MLB Player News

DeJong isn't in the Royals' lineup for Thursday's game against the Tigers.

DeJong went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run score during his Royals debut Wednesday, and he'll now take a seat for Thursday's series opener. Maikel Garcia will slide to third base while Michael Massey starts at second, opening up the DH spot for Freddy Fermin.

Carpenter (back) ran the bases at Comerica Park on Thursday, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Running the bases is often the final box a player needs to check before they go out on a rehab assignment, so it's certainly a good sign for Carpenter. The outfielder has been sidelined since late May with a lumbar spine stress fracture, and because he's missed so much time he'll probably require more than just a couple rehab games.

Meadows (hamstring) is likely to be activated from the 10-day injured list at some point this weekend, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

The Tigers open a four-game series against the Royals at home on Thursday. Meadows has been out since early July with a strained right hamstring but has played three rehab games with Triple-A Toledo, including back-to-back contests Tuesday and Wednesday. He's played the field in just one of those games, so perhaps the Tigers would like him to get a little more work in defensively before activating him, but his return does appear to be imminent. When he is activated, Meadows will resume his role as Detroit's regular center fielder.

The Orioles designated Pache for assignment Thursday.

Just six days after being traded from Philadelphia to Baltimore, Pache will now lose his roster spot with the Orioles in order to help make room for new additions Eloy Jimenez and Austin Slater. The 25-year-old Pache appeared in three games for the Orioles and tallied a hit during his lone at-bat with the team, though he still holds a middling .570 OPS through 119 plate appearances on the season.

The Orioles placed Westburg on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a right hand fracture.

Westburg suffered the unfortunate injury when he was hit by a pitch in Wednesday's win over the Blue Jays. The Orioles haven't provided a timetable for Westburg's return to action, but he could be sidelined well into September. Baltimore is set to use Jackson Holliday at second base and Ramon Urias at third base most days, but prospect Coby Mayo could eventually get called up from Triple-A Norfolk and receive a look at the hot corner.

Rogers was added to the Orioles' 26-man active roster and will start Thursday's game against the Guardians in Cleveland.

He'll be making his Orioles debut on five days' rest after he took the hill for the Marlins for the final time last Friday before he was shipped to Baltimore. Rogers will slot in as a back-end starter for the Orioles after accruing unremarkable ratios (4.53 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 85:46 in 105.1 innings) over his 21 starts with the Marlins this season. A change of scenery as well as feedback from a new coaching staff could help him reverse his downward-trending strikeout rate to some degree, and at the very least, he'll benefit from being supported by a far better offense in Baltimore than the one that backed him in Miami. Rogers earned just two wins while the Marlins averaged 2.7 runs in his 21 starts.

The Orioles optioned Akin to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday.

Akin will be sent back to Triple-A in order to make room for lefty Trevor Rogers, who was officially activated Thursday after coming over from Miami in a trade Tuesday. Akin owns a 3.34 ERA and 0.97 WHIP through 56.2 innings with the Orioles this season, and he'll be on the short list to return to Baltimore if the team needs to add another bullpen arm down the road.

The Orioles optioned Kjerstad to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday.

Kjerstad had seemed due for an uptick in playing time after the Orioles traded Austin Hays last week, but he started just three of the next seven games and just one of the last five contests, even as Baltimore faced exclusively right-handed starters over that stretch. With trade-deadline pickups Eloy Jimenez and Austin Slater officially added to the active roster, Kjerstad will be one of the players to lose his spot.

The Orioles recalled Soto from Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday.

Soto will come up from the minors and will serve as infield depth with Jordan Westburg (hand) heading to the injured list in a corresponding move. The 24-year-old has played in just one major-league game this season with the Reds, but he owns a .279/.378/.375 slash line through 329 plate appearances at the Triple-A level between three different organizations.

Rodriguez (ankle) has begun some light baseball activities but remains without a clear timetable to return from the injured list, MLB.com reports.

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto noted in a radio appearance that the nature of high-ankle injuries makes it difficult to predict a recovery timeline for Rodriguez, but the star outfielder is still fully expected to return before the end of the regular season. Rodriguez will almost certainly participate in a rehab assignment whenever he's deemed ready, in order to ensure the ankle is back to full health.