MLB Player News

Altuve confirmed Saturday that he had tested positive for COVID-19, but he now feels good, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Altuve was one of five players the Astros placed on the COVID-19 injured list last week, but the second baseman was the only one to test positive for the virus. The 30-year-old was cleared to work out with his teammates Friday since he has now cleared the league's health and safety protocols. Altuve said Saturday that he isn't sure when he'll be cleared to return to game action, but he thinks that it will be "pretty soon," Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest reports.

Hernandez isn't starting Saturday's game against the Mariners, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Hernandez had recorded hits in four of the last five games and went 5-for-24 with four extra-base hits, four runs and two RBI during that time. Christian Arroyo will take over at second base and lead off Saturday.

Castro is starting at second base and batting seventh in Saturday's game against the Royals.

Castro gets the nod at second with the slumping Niko Goodrum heading to the bench. Castro is batting .294 in limited action this year, but he also batted .347 last year and .291 back in 2019, so the 27-year-old has shown that he's capable of collecting plenty of hits at the MLB level.

Hoerner went 3-for-4 with a walk, two doubles and an RBI in Friday's 15-2 win over the Brewers.

Making his first start off the season after getting called up Thursday, Hoerner delivered for the Cubs right away. Chicago isn't getting a ton of production from David Bote or Eric Sogard at second base, so there's an opportunity for Hoerner to seize regular playing time if he's productive at the plate. The 23-year-old looked good in a 20-game debut back in 2019, posting a .282/.305/.436 slash line, but those numbers fell to .222/.312/.259 across 48 games last year.

Lopez isn't starting Saturday's game against the Tigers.

Lopez had started each of the last five contests and went 4-for-17 with two doubles, four RBI and three runs during that time. Hanser Alberto will start at shortstop while Hunter Dozier starts at the hot corner Saturday.

Rojas went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI in Friday's 5-4 loss to Atlanta.

Rojas got the start at shortstop in place of the slumping Nick Ahmed and hit safely in his third straight start. Manager Torey Lovullo said Ahmed remains the starting shortstop for now, but Rojas' bat is heating up. He's gone 5-for-13 with a double, a home run, three RBI and five runs scored over his last five appearances (three starts).

Semien went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and one strikeout in Friday's 5-3 win over the Rays.

Semien capped off a four-run rally with two outs in the first inning Friday by hitting his fifth home run of the year. The 30-year-old is now slashing .208/.279/.403 with five home runs, 10 RBI and four stolen bases this season.

Albies went 2-for-4 with a double, a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

The second baseman has a slow start to the season, but Albies may be coming out of his funk. Over his last nine games he's gone just 7-for-31 (.226), but six of his hits (three doubles and all three of his homers on the year) have gone for extra bases.

Merrifield went 2-for-5 with an RBI single, a stolen base and a run scored in Friday's 6-2 win over the Tigers.

Merrifield plated Michael Taylor with a single and came around to score on Jorge Soler's two-run double in the fifth inning. In the ninth, Merrifield and Carlos Santana executed a double-steal, but neither of them scored. The speedy Merrifield has six stolen bases, three home runs, 13 RBI, 13 runs scored and a .292/.333/.472 slash line through 81 plate appearances atop the Royals' order.

Haggerty, who entered Thursday's extra-inning win over the Red Sox as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, laced a go-ahead RBI double, stole a base and scored in his one plate appearance.

The utility man's run-scoring two-bagger snapped a 3-3 tie in the 10th inning and gave Haggerty his fourth hit in his last 11 plate appearances. The 27-year-old has been in the batter's box on only 27 occasions through his first 11 games, but he's picked things up after going 1-for-8 with one strikeout in his first three games this season.