MLB Player News

Belt is not in the lineup Friday against the Athletics.

Belt went 1-for-15 over the past four games and will head to the bench with southpaw Jesus Luzardo starting for the A's. Wilmer Flores receives the start at first base for San Francisco.

Dickerson is not in the lineup Friday against the A's.

Dickerson seemed likely to start Friday with righty Frankie Montas set to take the mound, but Montas was scratched with a back issue, causing the A's to turn to lefty Jesus Luzardo. Darin Ruf will start in left field for the Giants.

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.

Turner went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's win over the Padres.

Turner pulled the Dodgers away for good with a three-run shot off reliever Craig Stammen in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was Turner's second three-run shot in his last five days, and those have been the only two times the slugging third baseman has gone yard this season. Turner is beginning to see the ball better of late and is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak while slashing .320/.393/.640 in that span.

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.

Winker went 2-for-3 with a walk, a solo home run and a stolen base in Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Royals.

With multiple hits in five of his last six games, Winker has raised average nearly 200 points to .333. He's 11-for-his-last-17 and has five extra-base hits in that span, including his first three homers of 2020. It's also worth noting that Winker has started against each of the last three lefties the Reds have faced, so it seems he's finally getting a chance to establish himself as an everyday player.

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.