MLB Player News

Franco went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in Thursday's 8-1 win over the Red Sox.

Franco homered off Tanner Houck in the sixth inning to give the Rays the lead. He has at least one RBI in each of his last six games and he's reached base safely in his last 16 games. The rookie is slashing .242/.304/.405 with five long balls, 22 RBI, 23 runs and a pair of steals in 168 plate appearances.

Swanson went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base in a loss to Cincinnati on Thursday.

Swanson opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning, the only run Atlanta would score off of Cincinnati starter Vladimir Gutierrez. Swanson also swiped second base following his hit, picking up his ninth steal in 12 attempts this season. Swanson has yet to hit a home run during the month of August, but he's hitting .368 with a 1.009 OPS over his last 15 contests.

Ahmed is not in the lineup Thursday against the Padres.

Ahmed has remained a consistent presence in the lineup, even as the team has begun to skew playing time towards younger players. He's also hit well since the calendar flipped to August, maintaining a .263 average while driving in six and scoring five runs across 10 games. However, Josh Rojas will start at shortstop Thursday while Josh VanMeter enters the lineup at second base.

Crawford went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a double in Thursday's 3-1 win over the Rangers.

Crawford went deep off Mike Foltynewicz in the fifth inning to give the Mariners the lead. It was his first home run since June 19. He was the only player to have multiple extra-base hits in Thursday's game. The 26-year-old is slashing .271/.333/.371 with six long balls, 36 RBI, 59 runs and three steals in 472 plate appearances.

Bichette (shin) remains out of the lineup Thursday against the Angels, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic reports.

Bichette has now missed two consecutive games to the injury and has been bothered by the issue since Saturday. However, manager Charlie Montoyo said that it was simply another day off to help Bichette heal and there was no new information that suggested he was dealing with something more serious. Marcus Semien shifts to shortstop while Breyvic Valera enters the lineup at second base in Bichette's absence Thursday.

Baez (back) is out of the lineup for the second game of Thursday's doubleheader with the Nationals.

Baez hasn't started since Sunday while he continues to manage lower-back tightness, but his usage as a pinch hitter off the bench Wednesday in the resumption of Tuesday's suspended game implies that the Mets are optimistic he'll avoid the injured list. Jonathan Villar will once again fill in at shortstop for Baez, who will hope to return to the lineup for Friday's series opener versus the Dodgers.

Crawford went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBI in Wednesday's 7-2 win over Arizona.

The 34-year-old came up a triple shy of the cycle in Wednesday's contest. Through nine games in August, Crawford has logged five multi-hit efforts, although his homer Wednesday was his first since July 10. The shortstop owns a strong .295/.362/.542 slash line with 19 long balls, 69 RBI, 57 runs scored and nine stolen bases through 367 plate appearances.

Baez (back) will sit for the first game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Nationals.

Baez has been dealing with hip and back issues for the past few days and hasn't started since Sunday. He isn't expected to start the second game of the day either, per Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News, though he'll be available off the bench. Jonathan Villar starts at shortstop in his absence.

Correa went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Rockies.

Correa added insurance in the seventh inning when he doubled home Michael Brantley, who had singled before him. The shortstop has reached base safely in eight straight contests. Correa is slashing .271/.364/.477 with 18 home runs and 61 RBI over 104 games in the midst of a contract year.

Bogaerts went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, four RBI, three runs scored and two walks Wednesday against the Rays.

Bogaerts delivered a three-run homer against Francisco Mejia in the eighth inning of a blowout game. It was his 17th long ball of the campaign and only his second since the All-Star break. Though he's been quiet in that 22-contest stretch, Bogaerts is riding a modest four-game hitting streak -- three of which have been multi-knock efforts. Even after this modest period of production, Bogaerts still maintains a .307/.375/.514 line across 451 plate appearances on the season.