MLB Player News

Kirk (hip) isn't starting Friday against the Orioles, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Kirk has been dealing with left hip tightness recently and will be out of the lineup for a third consecutive game. He remains day-to-day for now. Teoscar Hernandez will serve as the designated hitter and bat cleanup, with Danny Jansen behind the plate and batting eighth.

Hedges isn't in the lineup Friday against Minnesota.

Hedges is getting a breather after he went 0-for-6 with two strikeouts over the last two games. Luke Maile will start behind the dish and bat eighth.

Wong isn't starting Friday against the Royals, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Wong saw a slight uptick in playing time in early September, but he'll be out of the lineup for the third time in the last five games. Kevin Plawecki is starting behind the plate and batting ninth.

Murphy went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and a run in a loss to the Astros on Thursday.

If it seems like all Murphy does is pile up extra-base knocks, it's because that qualifies as only a modest embellishment. The slugging backstop has been putting the screws to the ball all season, with Thursday's production pushing him up to 53 total extra-base hits -- 33 doubles, two triples and 18 home runs. Murphy also has a trio of multi-hit efforts in the last six games, a stretch during which he carries a .292 batting average and .870 OPS across 27 plate appearances.

Vazquez went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI on Thursday against the Athletics.

Vazquez entered Thursday's start hitless across his last 22 at-bats. However, he snapped out of the slump with an RBI double in the fourth inning, knotting the game at 2-2. Vazquez has been disappointing since joining the Astros at the trade deadline, hitting just .233 with six RBI and five runs scored across 73 at-bats.

Perez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to the Twins on Thursday.

Perez brought Kansas City within a run with his solo shot off Dylan Bundy in the fourth inning, but that ended up being the final run of the contest. The long ball was his 21st of the season, tied for third-most among MLB catchers. While he remains one of the league's most powerful backstops, Perez won't approach the 48 long balls he slammed last season.

Grandal went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk Thursday against the Guardians.

Grandal went deep in the fourth inning to tally his fifth home run of the season. Two of those long balls have come in his last nine starts, during which time he's also hit .250 with five RBI and four runs scored. However, that's hardly enough to cover up his disappointing .207/.309/.281 line across 330 plate appearances on the season.

Jeffers (thumb) will report to Triple-A St. Paul for a rehab assignment Friday, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

There is still no target date in place for Jeffers to return from surgery on his right thumb, but moving his rehab assignment to Triple-A is a good sign and leaves room for a possible return before the end of the season. He is scheduled to serve as St. Paul's designated hitter Friday.

Langeliers isn't starting Thursday against the Astros.

Langeliers started the last two games and went 2-for-7 with a run, a walk and four strikeouts. Stephen Vogt will serve as the designated hitter and bat sixth Thursday.

Maldonado isn't starting Thursday against Oakland.

Maldonado has hit just .091 with a run, an RBI, a walk and six strikeouts over eight games since the start of September, and he'll take a seat for the third time in the last five matchups. Christian Vazquez is starting behind the dish and batting eighth.