MLB Player News

Altuve is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the A's, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

It's a rare absence for Altuve, his fifth this year and first since May 13. He will be replaced by Marwin Gonzalez at second base. Altuve is walking at a career-high clip and he continues to provide across-the-board production, although he is on pace to fall short of 30 steals for the first time in a full season.

Polanco is batting seventh and playing shortstop Thursday against the White Sox, Chad Graff of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

He's back in after taking a breather for two days. Polanco is batting just .242/.294/.338 in 219 plate appearances and will continue piecing together at-bats between shortstop and third base.

Torres (elbow) underwent successful Tommy John surgery Wednesday.

Torres injured himself sliding headfirst into home plate in a Triple-A game last week. After a successful surgery, the Yankees' top prospect -- who was lining up to make his MLB debut later in the season -- will now look to heal up before spring training rolls around next year. He compiled a .309/.406/.457 slash in 96 plate appearances with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season after being promoted from Double-A Trenton in late May.

Semien's (wrist) rehab assignment will be extensive according to manager Bob Melvin, Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Melvin made it a point to emphasize that Semien's assignment, which is scheduled to begin Friday at High-A Stockton, will not just be a matter of a few games, instead remarking it will be "almost like spring training". The slugging shortstop has been sidelined since April 14 with his injury and has logged just 46 plate appearances in 2017.

Polanco is not in the lineup Wednesday against the White Sox, Brandon Warne of ZoneCoverage.com reports.

This marks the second day in a row that Polanco will cede the start at shortstop. He's been struggling at the plate as of late, and this break could be a way to let him get his mind right before resuming his normal duties at shortstop. Ehire Adrianza will take over at shortstop for the evening.

Green was signed by the White Sox and assigned to Triple-A Charlotte on Wednesday, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Green was released by the Nationals last week after appearing in 40 games with Triple-A Syracuse this season, where he slashed .246/.319/.285, but failed to make much of an impact on his overall stock. Over 129 career games with the A's, Angels, Giants and Nationals, the 29-year-old has compiled a .246 average and 38 RBI while mainly being used as a reserve infielder. He'll serve as organizational depth for a White Sox team already dealing with injuries to Tyler Saladino and Leury Garcia, but remains a longshot to see much, if any, major-league playing time.

Chavis, 21, is hitting .318/.388/.641 with 17 home runs and a 57:19 K:BB in 250 plate appearances for High-A Salem.

He leads the Carolina League in most of the hitting categories, and it would seem that a promotion to Double-A is right around the corner. Chavis has a dominant line despite being in the midst of an 0-for-17 skid at the plate. It is worth noting that Chavis has gotten more starts at DH this year than third base, and he has 11 errors in 27 starts at the hot corner.

Polanco is not in the lineup Tuesday against the White Sox.

Polanco has really been pressing at the plate lately, as he holds just a .375 OPS over the past 14 games. He'll get a night off as a result, with the hot-hitting Eduardo Escobar picking up a start in his stead.

Andrus went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run in Monday's 7-6 loss to the Blue Jays.

Andrus has been stuck in a minor power outage in June with only three extra-base hits (and no home runs) in 14 games, but thanks to his stellar first two months of the season, he's still sitting on a career-best .442 slugging percentage. Even if Andrus fails to recover the power production he displayed earlier this season, he'll be able to offset that deficiency with the above-average contributions he provides in batting average, runs and stolen bases.

Semien (wrist) is scheduled to start a rehab assignment with High-A Stockton on Friday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Semien was able to get through batting practice over the weekend without a hitch, clearing the way for him to return to game action later in the week. Seeing as the 26-year-old has been sidelined for most of the season, he'll likely need at least a few rehab games before rejoining the Athletics. If he continues to progress without any setbacks, Semien could return to the majors sometime in early July.