MLB Player News

McCann went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run and a walk in an 8-0 victory for the White Sox over the Indians on Thursday.

The backstop got his 18th long ball of the season, touching up Aaron Civale with a three-run blast in the fourth inning. McCann has provided excellent production at a position where it can be hard to find it this season, sporting a solid .274/.329/.462 slash line with 60 RBI and 26 doubles in addition to the 18 long balls in 118 games.

Thaiss will head to the Dominican Republic to play winter ball during the major-league offseason, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Thaiss will use his time in the Dominican Republic to continue working on his skills at third base. The 24-year-old has appeared in 51 games for the Angels this season, hitting .193 with six homers and 19 RBI in 140 at-bats.

Thaiss is not in the lineup Thursday against the Astros.

Thaiss will head to the bench for a second straight game with a left-hander in Wade Miley starting for the Astros on Thursday. Kaleb Cowart is once again starting at third base in his place, hitting eighth.

Nola entered Wednesday's loss to the Astros as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and singled with one out in the ninth to break up Zach Greinke's no-hitter.

The rookie played spoiler in the shutout loss and snapped the 0-for-14 funk that had encompassed his four prior games in the process. Nola has slowed down considerably since a red-hot first month and a half at the big-league level (80-point drop in batting average to .262 since Aug. 1), although he did spike for nine hits over a four-game period earlier in September.

Vazquez (hamstring) is not in Thursday's lineup against the Rangers.

While he left Wednesday's game with hamstring tightness, Vazquez would have sat this game even if he were healthy, with it being a day game after a night game. It's unclear if he will be able to return this weekend against the Orioles.

Garver is not in Thursday's lineup against the Tigers.

All of the everyday position players are taking a seat after Minnesota clinched a division title Wednesday. Jason Castro is starting at catcher and hitting sixth.

Vazquez made a precautionary exit from Wednesday's game at Texas with left hamstring tightness, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Vazquez hit a two-run homer during the top of the third inning but did not retake the field for the bottom of the frame. The 29-year-old wasn't expected to start Thursday's contest regardless, but he could return for the final series of the season versus the Orioles this weekend.

Nola is not in Wednesday's lineup against the Astros, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Nola is hitting .210 with three home runs and a .748 OPS through 18 games this month. Daniel Vogelbach is starting at first base in his place, with Omar Narvaez covering DH duties and Tom Murphy starting behind the dish.

Murphy is not starting Wednesday against the Angels.

Murphy has started four of the past five games behind the dish, going 0-for-12 with six strikeouts and two walks during that stretch. Josh Phegley is starting at backstop and hitting ninth Wednesday.

Thaiss is not starting Wednesday against the Athletics.

Thaiss is slashing .180/.281/.240 with three doubles and one RBI in his past 20 games. He'll give way to Kaleb Cowart at the hot corner in this one.