MLB Player News

Franco went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in a loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday, pushing his average down to .197 across his first 66 big-league plate appearances.

The rookie phenom is naturally still experiencing the ups and downs inherent in a player's first foray against major-league pitching, with Franco closing out the first half of the season by striking out in six of nine plate appearances over the last two games. Despite the occasional struggles, Franco has certainly showed glimpses of his expansive upside at the plate, recently putting together an eight-game hitting streak during which he struck out at a modest 11.8 percent clip. Considering his prodigious talent, fantasy managers should have plenty to look forward to in the second half of the campaign as Franco continues to master the intricacies of big-league arms.

Fletcher went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and four RBI in Sunday's 7-1 win over the Mariners.

Fletcher got the Angels on the board with a game-tying solo home run off Hector Santiago in the third inning but that was just the beginning of his day. He later added a two-run single in the fifth and then drove in another run in the seventh to put the Angels out front 4-1. The 27-year-old has now notched a hit in 24 straight games dating back to June 13 with Sunday's performance being the best of the bunch. He'll head into the All-Star break slashing .309/.336/.381 with 19 extra-base hits, 32 RBI, 52 runs scored, four steals and 14:37 BB:K over 354 plate appearances.

Bogaerts went 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk in Sunday's loss to the Phillies.

The star shortstop went yard in the second inning off Brandon Kintzler and now has 15 long balls on the season. Bogaerts ends the first half of the campaign on a four-game hitting streak and with an excellent .321 average, as well as a team-high .930 OPS.

Downs went 1-for-2 with a double, two RBI and a run Sunday for the American League squad in its 8-3 loss to the National League in the 2021 Futures Game.

While playing with Triple-A Worcester, Downs sustained a head injury in late June that initially appeared to threaten his availability for the Futures Game, but he returned to action July 1 and went 4-for-23 over his final six games to clear up any concern about his availability for the exhibition. Despite not starting in the Futures Game, Downs provided the AL side's only extra-base hit on the day. The 22-year-old second baseman sports a .686 OPS to go with 12 stolen bases across 188 plate appearances at Worcester this season.

Fletcher went 1-for-4 in a loss to the Mariners on Saturday.

The Angels managed only three hits against Seattle in the contest, and one of the base knocks was a fourth-inning single by Fletcher. The one-bagger extended his career-best hitting streak to 23 games. Over the course of the streak, Fletcher is batting .419 and has increased his season average 47 points to .302.

Manager Dusty Baker said Sunday that Diaz (hand) is going to West Palm Beach to begin a rehab assignment with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast Astros, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Per Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest, Diaz will resume his workouts with Palm Beach and is scheduled to play in his first rehab game Thursday. The utility man, who is working his way back from a broken hand suffered in early June, is targeting a late-July activation, per Baker. With that in mind, he'll likely get a decent amount of games under his belt in the minors before being reinstated from the IL.

Correa (illness) remains out of the lineup Sunday against the Yankees, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Manager Dusty Baker said Saturday that the shortstop was still feeling sick and that he was unlikely to rejoin the club Sunday. Correa figures to remain on the COVID-19 IL for the series finale, though he has not been reported to have tested positive for the virus. The 26-year-old announced earlier this week that he would not be traveling to Denver for the All-Star Game, so he will rest up as he looks to return to the lineup Friday against the White Sox.

Wendle is not starting Sunday against the Blue Jays and lefty Robbie Ray, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

Wendle struck out five times while going 2-for-8 with a run scored during the first two games of the series. Yandy Diaz will shift to the hot corner for Sunday's series finale as Wendle starts the game on the bench.

Correa (COVID-19) is unlikely to rejoin the Astros for Sunday's series finale against the Yankees, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Manager Dusty Baker said Saturday that Correa is still feeling sick. With the All-Star break looming, the shortstop will have some extra recovery time before the Astros begin their series in Chicago next Friday.

Crawford went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks and two runs in a win over the Angels on Friday.

Crawford turned in a prototypical leadoff effort in the victory, serving as a constant thorn in the side of Angels pitchers and coming home with the game-tying run on a Ty France single in the seventh. The shortstop's productive night snapped a rare 0-for-12, three-game skid and pushed his season average and on-base percentage to impressive .280 and .343 marks, respectively.