MLB Player News

Fletcher (foot) remains on the bench for the first half of Saturday's doubleheader against Seattle.

Previous reports indicated that Fletcher would return from his sore foot Saturday, but that evidently won't be happening until the nightcap. Luis Rengifo will be the second baseman in the afternoon contest.

Bogaerts went 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored in Fridays' 7-4 win over the Royals.

All four of Bogaerts' hits were singles. He scored in the fourth inning and drove in a run in the fifth to help build Boston's lead. The shortstop has just three multi-hit efforts in his last 13 games, but he's batting .327 (16-for-49) in that span. For the season, he's up to a .315/.388/.459 slash line with nine home runs, 47 RBI, 59 runs scored and seven stolen bases through 103 contests.

Fletcher, who is not in Friday's lineup, is dealing with a sore foot but is expected to be OK for Saturday's game, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Fletcher was out of Thursday's lineup but then got hit on the foot by a pitch in a pinch-hit situation. Phil Gosselin got the start in his absence Friday.

Fletcher is not in Friday's lineup against the Mariners.

Fletcher wasn't in Thursday's lineup either but he appeared off the bench. Luis Rengifo will start at the keystone while Phil Gosselin starts at the hot corner.

Diaz, who is not in Friday's lineup against the Guardians, is day-to-day with a sore left ring finger, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Imaging on the finger revealed no fractures, and manager Dusty Baker said Diaz might be available to pinch hit Friday. Diaz is hitting .306 with three home runs over his last 10 games.

Duran is not in the lineup for Friday's game versus the White Sox.

Duran is 4-for-31 over his last nine contests and will head to the bench for Friday's contest. Josh Smith will take over at third base.

Witt is out of the lineup for Friday's game versus the Red Sox, Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports.

Witt is 4-for-8 with a home run, two RBI, three runs and a stolen base in the past two games but will receive Friday off. Nicky Lopez will shift to shortstop while Michael Massey starts at the keystone.

Allen went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run in a win over the Angels on Thursday.

The young shortstop has hit safely in five of his last eight starts, although he's still carrying just a .197/.261/.276 slash line for the season. Allen does have three doubles over that eight-game span, and seven of his first eight extra-base hits at the big-league level have been two-baggers.

Barger has hit .418/.467/.657 with four home runs in 18 games since being promoted to Double-A New Hampshire.

This hot streak has hardly come out of nowhere, as Barger posted a sharp .295/.361/.549 line with 14 homers and seven steals at High-A Vancouver before moving up. A sixth-round pick in 2018, he was mostly unremarkable in minor-league action prior to this season -- he did show some power in A ball last year, but he struck out far too often. However, Barger has cut his strikeout rate noticeably this season, and he's maintained that improvement since his promotion. He's still a bit raw defensively, but the 23-year-old has a strong arm and may be able to stick at shortstop. Of course, the Jays have Bo Bichette holding that position down for the foreseeable future.

Witt went 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base in Thursday's 7-3 win against Boston.

Witt singled, stole second and scored in the first inning and brought home the game-winning run with a single before scoring in the seventh for his second straight multi-hit effort. The 22-year-old is one of two players with 15 home runs and 20 thefts and could put together a strong close to his rookie campaign with a .308 average, two home runs and three stolen bases across his last seven games.