MLB Player News

Singleton is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Tigers but should get most of the at-bats at first base following the release of Jose Abreu, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

With Abreu off the roster, Singleton should be the starter at first base for the Astros, but he'll take a seat Friday with lefty Tarik Skubal on the mound for Detroit. General manager Dana Brown indicated Friday that Houston could look to acquire another first baseman unless Singleton "takes the bull by the horn," but the 32-year-old is slashing only .213/.316/.333 on the year. Mauricio Dubon will play first base and bat sixth Friday.

Horwitz is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Guardians.

Horwitz will yield to Isiah Kiner-Falefa at the keystone Friday with southpaw Logan Allen on the mound for Cleveland. Horwitz had started at second base in five consecutive games since being called up June 7, but each of those contests featured a right-hander on the mound for the opposition.

The Royals optioned Pratto to Triple-A Omaha on Friday.

While there's no corresponding move yet, it will presumably be Adam Frazier returning from the bereavement list. Pratto was up with the big club only for a few days and didn't make an appearance.

Walker went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI in Thursday's 11-1 win over the Angels.

Walker told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com that he was not happy with how he was handling fastballs, so he put in extra work in the batting cage this week. It paid off immediately when Walker belted a three-run homer off a four-seamer in the first inning to give Arizona a 3-0 lead. "I've been missing fastballs [and fouling them] straight back a little bit and it's been bothering me," Walker said. He followed that up with a solo shot in the third -- a slider this time. The first baseman has three long balls over the last two games and leads the team with 15 home runs and 46 RBI through 69 contests.

Locklear went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in an extra-inning loss to the White Sox on Thursday.

Garrett Crochet dominated Seattle with 13 punchouts over seven frames, and Locklear accounted for the only run against the hurler with a solo blast in the fifth inning. The long ball was Locklear's first as a major-leaguer and just his second extra-base hit of any type. Locklear has started four of five games since being called up June 9 and has hit .250 (4-for-16) with two runs and two RBI. He's struggled to make contact with a 35.3 percent strikeout rate thus far, and he could head back to the minors when Ty France (heel) is cleared to return, which could happen early next week.

Vaughn went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in Thursday's 3-2 extra-inning win over the Mariners.

Vaughn opened the scoring in the contest with a solo homer to center field in the third inning and later produced the game-winning RBI with a run-scoring groundout in the 10th. The first baseman has been swinging a hot bat of late with six multi-hit efforts over his past 10 contests. Vaughn has reached safely via hit or walk in 14 consecutive games and is slashing .327/.373/.600 with four homers, seven RBI and 10 runs over that span.

Soderstrom went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in a loss to the Twins on Thursday.

Soderstrom got Oakland off to a strong start with a two-run blast in the second inning, but the team was unable to add any additional offense thereafter. The long ball gave the suddenly hot first baseman three homers over his past four games and extended his hitting streak to five contests. Soderstrom is slashing .353/.450/.882 with six RBI, five runs and a 3:2 BB:K over that stretch.

Goldschmidt went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Thursday's win against the Pirates.

He plated the first runs of the game, taking Mitch Keller deep in the third inning. With the long ball, Goldschmidt snapped a 14-game homerless drought. The veteran now has a hit in 11 of his last 12 games, but he still has just five RBI over his last 15 contests. The first baseman has a .226/.299/.354 slash line with eight home runs and 27 RBI through 65 games this season.

Rizzo went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Royals.

The first baseman snapped a streak of 27 games without a long ball when he took John Schreiber deep in the eighth inning. Rizzo received back-to-back days off earlier this week for a mental reset, and he entered Thursday's game in a 2-for-37 slump during June. He currently sits at .223/.282/.344 slash line with eight home runs and 27 RBI for the season.

France (heel) has a good chance of returning from the injured list when first eligible Tuesday, or very shortly thereafter, Shannon Drayer of SeattleSports.com reports.

The positive news was delivered by general manager Justin Hollander before Wednesday's game against the White Sox, and it represents a more optimistic outlook than when France first went on the injured list Sunday with what was diagnosed as a hairline fracture of the heel. France had posted a .308 average and 1.013 OPS over the last 12 games he played before the injury, so the hope for fantasy managers is a brief IL stay will up the chances of him carrying over that momentum.