MLB Player News

Manager Dusty Baker said Saturday that he hopes Diaz (groin) will be able to return Tuesday against the Tigers, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Diaz began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sugar Land on Thursday and went 0-for-3 with a walk. He'll appear in rehab games Saturday and Sunday and is expected to get a day to rest prior to joining the Astros in Detroit on Tuesday.

Crawford went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to Atlanta on Friday.

Crawford uncorked a rare blast off Charlie Morton in the fifth inning, the shortstop's first home run since June 1. Crawford's .253 average is a far cry from the much higher figures he was carrying during most of the first half of the season, but he's encouragingly shown some signs of life recently by hitting safely in five of the last six games on his way to a .286 average and .851 OPS during that span.

Bichette went 2-for-4 with a triple, a home run and three RBI in Friday's 4-3 win over the Rangers.

He took Dane Dunning deep in the third inning for a two-run shot, Bichette's fifth homer in the last four games and his 23rd of the year. The shortstop remains one of the hottest hitters in baseball, and over his last 18 games he's slashing .411/.469/.781 with six homers, two steals, 16 runs and 19 RBI.

Franco went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 4-2 victory over the Yankees.

All of Tampa's four runs were scored via doubles, with Franco having a hand in al four. He scored on both of Randy Arozarena's doubles -- one in the first inning and one in the fourth. The shortstop hit his own double in the fourth that scored Yandy Diaz and Ji-Man Choi. This was Franco's first game since July 9 and he picked up right where he left off. After the three-hit game, the young star is slashing .267/.313/.409.

Pena went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in a 4-3 win over the Angels on Friday.

Pena has showed decent pop from the shortstop position in his rookie season. The 24-year-old now has 17 homers on the season to go along with a .249 average. The clear hole in Pena's game is that he does not walk enough. He has a 4.1 percent walk rate and an OBP of only .285. He showed an ability to get on base at a healthy rate in the minors so it is possible he will develop this skill at the major-league level as he matures.

Correa went 4-for-5 with a two-run home run for a total of four RBI and two runs scored in a 7-6 loss to the Guardians on Friday.

Correa hit a big two-run homer in the eighth inning, which brought the Twins to within a run of their division rivals in a game with serious playoff implications. His blast was his 19th of the season and he is on pace for achieving the sixth 20-homer season of his career. Correa has been seeing the ball very well in September and is slashing .344/.400/.781 over eight games this month.

Bogaerts went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer in Friday's 3-2 loss to Baltimore.

Bogaerts opened the game's scoring with a two-run shot in the third inning. He missed one game while dealing with back spasms but he's seemingly healthy again. The 29-year-old infielder has produced 12 multi-hit performances over his last 14 games, going 27-for-57 (.474) with 15 RBI during that stretch. Bogaerts has improved his season slash line to .318/.384/.473 with 50 extra-base hits.

Edman went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a stolen base in Friday's 8-2 loss to Pittsburgh.

Edman knocked an RBI double in the seventh inning as part of his ninth multi-hit effort over his last 17 appearances. During that stretch, he's gone 25-for-67 (.373) with 14 extra-base hits and 14 RBI. On the year, he's stolen 27 bases while knocking 45 extra-base hits and posting a .267/.325/.412 slash line through 135 games.

Cruz went 3-for-5 with a triple, a double, a run scored and three RBI in Friday's 8-2 win over the Cardinals.

Cruz ripped a two-run triple and scored a run in the fifth inning before knocking an RBI single in the eighth. The electrifying rookie is starting to heat up down the stretch, going 12-for-30 (.400) with six extra-base hits and seven RBI through seven games this month. However, he's also struck out nine times while not drawing a walk during that stretch after another pair of strikeouts Friday. Cruz's season slash line has improved to .226/.273/.457 through 260 plate appearances.

Velazquez isn't starting Friday against the Astros, Edwin Perez of MLB.com reports.

Velazquez started Wednesday against the Tigers and went 1-for-3 with a stolen base, a walk and two strikeouts. David Fletcher is taking over at shortstop and leading off Friday.