MLB Player News

Lowe is absent from the lineup for Friday's game against the Cubs.

The left-handed-hitting Lowe has been playing against most lefties, but he'll take a seat in this one as the Cubs send southpaw Matthew Boyd to the bump. Jake Mangum will shift over to right field and Everson Pereira will patrol center field in Friday's series opener.

Lowe is not in the lineup for Friday's contest against the Cubs.

It's the first day off since Aug. 4 for Lowe, who went 1-for-12 with six strikeouts during this week's series versus the White Sox. Richie Palacios will play second base and bat seventh for the Rays.

Smith slashed .308/.379/.500 with four home runs, 10 steals, a 10.3 percent walk rate and a 26.4 percent strikeout rate in his final 20 games for High-A Bowling Green.

On the season, Smith slashed .237/.331/.388 with 14 home runs, 41 steals, an 11.5 percent walk rate and a 31.2 percent strikeout rate in 102 games for the Hot Rods. The righty-hitting outfielder will play in the Arizona Fall League this year before heading to Double-A next year for his age-21/22 season. Smith's production was down from what he did last year at Single-A, but he was still 13 percent better than the average Sally League hitter while being two years younger than the average player in the league. He primarily played center field and had an 87.2 percent success rate stealing bases, so Smith has several ways to impact the game in a positive way. Strikeouts are a bigger problem for Smith than they appeared to be before the season, but he still showed plenty of power/speed potential while getting on base at a passable clip.

The Astros will call up Cole from Triple-A Sugar Land prior to Friday's game in Atlanta, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Cole has had a nice season between Double-A Corpus Christi and Sugar Land, slashing .279/.377/.539 with 19 home runs and 18 steals over 97 contests. The 25-year-old is capable of playing all three outfield spots, though he wouldn't seem to have a clear path to playing time. Cole will be making his major-league debut when he gets into a game.

Murray will serve as the Astros' opening pitcher for Friday's game in Atlanta, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Murray has made two scoreless relief appearances for the Astros since being called up earlier this month. He's a former starter but has been used exclusively in relief in 2025, so Murray is likely available only for an inning or two. AJ Blubaugh is a good bet to eat some innings Friday in what will be a bullpen game for Houston.

Vargas went 0-for-2 with a run scored, a walk and a stolen base Thursday against the Rays.

Vargas started his second consecutive game at third base since being activated from the injured list Wednesday, while hitting sixth and fifth in the order. He's reached base and scored in both contests, and he also swiped his fifth base of the season Thursday. Vargas will look to keep the strong close to his season going, as he's hit .277 with four home runs, 17 RBI and 27 runs scored across 112 at-bats since the All-Star break.

Gipson-Long allowed seven runs on seven hits across 2.1 innings of relief in Thursday's 9-3 loss to the Yankees. He struck out three.

Tyler Holton took the loss as the opener, allowing two runs in his inning of work, but Gipson-Long let the game get out of hand as the bulk reliever. He's allowed 13 runs across 6.1 innings in his last two appearances, and he's sitting with an ugly 7.18 ERA overall. The righty may continue to work in a bulk role or start some games while Reese Olson (shoulder) is out, but he's hard to trust in fantasy given his current form. Gipson-Long is penciled in to start Thursday's game against the Guardians, though Detroit may opt to deploy an opener once again in that contest.

Montgomery went 1-for-4 with two RBI on Thursday against the Rays.

Montgomery got the White Sox on the board with a two-run single in the first inning, bringing his total to 21 RBI in his last 20 starts. He's continued to exhibit an all-or-nothing approach at the plate, as he's struck out 29.5 percent of the time with only a .218 average in that same 20-game span.

Meidroth went 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored Thursday against the Rays.

Meidroth extended his hitting streak to seven games with the performance, four of which have been multi-hit efforts. He's also hit well over a more extended sample. Since returning from the injured list Aug. 15, Meidroth is hitting .333 with seven RBI, 11 runs scored and two stolen bases across 23 games.

Simpson went 4-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base Thursday against the White Sox.

All four of Simpson's hits were singles, his second multi-hit effort across nine starts in September. He also successfully stole second base in the first inning to tally his 40th swiped bag of the season across only 96 games. While it's been a successful rookie season, Simpson hasn't recorded an extra-base hit across his last 15 games and is hitting only .219 in that span.