MLB Player News

Loperfido is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's contest against the Cubs.

With southpaw Justin Steele starting for the Cubs on Saturday, the lefty-hitting Loperfido will retreat to the bench. Davis Schneider will start in left field and bat seventh.

Horwitz is absent from Saturday's lineup against the Cubs.

The lefty-hitting Horwitz will retreat to the dugout Saturday with the Cubs sending southpaw Justin Steele to the mound. George Springer will serve as the designated hitter and bat in the leadoff spot.

The Rays recalled Alexander from Triple-A Durham on Saturday, Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports Sun reports.

The move comes with Tampa Bay placing Zack Littell on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder fatigue. After he was scratched from his start with Durham on Friday, Alexander will most likely step into Littell's spot in the rotation against the Diamondbacks on Sunday, when the Rays will likely deploy the lefty as a starter or bulk reliever. Alexander owns a 5.20 ERA and 1.28 WHIP over 71 innings with the big club this season.

The Rays placed Littell on the 15-day injured list Saturday due to right shoulder fatigue, Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports Sun reports.

Littell came away with the no-decision while allowing one run on one hit and two walks over five innings in his start Wednesday against the Astros, but he might have been plagued by the shoulder injury during the outing. The fact that the Rays are characterizing his injury as fatigue rather than a strain could bode well for his chances of avoiding an extended stay on the shelf. Left-hander Tyler Alexander was called up from Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move, and he'll likely slot in as the fifth member of the Tampa Bay rotation beginning with Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks, when he'll likely start or serve as a bulk reliever.

Polanco went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and an additional run in a loss to the Pirates on Friday.

Polanco uncorked his 12th home run of the season in the ninth inning with the bases empty to give Seattle a brief ray of hope in what was ultimately a two-run loss. The veteran has now left the yard in two of the last four games and reached safely in each contest during that span, a brief reprieve from his season-long struggles.

Rodriguez (ankle) went 2-for-4 with a double in a loss to the Pirates on Friday.

Rodriguez was back in the starting nine as the designated hitter following his one-game absence due to his troublesome ankle. The two-bagger Friday notably came off rookie phenom Paul Skenes and served as Rodriguez's second extra-base hit in the four games he's played since returning from his IL stint. Rodriguez also has back-to-back multi-hit efforts and has reached safely in three straight, but he may largely be limited to DH duties for the foreseeable future while the team tries to manage his health.

Malloy is starting in left field and batting third in Saturday's game against the Yankees.

Malloy batted sixth Friday, but he'll move up three spots for Saturday's contest. The rookie has bounced around the order a bit recently, as he's served as the leadoff hitter twice in the past week while also sliding down to seventh on one occasion. Malloy has the power potential to be a regular middle-of-the-order bat, though he's batting just .216 and striking out 36 percent of the time this year, which has kept him from truly breaking out.

Dingler is starting at catcher and batting fifth in Saturday's game against the Yankees.

Jake Rogers handled catching duties for the Tigers on Friday, going 0-for-3 to lower his season batting average to .195. Dingler is only hitting .185 himself through his first eight games at the MLB level, but Detroit probably wants to get the rookie more experience to finish out the year. Expect Dingler and Rogers to continue splitting time behind the plate fairly evenly moving forward.

Hanifee tossed two scoreless innings of relief in Friday's 3-0 loss to the Yankees. He walked one and struck out two.

Hanifee followed opener Beau Brieske, who worked the first inning. Hanifee was effective once again in relief, and after a rough first appearance of the season back on Aug. 1, the righty has now logged nine scoreless innings in his last five outings. The 26-year-old is still in a mostly low-leverage role at the moment, but Hanifee could move up the bullpen pecking order if he keeps pitching well.

Brieske (1-3) allowed one run on a hit and two walks across an inning of work to take the loss Friday against the Yankees. He struck out one.

Brieske served as the opener and labored through a tough first inning, as he needed 30 pitches to finish the frame. The Tigers ended up getting blanked, so the one run was enough to saddle the righty with the loss. Brieske has now started five games this season among 29 appearances overall, but he's yet to cover more than three innings in any outing, so the starts aren't equating to opportunities for wins.