MLB Player News

Alvarez will bat fifth as the designated hitter in his season debut Friday against the Mariners, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Alvarez was out for the entirety of camp for undisclosed reasons but spent the last three weeks ramping up at the Astros' secondary site. He should serve as the team's everyday designated hitter going forward, though it's possible he gets a few extra off days early on to ease him back into game action.

Canha is likely to shift over to center field during Ramon Laureano's four-game suspension, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Canha is a versatile veteran with 139 games of major-league experience in center, so he's a natural candidate to fill in. The 31-year-old is hitting a pedestrian .242 over his first 78 plate appearances, but he's also sporting an impressive .385 on-base percentage thanks to an elevated 14.1 percent walk rate.

Alvarez (undisclosed) was activated from the injured list Friday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Alvarez missed all of camp for undisclosed reasons, but he's now ready to go three weeks after resuming baseball activities. The young slugger hit a remarkable .313/.412/.655 with 27 homers in just 87 games in his debut season last year, though whether or not he'll be able to immediately return to that level following the long layoff remains to be seen. Once he's fully up to speed, he should be the Astros' everyday designated hitter, forcing Kyle Tucker and Michael Brantley to compete for time in left field.

Choi is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Red Sox, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Choi will take a seat after going 2-for-12 with a double, three walks, an RBI and a run scored while starting at first base in the first three games of the series in Boston. Jose Martinez will fill in for Choi and bat second Thursday.

Vogelbach went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk in Wednesday's loss to the Rangers.

Vogelbach reached base twice, and the slugger has reached base in seven of his last nine contests -- he is only hitting .138 but owns a .306 on-base percentage with two homers and four RBI in that stretch. Vogelbach is never going to hit for average, but he should retain some value in deep leagues due to his power.

Martinez went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 9-5 loss to the Rays.

After going 14 games without a long ball to begin the season, Martinez now has homers in two of his last three. Earlier this season, Martinez lamented MLB's new restrictions on communal video terminals. He told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, "In the past I probably already would have been able to get in the video room, break [struggling teammate Andrew Benintendi's] swing down, look at it, do some comparisons. It's kind of what I do for most of the guys on the team. We don't have access to any of that stuff anymore. It's kind of everyone on their own. Survivor." While Martinez can no longer go to the video terminal in the clubhouse during games to examine the mechanics of his swing and make adjustments, this is a player coming off six straight highly-productive seasons and we expect he will be able to make do.

Buxton went 3-for-5 with two solo home runs in Wednesday's 12-2 blowout win over the Brewers.

Buxton's homered in the fifth and sixth innings, giving him five homers in his last seven games. The outfielder has back-to-back three-hit games as well, raising his batting average from .211 to .298 with the recent surge. Buxton has five homers, 10 RBI, nine runs scored and a stolen base in 15 contests this season.

Brantley is not in Wednesday's lineup against the Giants, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brantley will head to the bench for Wednesday's series finale following a string of six straight starts during which he went 2-for-24 with a pair of doubles. The Astros are going with an outfield consisting of Kyle Tucker, Myles Straw and Josh Reddick (from left to right) in Brantley's absence.

Manager Dusty Baker said Wednesday that Alvarez (undisclosed) is "very close" to rejoining the Astros, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

Alvarez missed all of summer camp for undisclosed reasons, but he's been training at Houston's alternate training site for more than two weeks. Assuming the 23-year-old checks out OK in the coming days, it sounds like he could be cleared to return as soon as this weekend.

Ford went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI in a win over Atlanta on Tuesday.

Ford doubled home a pair of runs in the fifth inning and drove in another with a two-bagger in the seventh. The 28-year-old figures to see his playing time increase with Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list with a hamstring injury, and Ford has now started consecutive games at DH. On the season, Ford is slashing .227/.280/.455 with a home run and seven RBI.