MLB Player News

Kirk went 4-for-5 in Saturday's 9-8 loss to the Mariners.

All four hits were singles, and none of them led directly to runs, but it's still another sign Kirk is beginning to turn his season around. The 24-year-old backstop has seven hits in his last two starts, and since the All-Star break he's batting .471 (8-for-17) to push his slash line on the season up to .252/.331/.330.

Diaz is out of the lineup Saturday against the Athletics.

Diaz also sat out of Friday's game in Oakland, though there's no word of any injury. Martin Maldonado is catching for the Astros on Saturday and Corey Julks will take a turn as the designated hitter.

Huff was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday.

He will take the roster spot that had belonged to Corey Seager, who landed on the injured list with a sprained thumb. Huff doesn't have a path to many at-bats, as the Rangers already have Mitch Garver around to back up Jonah Heim, who's started the second-most games behind the plate in the entire league this season.

Grandal went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk Friday against the Twins.

Grandal began losing playing time to Seby Zavala in early July, but he has now started six of the team's last seven games. Three of those came at designated hitter with Eloy Jimenez sidelined, but Grandal has started consecutive games at catcher since Jimenez has returned. He's homered twice in 20 at-bats across his last six games, though he is striking out at a 34.8 percent clip.

Jansen went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Friday's 3-2 loss to the Mariners.

Jansen opened the scoring with a fifth-inning shot off Bryce Miller. Through 11 games in July, Jansen is batting .303 (10-for-33) with four extra-base hits and eight RBI. The catcher is at a .227/.288/.465 slash line with 12 homers, 41 RBI, 26 runs scored and 11 doubles through 61 contests overall.

Diaz is not in the lineup for Friday's game at Oakland.

Diaz started at catcher in Thursday's series opener versus the Athletics and went 0-for-3. Martin Maldonado is behind the plate Friday and David Hensley will take a turn as the Astros' designated hitter.

Raleigh is out of the lineup Friday against the Blue Jays.

Tom Murphy will start at catcher and bat fifth versus the Jays and left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. The switch-hitting Raleigh has slashed just .205/.279/.308 this year versus southpaws.

Soderstrom is not in Friday's lineup against the Astros.

The lefty-hitting Soderstrom will head to the bench against tough lefty Framber Valdez. Jordan Diaz will fill in at first base while Jonah Bride handles designated hitter and Shea Langeliers starts behind the plate.

Mejia (knee) will likely be out 3-6 weeks with the left MCL sprain that sent him to the injured list Friday, Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Mejia told reporters Friday afternoon that he was optimistic about only needing a minimal 10-day IL stint, but instead the injury is significant enough that it will require a multi-week shutdown period and then probably a multi-week buildup before his return. Rene Pinto has been summoned to the Rays to share time behind the plate with Christian Bethancourt.

Zavala is not in the starting lineup Friday versus the Twins.

Zavala will remain on the bench for a second straight game Friday. Yasmani Grandal will start at catcher and bat sixth in the series opener with Minnesota.