MLB Player News

Red Sox manager Alex Cora indicated Tuesday that he's encouraged by how Story's (elbow) rehab is going, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.

"He's feeling good, he's throwing the ball well... he's making some tough throws... It's looking good, it's looking good," Cora said. "I don't want to get too excited, let's put it that way." Story -- who is coming back from an internal brace procedure on his right elbow -- is slated to take batting practice Tuesday. He's expected to be ready to return at shortstop for the Red Sox sometime in August, although the club has not yet ruled out bringing him back earlier as a designated hitter.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that Chang (wrist) is likely to be activated from the 60-day injured list later this week, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Cora added that Chang will be the team's primary shortstop when he returns from late-April surgery to repair a fractured left hamate bone. The 27-year-old was slashing just .136/.174/.341 through 47 plate appearances prior to the injury and offers little fantasy appeal despite the opportunity for an elevated role.

Witt went 2-for-5 with a double, a run, an RBI and two stolen bases in a loss to the Twins on Monday.

Witt has settled into the No. 2 spot in the order of late, as he's batted there in all but two of his 17 starts since June 16. The shortstop came into Monday with a modest two thefts during that span, but he boosted his season total to 25 with the pair of steals in the loss. Witt swiped 30 bags as a rookie last season and appears to be well on his way to surpassing that total as a sophomore.

Correa went 4-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI in Monday's 8-4 win against the Royals.

Correa batted out of the leadoff spot for the fourth straight game and was a catalyst for the offense with his 12th career four-hit performance. It's a small sample size, but since moving atop the batting order, Correa has gone 8-for-17 with three runs and has boosted his season batting average by 16 points to .228. Given that success, it wouldn't be surprising if he remains in the leadoff spot for the foreseeable future.

Volpe went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in a 6-3 win over Baltimore on Monday.

The Yankees trailed 3-0 when Volpe kicked off a comeback with a solo shot in the fifth inning. The rookie shortstop also notched an infield single in the seventh to give him six multi-hit performances over his past seven games. Volpe has put together an eight-game hitting streak overall and is batting .500 (15-for-30) over that span.

Neto (oblique) played catch and is expected to hit off a tee Monday, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Neto is continuing to ramp up his baseball activities, and Bollinger adds that the shortstop could be activated soon after the break if all goes according to plan. He's been on the 10-day injured list since June 15 due to a left oblique strain and will likely head out on a rehab assignment shortly.

Pena (neck) is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Rangers.

Pena will sit out for a fourth consecutive game while he continues to contend with neck tightness. Mauricio Dubon will fill in at shortstop for Pena and bat second in the series finale in Arlington. According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Pena was spotted fielding grounders prior to Monday's contest, so the 25-year-old is still seemingly being viewed as day-to-day and could avoid a stint on the injured list.

Anderson went 2-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base Sunday against the Athletics.

Anderson tallied his second multi-hit effort in his last four starts, though he's still hitting just .172 across his last 22 games. He's stolen only three bases and scored seven runs in that span, providing little fantasy appeal. Anderson has also still yet to go yard and has an abysmal .036 ISO across 263 plate appearances on the campaign.

Duran is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Astros.

Duran appears to be receiving some routine maintenance for the matinee game after he started in left field or at designated hitter in each of Texas' last 15 contests. With Duran moving to the bench, the Rangers will have a spot open in the lineup at designated hitter for Josh Smith.

Baez went 1-for-5 with a grand slam in Sunday's 14-9 win over the Rockies.

Baez made an early impact with his one-out blast off Connor Seabold in the first inning. The homer snapped a 13-game power drought for Baez, who hit just .176 (9-for-51) in that span. He's tracking for a career low in homers over a full season -- he has just six through 79 contests so far. The shortstop is slashing a paltry .223/.258/.331 with 42 RBI, 32 runs scored and six stolen bases this year.