MLB Player News

Correa (leg) is starting at shortstop and batting second Friday against the Rangers, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

The 28-year-old was held out Wednesday due to some tightness in his legs, but he will rejoin the lineup Friday following Minnesota's scheduled day off Thursday. Correa is 0-for-12 with an RBI, a run, five walks and three strikeouts over his past four games.

Witt (hand) is starting at shortstop and batting third Friday against the Guardians.

Witt hasn't seen the field since suffering the hand injury late in Tuesday's contest, but he'll rejoin the lineup for Thursday's series opener in Cleveland. The 22-year-old is 3-for-21 with a home run, two walks, three RBI and two runs through five appearances in July.

Mateo went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Angels.

Mateo has logged two steals in his last three games since it was revealed he has been dealing with a sore left quad. The 27-year-old clearly isn't too hampered by it when running, as he's up to 21 stolen bases this season and he hasn't been caught stealing since June 14. He's added a .194/.249/.320 slash line through 275 plate appearances this year while regularly hitting at the bottom of the order.

Anderson went 1-for-4 with a run scored Thursday against the Tigers.

Anderson started a ninth-inning rally for the White Sox with a one-out single before coming around to score. He's hit .205 with one extra-base hit across his last 10 games, though he's still scored seven runs and swiped two bags in that span. Even with the slow stretch, Anderson has maintained an excellent .313 average across 244 plate appearances on the season.

Baez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's 2-1 win over the White Sox.

Dylan Cease and two Chicago relievers held the Tigers to just five total hits, but Baez made his lone hit count, going deep against Cease in the fourth inning. The shortstop now has eight long balls this season, with five of those coming since June 18. Baez can be a bit streaky, but he's trending in the right direction.

Pena (COVID-19 protocols) will travel with the team to Oakland, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Pena was scratched from Thursday's lineup against the Royals due to health and safety protocols, but it seems likely that he'll be able to avoid a trip to the COVID-19 IL since he'll remain with the Astros during their road trip. The 24-year-old should be considered day-to-day ahead of Friday's series opener against the Athletics.

Pena was scratched from the lineup ahead of Thursday's game against the Royals due to health and safety protocols related to COVID-19, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The team notably hasn't placed Pena on the COVID-19-related injured list or indicated that he tested positive for the virus. He was presumably pulled from the lineup as a matter of precaution, likely due to him dealing with an illness or being viewed as a close contact of an infected person. Mauricio Dubon will pick up a start at shortstop in place of Pena.

Pena was scratched from the lineup ahead of Thursday's game with the Royals due to an unspecified reason, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The Astros haven't provided an immediate explanation behind Pena's removal from the lineup, but he's presumably dealing with an injury. Just one week ago, Pena missed a game after suffering a mouth laceration in a collision with teammate Yordan Alvarez, but he cleared the concussion protocol and proceeded to start each of the past six games, going 7-for-29 with three home runs over that stretch. Mauricio Dubon will fill in for Pena at shortstop in Thursday's series finale.

Witt (hand), who remains out of the lineup for Thursday's game in Houston, is scheduled to field grounders and take swings as the Royals look to gauge his availability moving forward, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Manager Mike Matheny said that all scans conducted on Witt's right hand came back clean, but the club will wait and see how the star rookie responds to Thursday's on-field workout before a determination is made on when he might be ready to return to the lineup. Nicky Lopez is expected to fill in as the Royals' primary shortstop for however long Witt's absence may linger.

Witt (hand) is not in the starting lineup Thursday versus the Astros, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Witt will be unavailable for a second straight contest after he was hit in the right hand by a pitch Tuesday. He remains day-to-day while Nicky Lopez takes over at shortstop again Thursday.