MLB Player News

Andrus went 1-for-4 with a steal and a run in Monday's 11-2 loss to the Astros.

The stolen base was Andrus' 25th of the season, marking the seventh time in his career that he's reached that benchmark. Contrary to previous seasons, however, Andrus has accompanied that steal total with career-best power production, with his 20 home runs more than doubling up his previous top mark (eight in 2016). The 20-20 season has helped vault Andrus into the elite ranks of fantasy shortstops in 2017.

Semien went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Monday's 7-1 loss to the Mariners.

Semien produced the only run of the night for the Athletics with a sixth-inning solo shot off Felix Hernandez. The shortstop is swinging a hot bat over the last seven contests, going 10-for-30 with three doubles, two homers and five RBI over that stretch.

Altuve sustained a left forearm contusion after being hit by a pitch in Monday's game against the Rangers, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The Astros can breathe a sigh of relief. Consider Altuve day-to-day, as his action could be limited down the stretch with the Astros having already clinched a playoff spot, but he should be ready to go for the postseason.

Altuve left Monday's game after taking a pitch off the left wrist, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

The Astros have clinched, so this move may have been precautionary, but all the small bones in the hand and wrist make any hit-by-pitch scary. Consider Altuve day-to-day pending evaluation.

Altuve is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Angels.

Manager A.J. Hinch is giving several of his top players the day off Saturday, and Altuve is included in that group. Marwin Gonzalez will man the keystone in Altuve's place.

Merrifield went 3-for-5 with a homer, two steals, two RBI and three runs against the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Although this long ball ended an 18-game power outage for Merrifield, he stayed productive in that stretch, hitting .314 with six doubles, a triple and four steals, not to mention an 8:8 K:BB. The sophomore second baseman has been quite the coup for his lucky/wise fantasy owners, as his lofty totals of 18 home runs and 32 steals alongside a .290 average were not exactly in the preseason forecast.

Espinosa was outrighted from the Rays' 40-man roster Wednesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Espinosa was recently designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for the impending return of Xavier Cedeno (forearm) from the 60-day DL. He appeared in just eight games during his brief time with the Rays, hitting a middling .273/.333/.273 with a poor 46 percent strikeout rate.

Semien went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBI in Wednesday's win over the Tigers.

The 27-year-old accounted for all of the A's offense in a 3-2 victory. He came into Wednesday's game batting .229/.299/.343 with one home run and 19 strikeouts in 70 September at-bats. Semien suffered a wrist injury early in the year, and that was likely a big factor in his power decline this season.

Andrus went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Tuesday's 3-1 win over the Mariners.

Andrus' second base hit of the evening helped put the game on ice for the Rangers, as it drove home Delino DeShields for an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning. It was Andrus' 86th RBI of the season, one of many categories in which the shortstop has established new career highs.

Altuve went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Tuesday's 3-1 win over the White Sox.

Altuve is putting the finishing touches on his MVP-caliber season. The home run was his 24th, tying his career-high mark set in 2016. The second baseman leads MLB in batting average (.348) while sitting among the top 10 in OBP (.408), OPS (.967) and stolen bases (31).