MLB Player News

Espinal (hip) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Espinal has been out with a hip flexor since late August. He shouldn't need too long of a rehab assignment given that he's only missed three weeks, though his expected return date is not yet clear.

Hernandez will sit Saturday against the White Sox.

Hernandez sits for the first time in a week. He hasn't done much at the plate in his 32 big-league games thus far, hitting .250/.354/.278, though he has helped fantasy teams out with nine steals. Brock Holt will be the Rangers' third baseman Saturday.

Garcia is not in Saturday's lineup against the Rockies, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Garcia has now been out of the lineup for two of the team's last three games, though he did appear as a pinch hitter Wednesday. Jordy Mercer will start at second base in Garcia's place.

Arraez will sit Saturday against Toronto, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Arraez has been poor at the plate since late August, hitting .169/.231/.225 over his last 21 games. Josh Donaldson starts at third base Saturday, with Jorge Polanco at second.

Urias went 2-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and a run scored in Friday's 8-5 win over the Cubs.

Urias grounded out his first time up and then reached in the fourth, fifth and eighth inning as the Brewers came back from down 4-0 to win. Friday was Urias' second three-RBI performance over his last six games and his third multi-RBI game this month. He continues to improve at the plate and is slashing .250/.340/.442 with 46 extra-base hits, 68 RBI, 72 runs scored, five steals and 55:107 BB:K over 519 plate appearances.

Lux (forearm) will bat seventh and play left field Saturday against the Reds, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Lux was scratched from the lineup ahead of Friday's series opener after a ball from a pitching machine struck him in the forearm. Previous reports indicated he'd be on the bench all weekend, but he's evidently healed faster than expected. His absence could be related to Cody Bellinger's non-displaced rib fracture, which will keep Bellinger on the bench Saturday and potentially longer.

Altuve went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk against the Diamondbacks in a 4-3 win Friday.

For 5.2 frames Friday, Arizona starter Madison Bumgarner held Houston without a hit. Altuve ended the no-hit bid and gave Houston its first lead with a two-run shot to left field. The long ball extended Altuve's personal hitting streak to six games, during which he has gone 9-for-21 while scoring nine runs.

Rojas went 3-for-5 with a run and a stolen base in Friday's loss to Houston.

Rojas hit from the leadoff spot for the second time in three games and registered his first three-hit performance in exactly one month. He scored the go-ahead run after starting the 10th inning at second base as the inherited runner, but the Astros were able to pull the game out in the bottom of the frame. Rojas is slashing .270/.347/.426 with 11 home runs, 65 runs, 42 RBI and nine stolen bases in his first full big-league campaign.

Rodgers went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, three RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 9-8 win over Washington.

The 25-year-old sparked a comeback push in the fifth inning with a two-run blast, and he added the decisive RBI single in the ninth. Rodgers has recorded four multi-hit efforts in his last nine contests, going 12-for-39 (.308) in that span. For the season, he's slashing .284/.333/.466 with 13 homers, 45 RBI and 40 runs scored through 354 plate appearances.

Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, one RBI and a walk in Friday's 8-0 win over Texas.

Gonzalez doubled in a run in the second inning and scored a run in both the fourth and seventh frames. It was the first multi-hit game in his young career and he's now 7-for-24 (.292) with three doubles through his first eight games. The University of Miami product registered a .275/.357/.525 slash line with 23 homers and 22 steals across 87 games with Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte this season.