MLB Player News

Stassi was sent from the Astros to the Angels in exchange for Rainier Rivas and Raider Uceta on Wednesday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

Stassi became expendable when the Astros picked up Martin Maldonado in a trade from the Cubs earlier in the day. He'll back up Jonathan Lucroy in Los Angeles, a role that suits him well, as he owns a playable but unexciting .218/.298/.354 slash line over parts of seven seasons in the big leagues.

Thaiss is not in the lineup Wednesday against Detroit.

After going 3-for-27 in his first nine career games, Thaiss has gone 8-for-17 with four homers over his last five contests. David Fletcher starts at third base in his absence, with Albert Pujols at first.

Nola went 3-for-5 with two doubles in a win over the Rangers on Tuesday.

Nola continues to demonstrate that the hot start to his big-league career is no fluke, as Tuesday's multi-hit effort was his fourth in the last eight games. The rookie has also begun squaring up on the ball more consistently the more he's played, as he's posted eight of the first 10 extra-base hits of his nascent career since the All-Star break.

Maldonado was traded from the Cubs to the Astros in exchange for Tony Kemp on Wednesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Maldonado appeared in just four games for the Cubs before being traded for the second time this month. He'll wind up as an Astros midseason acquisition for the second straight year after hitting .231/.257/.398 down the stretch for Houston last season. He'll likely remain in a bench role with his new team, backing up Robinson Chirinos.

D'Arnaud went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in a win over the Red Sox on Tuesday.

The slugging veteran kick-started the Rays' comeback from a 3-1 deficit with his 453-foot blast to left center in the fifth, his fourth round tripper in the last eight games. It's been an outstanding July for d'Arnaud overall, one that's now seen him generate eight multi-hit efforts, 24 RBI and an eye-popping .338/.427/.732 line across 82 plate appearances.

Murphy reinjured the same knee he had surgery on in May during Tuesday's game for Triple-A Las Vegas, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic reports.

The A's are awaiting further testing before providing a timetable. Murphy was arguably the hottest hitter in the minors, having swatted five home runs in his last four games with eight hits and 13 RBI over that stretch.

Jansen is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Royals.

After appearing to turn a corner offensively at the beginning of the month, Jansen will close out July with a whimper. Over his 16 second-half games, Jansen is slashing a putrid .167/.259/.188 with no home runs across 53 plate appearances. Though Reese McGuire will check in behind the dish for the series finale, the Blue Jays seem committed to sticking with Jansen as their top backstop.

Thaiss went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in a victory versus Detroit on Tuesday.

Thaiss opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the second inning, then plated the final run of the game with a single in the seventh. After posting a .111 average through his first nine games, the rookie has now collected at least one hit in his last five outings, going 8-for-17 with four homers and eight runs batted in over that stretch.

Rogers went 2-for-4 with an RBI in a loss to the Angels on Tuesday.

In his major-league debut, Rogers drove home the only run of the game for Detroit, knocking in Victor Reyes with a single in the seventh inning. The 24-year-old batted only .250 over two minor-league stops this season but showed some pop, slugging 14 home runs and driving in 52 runs in 252 at-bats.

Sanchez (groin) is doing better than anticipated but likely won't be able to return when first eligible Saturday, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

Sanchez has been out for a week due to a groin strain. He's resumed running and hitting but will apparently require more than four more days before he's ready to go. Austin Romine and Kyle Higashioka have split time behind the plate in his absence.