MLB Player News

Alvarez went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs and a walk in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Rangers.

Alvarez has feasted on Texas pitching in this series, going 6-for-12 with five homers and eight RBI over the last three games. He's recorded his two multi-homer games of the year over the last two contests and is up to 20 long balls on the year. The slugger is batting .312 with a 1.085 OPS, 39 RBI, 36 runs scored, one stolen base and 11 doubles across 56 games in what has started out as an MVP-caliber season.

The Rangers designated McCutchen for assignment Wednesday.

McCutchen will give up his spot on the 40-man roster and 26-man active roster to infielder Nicky Lopez, whom the Rangers signed to a one-year contract. After joining Texas late in spring training on a minor-league deal, the 39-year-old McCutchen was able to secure a spot on the Opening Day roster but proceeded to hit just .192/.277/.260 with a career-worst 26.5 percent strikeout rate in 83 plate appearances. Given McCutchen's struggles with Texas this season along with the fact that he's best suited as a designated hitter rather than a corner outfielder at this stage of his career, the five-time All-Star may not be able to find another opportunity at the big-league level.

Gasper will start at catcher and bat sixth in Wednesday's game versus Atlanta.

It's the second straight start behind the plate and third start over the last four contests for Gasper. The Red Sox are carrying three catchers and have been using all of them, with Gasper, Carlos Narvaez and Connor Wong all netting at least two starts at catcher over the last 10 games. Gasper also has an additional three starts at designated hitter during that stretch.

Canzone is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Athletics.

The Mariners will keep Canzone and fellow left-handed hitter Luke Raley on the bench for the second game in a row while the Athletics send another lefty starter (Jeffrey Springs) to the hill. Seattle will go with Randy Arozarena as its designated hitter and Rob Refsnyder, Julio Rodriguez and Victor Robles as its starting outfield trio for the series finale in Sacramento.

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

The Athletics will send Rooker to the bench for the second time in four contests, with both of his absences coming in day games after night games. Since rejoining the Athletics on April 26 following a stint on the injured list, Rooker hasn't been able to gain much momentum at the dish. He's slashing just .206/.289/.373 while striking out at a 30.7 percent clip over the past month.

Springer is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Marlins.

Toronto is concluding its three-game series against Miami with an afternoon game following a night game, so Springer will exit the starting nine in what looks to be a planned rest day. Jesus Sanchez will get a turn as Toronto's designated hitter in place of Springer, who had started each of the last nine games. After struggling mightily at the plate initially upon his return from the injured list April 30, Springer has rounded into form over those last nine starts, slashing .289/.357/.579 with three home runs, two stolen bases, six RBI and five runs.

Alvarez went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI in a loss to the Rangers on Tuesday.

Houston fell behind 8-0 after one inning, but Alvarez led a near comeback. He got the Astros on the board with a three-run homer in the third frame and added a solo shot in the eighth. Alvarez has gone deep three times over two contests since sitting out Sunday due to a back injury. He continues to put up huge numbers for his fantasy managers, slashing .303/.414/.631 with 18 home runs, 34 runs, 37 RBI and one stolen base through 55 games.

Pederson went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run Tuesday in a 10-7 win against the Astros.

Pederson struck out to lead off Texas' half of the first inning, but he redeemed himself in the same frame with a three-run homer to cap an eight-run inning. Remarkably, the long ball gave Pederson his first multi-RBI game of the season. While he's improved his batting average to .234 after hitting just .181 last season, Pederson has otherwise struggled to produce -- he has only four homers and 14 RBI across 151 plate appearances.

Springer went 3-for-4 with an RBI single and a steal during Tuesday's 8-1 win over the Marlins.

Springer contributed to the Blue Jays' six-run sixth inning with an RBI single and a steal before coming around to score on a Jesus Sanchez grand slam off Sandy Alcantara. Springer's three hits are a season high, and it was his seventh multi-hit game of the season. He hasn't been great at the plate this season, but Tuesday's performance brought him to a .214 batting average for the year. Springer has gone 11-for-38 (.289) with five extra-base hits (including three home runs), six RBI, two steals and five runs scored over his last nine games.

Bell is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the White Sox.

Bell will get a breather after he had started in each of Minnesota's last seven games while going 7-for-26 (.269 average) with two home runs, three walks, five RBI and three runs. With Bell taking a seat, Byron Buxton will get a night off from playing the outfield but will stick in the lineup at designated hitter.