MLB Player News
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Nolan Schanuel 1B | LAA
Angels' Nolan Schanuel: Not in Wednesday's lineup
Schanuel is not in the Angels' starting lineup against the Reds on Wednesday.
Even with the Reds sending right-hander Nick Martinez to the mound, the lefty-hitting Schanuel will be on the bench for the beginning of Wednesday's game while Niko Kavadas starts at first base and bats eighth. Schanuel has three multi-hit games over his last four starts but has a .611 OPS with one steal, one homer and four RBI in 77 plate appearances since the beginning of August.
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Bobby Seymour 1B | TB
Rays' Bob Seymour: Staying in lineup vs. RHP
Seymour will start at first base and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Yankees.
He was on the bench for Tuesday's 13-3 loss while lefty Carlos Rodon took the hill for the Yankees, but the left-handed-hitting Seymour has otherwise started in all four of the Rays' matchups with right-handed pitchers since getting called up from Triple-A Durham on Friday. After slugging 30 home runs in 105 games for Durham this season, the 26-year-old has thus far looked overmatched against big-league pitching. He enters Wednesday's contest having gone 1-for-12 with a 1:6 BB:K through his first four MLB games.
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Ralphy Velazquez 1B | CLE
Guardians' Ralphy Velazquez: On fire for RubberDucks
Velazquez is hitting .500 with four home runs and a 4:4 K:BB in six games since getting promoted to Double-A Akron on Aug. 11.
Velazquez had been dialed in at High-A Lake County prior to his promotion, as he slashed .336/.417/.598 with seven home runs and a 14.4 percent strikeout rate in his final 31 games for the Captains. The lefty-hitting first baseman/corner outfielder turned 20 in May, so he's young for Double-A but has been the best hitter at the level since arriving there last week.
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Enmanuel Valdez 2B | PIT
Pirates' Enmanuel Valdez: Tracking well in recovery
Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday that Valdez (shoulder) will meet his surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Dugas, in Alabama later this month and could be cleared to resume hitting thereafter, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Valdez underwent season-ending surgery in May to address a dislocated left shoulder, but the Pirates anticipate that he'll be ready to play during winter ball. More specifically, Tomczyk suggested that Valdez could be fully cleared for game action by October, though that will hinge on how quickly the 26-year-old is able to advance through his hitting program. Valdez is a left-handed hitter but a right-handed thrower, so the surgery to his left shoulder is of greater concern to his long-term outlook at the plate rather than as a defender.
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Donovan Solano 1B | TEX
Mariners' Donovan Solano: Filling in for resting Naylor
Solano will start at first base and bat sixth in Wednesday's game against the Phillies.
After serving as a fairly consistent presence in the lineup against left-handed pitching during the first half of the season, Solano will be included in the starting nine for the fifth time since the All-Star break. His downturn in playing time coincides with the trade-deadline acquisition of Josh Naylor, who bats from the left side of the plate but has produced well enough against southpaws this season (98 wRC+ in 158 plate appearances) to avoid being platooned. However, with the Mariners wrapping up their series in Philadelphia with a day game after a night game and with a southpaw (Jesus Luzardo) on the bump for the Phillies, Seattle manager Dan Wilson likely viewed it as an opportune time to give Naylor a break.
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Josh Naylor 1B | SEA
Mariners' Josh Naylor: Sitting out versus lefty
Naylor is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game in Philadelphia.
The left-handed-hitting Naylor will get a day off as the Phillies send southpaw Jesus Luzardo to the bump. Donovan Solano will handle first base and bat sixth for Seattle.
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B | TOR
Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero: Held out again Wednesday
Guerrero (hamstring) remains out of the lineup for Wednesday's game in Pittsburgh.
Guerrero will sit out for a second straight game after he tweaked his left hamstring in Monday's 5-2 loss. He's been diagnosed merely with inflammation rather than a strain, so Guerrero could be ready to play Friday in Miami after the Blue Jays' team off day Thursday. Ty France will again cover first base for Toronto in Wednesday's series finale.
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Jonathan Aranda 1B | TB
Rays' Jonathan Aranda: Due for X-rays on Wednesday
Aranda (wrist) is scheduled to have X-rays on Wednesday, with manager Kevin Cash noting that the tests "will provide a little more clarity" on the first baseman's status moving forward, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Cash added that Aranda has been recovering well thus far from his fractured left wrist, an injury he sustained while applying a tag in a July 31 game against the Yankees. If the X-rays show improved healing for Aranda, the Rays should have a better idea regarding when he might be ready to resume baseball activities. Aranda won't be immediately thrust back into action once he's cleared to swing the bat and start fielding grounders, however, so his return from the 10-day injured list is unlikely to come until early September in a best-case scenario.
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Nate Lowe 1B | BOS
Red Sox's Nathaniel Lowe: Late-game heroics
Lowe started at designated hitter and went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Tuesday's 4-3 extra-innings loss to Baltimore.
Lowe endeared himself to the Fenway Faithful by launching a game-tying, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to set up extra innings. The heroism, however, was short-lived, as the Red Sox subsequently failed to produce a run on bases-loaded situations later in the ninth, and then again in the 10th. In total, the Red Sox were 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Lowe's served as a pinch hitter and DH since being added to the roster Monday. Eventually, he's expected to become the primary first baseman against right-handers.
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Nick Kurtz 1B | ATH
Athletics' Nick Kurtz: Perfect day at dish
Kurtz went 3-for-3 with two doubles, one RBI, a run scored and two walks in Tuesday's win over the Twins.
Kurtz continues to terrorize opposing pitchers with another big performance. He doubled in the first inning before walking and scoring a run in the third. He later knocked an RBI double in the sixth. Kurtz has gone 48-for-112 (.429) with 26 extra-base hits over his last 30 games, raising his season slash line to .313/.399/.645 through 356 plate appearances.