MLB Player News

Torres is out of the lineup Sunday against the Angels, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.

After seeing his four-game home-run streak come to an end Saturday, the rookie sensation will receive just his second day off since being promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 22. With Torres on the bench, Neil Walker will pick up the start at the keystone.

Andrus (elbow) started swinging a regular bat Saturday after a week of using a fungo bat, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

Andrus is taking dry swings with no baseball involved. The next step in his recovery will be hitting off a tee and soft-toss. If he's going to come off the 60-day disabled list when eligible June 11, we should start hearing about a rehabilitation assignment within the next week.

Kemp went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 8-6 loss to Cleveland.

Kemp's sixth-inning homer answered a two-spot the Indians put up a half-inning earlier and kept the Astros in striking distance. The 26-year-old has reached base in eight of the nine games played since his callup. He's hitting .375 with a .448 on-base percentage and hasn't given manager A.J. Hinch any pause putting his name in the starting lineup daily, as can be the case with fellow outfielders Marwin Gonzalez (.217) or Jake Marisnick (.167).

Altuve went 4-for-4 with a triple, a home run, three runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases in Saturday's 8-6 loss to Cleveland.

The homer was just his third of the year -- and Altuve's first since April 28 -- while the steals give him a paltry six through 53 games. It's been a relatively disappointing start to the season for the 2017 American League MVP, at least by his high standards, but Altuve seems locked in right now, hitting .390 (16-for-41) over his last 10 games with seven runs, nine RBI and four steals.

Altuve went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 11-2 win over the Indians.

The final score made the game look like a laugher, but the Astros trailed 2-0 entering the eighth inning and were in need of the spark that Altuve provided. With just two hits in his last 16 at-bats, Altuve faced tough lefty Andrew Miller and turned on a first-pitch slider, doubling down the left field line to plate two runners. By the lofty standards Altuve has set for himself, he's having a down year, but he's still hitting above .300 and very capable of delivering hits in key moments.

Solarte went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI in Toronto's 6-5 victory over Philadelphia on Friday.

Solarte had been in a bit of a slump after a hot start to the season, but he's picked it back up with five multi-hit games in his last six contests to bring his slash line up to .270/.332/.503 over 189 at-bats. He's also showcased impressive power so far this season, with 11 home runs in 48 games after he left the yard 18 times in 128 games with the Padres in 2017.

Torres went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI in Friday's win over the Angels.

Make it four straight games with a homer for Torres, who is now up to nine home runs through 28 games with the big-league team (96 at-bats). He had never hit more than 11 homers in a season while on the farm, making this run all the more unbelievable. It's going to be tough for manager Aaron Boone to keep Torres in the nine hole for much longer.

Mathias (undisclosed) was reinstated from the 7-day disabled list Friday.

Mathias had been dealing with an undisclosed injury, but he's now able to resume trying to build off his .263/.366/.398 slash rate with one home run and 16 RBI over 34 games this season.

Kemp started in left field and went 1-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base in Thursday's 8-2 win over the Indians.

Kemp has started seven straight games since being called up from Triple-A Fresno and is hitting .389 (7-for-18) with two runs, six RBI and two steals during that run. Manager A.J. Hinch spoke to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle about his need to juggle a crowded outfield, but he's been giving Kemp regular duty while finding spots for Jake Marisnick, Marwin Gonzalez and, to a lesser extent, J.D. Davis when match-ups are beneficial.

Merrifield went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and two RBI in Kanas City's 8-2 victory over the Rangers on Thursday.

Merrifield had gone hitless in his last 11 at-bats coming into the game but he snapped out of it with this multi-hit, two RBI performance. He got off to a bit of a slow start to the season but his numbers through 48 games are strong, as he's now got a .286/.358/.418 slash line and he's also contributed 12 steals so far this year after he swiped 34 in his breakout campaign in 2017.