MLB Player News

Merrifield left Saturday's game against Seattle after taking a pitch off his helmet, Mitch Bannon of SI.com reports.

Merrifield initially stayed in the game to run the bases but was replaced by Raimel Tapia when the Blue Jays took the field. The fact that the team was leading by seven runs and inserted one of its better outfield defenders suggests that the move may have been at least somewhat tactical rather than purely injury-related.

Espinal (oblique) was activated from the 10-day injured list and included on the Blue Jays' wild-card roster, Mike Wilner of the Toronto Star reports.

Espinal will return to the active roster just in time for the Blue Jays' wild-card series with the Mariners, which starts Friday. The 27-year-old missed the last couple weeks of the season while dealing with an oblique issue, but he'll now operate in a utility role for Toronto in the postseason. Espinal produced a .267 average with seven homers, 51 RBI, 51 runs and six stolen bases over 135 games during the regular season.

Brujan went 1-for-2 with a solo home run Wednesday against the Red Sox.

Brujan was recalled from Triple-A Durham on Monday and appeared in all three of the Rays' games to close the regular season. He entered the game Wednesday in the fifth inning as a pinch runner and then remained in the contest to take Ryan Brasier yard to tally his third homer of the season. Brujan struggled across 162 plate appearances this year, maintaining just a .163/.228/.259 line with five stolen bases.

Merrifield is out of the lineup for the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader with the Orioles.

Merrifield will take a seat after starting each of the last 13 games, including the Blue Jays' 5-4 loss in Game 1 of the twin bill. He went 1-for-5 in the early game to finish the regular season with a .251/.299/.376 slash line across 548 plate appearances. Otto Lopez will replace Merrifield at second base in Game 2.

Frazier is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Tigers.

Southpaw Tyler Alexander is on the hill for Detroit in the regular-season finale, so the lefty-hitting Frazier will check out of the starting nine. Frazier picked up starts in both corner-outfield spots during Tuesday's doubleheader sweep of Detroit, going a collective 2-for-7 with two runs and an RBI.

Torres (illness) is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rangers, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.

Torres will close the regular season with five consecutive absences from the lineup while he continues to recover from flu-like symptoms. Fortunately for Torres, the Yankees have secured a bye during the wild-card round, so Torres should be ready to go when New York begins its ALDS matchup Oct. 11.

Clement is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Angels, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Clement started each of the Athletics' last three games, going 1-for-12 with a double and a run. He's produced just one hit in 17 at-bats since being activated by the Athletics on Sept. 24 after the team claimed him off waivers from Cleveland.

Semien went 1-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Yankees.

After going 0-for-5 in the matinee, Semien got the Rangers on the board in the bottom of the first inning of the nightcap, coming home on an Adolis Garcia single after stealing his 25th base of the year. Semien's prior career high in that category was only 15, but his power numbers took a major step backward from his massive 2021 performance with Toronto. With another six years and $150 million left on his contract with Texas, he'll get plenty of chances to try and put it all together.

Castro is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Mariners.

After holding down a regular spot in the lineup for much of the second half of the season, Castro will end up sitting out for a second straight contest as Detroit wraps up the 2022 campaign. Even on a rebuilding squad like the Tigers, the 28-year-old is probably still ideally suited for a utility role. He provided a strong .271 batting average over his 443 plate appearances this season, but a low walk rate (3.9 percent) and lack of power (.110 ISO) or speed (no stolen bases) limited his usefulness.

Espinal (oblique) took live batting practice and was involved in infield drills during a workout Wednesday in Toronto, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Espinal won't be activated from the 10-day injured list in advance of the Blue Jays' season-closing doubleheader in Baltimore on Wednesday, but he looks like he could be a candidate for inclusion on Toronto's wild-card round roster in advance of the team's Game 1 matchup with the Mariners on Friday. If he shows enough progress in his recovery from the oblique strain for the Blue Jays to include him on the postseason roster, Espinal may have to settle for a utility role. While Espinal has been on the shelf since Sept. 22, Whit Merrifield has seized control of the keystone and has produced a monstrous 1.237 OPS over his last 10 contests.