consecutive season with this effort and is on pace to top 100 runs for the second time in that span with 87 through 125 games played. He's slashing career highs across his triple slash at .356/.415/.565.