MLB Player News

Noel (ankle) has gone 1-for-10 with a double and a walk in four games for Cleveland's rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate since beginning a rehab assignment July 5.

The 20-year-old third baseman has been on the 7-day injured list at Low-A Lynchburg for nearly a month with a sprained ankle. Now that he's gotten in a few rehab games under his belt in the ACL, Noel should soon rejoin Lynchburg.

Urshela is going through the league's COVID-19 protocols Thursday, Buster Olney of ESPN reports.

The Yankees already had three players test positive for the virus and land on the COVID injured list earlier in the day, and Urshela, Aaron Judge and Kyle Higashioka could follow to the shelf if positive tests are confirmed. Thursday's matchup with the Red Sox has already been postponed due to the outbreak. Urshela will be away from the team for at least 10 days if he returns a positive result.

Peraza has gone 16-for-39 (.410) with two homers, three steals, four RBI and nine runs over his last 10 games for Double-A Somerset.

After High-A proved no challenge for the young Venezuelan, who turned 21 last month, the Yankees moved him right on up to Double-A. Though he's had a couple rough patches, his total line with Somerset is a solid .286/.348/.452 with four homers and six steals in 32 games; in total, he's smashed nine homers and stolen 22 bags on 24 attempts in the minors this year. As you might expect from a younger player who was promoted aggressively, his numbers aren't as good as they were at the lower level, but Peraza still looks like he's got a legitimate big-league future ahead of him. Speed and defense will be his calling cards, but there's certainly some pop to be found here too.

Anderson's injured left shoulder has responded well to baseball activities, but the Marlins have yet to set a date for him to begin a rehab assignment, MLB.com reports. "He's been hitting on the field, he's been taking ground balls," manager Don Mattingly said Saturday, when asked about Anderson. "He's actually swinging right at this very second. And we haven't went backwards."

Mattingly added that he believes Anderson will have a chance to return from the 60-day injured list when first eligible July 25, but that will hinge on the third baseman completing a multi-game rehab assignment without issue. Before being shut down in late May with a left shoulder subluxation, Anderson was batting .250 with three home runs and three stolen bases through 36 games.

Busch is hitting .223/.373/.415 with nine homers, two steals, 30 RBI and 34 runs in 51 games for Double-A Tulsa.

Thus far in his minor-league career, Busch has shown that his greatest skill is drawing walks, which he's done 37 times this season -- good for a stellar 15.9 percent walk rate. Unfortunately, that's the only particularly promising part of his batting line, as he's striking out at a 29.6 percent clip and isn't showing enough power to offset the swing-and-miss in his game. The No. 31 overall pick in 2019, Busch has plenty of talent, but he needs to do a better job tapping into his power in game action. Fortunately, he went into the All-Star break doing just that, having smashed three homers and a double over Tulsa's last six games. If he can keep it up, he could move up to Triple-A this season, but Busch isn't likely to see any MLB action in 2021.

Muncy went 3-for-5 with a double, three-run home run and an additional run in Los Angeles' 7-4 triumph against Arizona on Sunday.

Muncy got going late with a sixth-inning double, eighth-inning single, a game-tying run and a walk-off-three-run home run in the ninth. The infielder has now hit safely in each of his last five games, is fifth in the majors with 58 walks and is one of five qualified players with more walks than strikeouts. He enters the break with a .270/.414/.559 slash line, 19 home runs, 54 runs and 52 RBI in 78 games.

Castro went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI in Sunday's 6-5 win over the Mets.

The infielder hit a solo shot in the fifth inning to get Pittsburgh on the board, then pulled then within a run with his two-run blast in the sixth. While Castro has just three hits in 13 at-bats so far, all three of those knocks have left the yard. Castro could carve out more playing time if he continues to hit for power, but he'll likely be limited to a bench role when Phillip Evans (concussion) returns.

McMahon is not in the starting lineup Sunday against the Padres, Daniel Guerrero of MLB.com reports.

He sat Saturday against righty Joe Musgrove and will remain on the bench against southpaw Ryan Weathers to begin the series finale. McMahon isn't reported to be dealing with any injuries, so this appears to just be consecutive days off for the infielder entering the All-Star break. Joshua Fuentes will bat seventh and man the hot corner.

Duffy (back) will start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Monday, Tony Andracki of Marquee Sports Network reports.

A lower-back strain has sidelined Duffy since May. It's unclear how many games he'll require on the rehab assignment, but an activation when he's eligible July 22 remains realistic. Duffy hit .278 with 12 RBI in 90 at-bats before suffering the injury.

Hayes is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets, Jake Crouse of MLB.com reports.

After going 1-for-4 on Saturday, Hayes is hitting .250 in nine July games. He's hit one home run and has three RBI in that span. Rodolfo Castro is starting at third base and batting seventh Sunday.