MLB Player News

Altuve will start at second base and bat leadoff Saturday against the Yankees, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Alex Bregman will slide down to the No. 2 spot in the order while Altuve settles in atop the order for just the second time all season. Manager AJ Hinch hasn't indicated whether Altuve's table-setting assignment will be an extended arrangement or a one-off one, but bet on the latter with George Springer (hamstring) trending toward a return from the 10-day injured list Tuesday. Springer has made all 47 of his starts this season out of the leadoff spot.

Torres is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Astros, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

Torres will head to the bench after hitting .387 with four home runs, 13 RBI and 12 runs while starting each of the last 10 games. Despite his immense success of late, Torres will likely stick in the bottom half of the lineup on a regular basis with the Yankees recently acquiring Edwin Encarnacion and getting their top two power hitters (Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge) back from the injured list.

Castro is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Indians, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Castro heads to the bench following seven straight starts, during which he produced five hits across 22 at-bats. Though Ronny Rodriguez will get the nod at second base Saturday, Castro appears to have emerged as the Tigers' primary option at the position for now. Castro could be at risk of moving into a utility role or may even be sent back to Triple-A Toledo once Jordy Mercer (quadriceps) is reinstated from the 10-day injured list, however.

Drury is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Red Sox.

Drury picked up starts in four of the Blue Jays' previous five days, delivering only one hit in 15 at-bats. He's slashing a lowly .198/.234/.284 since the beginning of May and could be in danger of demotion to Triple-A Buffalo.

Lowe went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI doubles and a run in a win over the Athletics on Friday.

Lowe shifted to the top of the lineup Friday and was a rousing success. The multi-hit effort snapped an 0-for-14 slump for Lowe that encompassed his prior four games, and the pair of two-baggers were his first extra-base hits since last Sunday as well. Factoring in Friday's production, Lowe is hitting .297 across 70 plate appearances in June.

Lopez will start at second base and bat second Saturday against the Twins.

Lopez has hit in the bottom half of the order for much of June, but he'll stick in the No. 2 spot for the third straight game now that Adalberto Mondesi (groin) is on the 10-day injured list. The rookie got off to a hot start upon arriving in the big leagues in mid-May before enduring a prolonged cold streak, but his bat has been on the upswing lately. Though he saw a three-game multi-hit streak come to an end in Friday's 8-7 loss, Lopez reached base on a walk and hit-by-pitch and came around to score on both occasions.

Altuve went 3-for-4 with a walk in a 4-1 loss to the Yankees on Friday.

This was Altuve's third game since being activated off the injured list, and it looks like he's adjusted to major-league pitching after going 1-for-9 in the first two games. The second baseman had been out of the lineup since May 10, so it's natural if there might be a period of adjustment to get his timing down.

Torres went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Friday's win over Houston.

Torres tacked on two key insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, leaving the yard for the 18th time this season. He's pieced together a .287/.347/.544 slash line with 45 RBI over 71 contests in 2019.

Mayfield was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Friday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The announcement that Carlos Correa (ribs) and Aledmys Diaz (hamstring) would be out through the All-Star break was expected to give Mayfield some job security in the short term, but he'll instead find his way back to Triple-A. Mayfield did little offensively to convince the Astros he should stay with a .143/.163/.310 slash line through 43 plate appearances. His return to the minors suggests the Astros feel Myles Straw's ability at shortstop will suffice in a pinch.

Biggio is not in the lineup for Friday's game at Boston.

Biggio will head to the bench Friday with lefty Chris Sale taking the mound for the Red Sox. Eric Sogard will start at the keystone in his stead.