MLB Player News

Vogelbach went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk in Wednesday's loss to the Rangers.

Vogelbach reached base twice, and the slugger has reached base in seven of his last nine contests -- he is only hitting .138 but owns a .306 on-base percentage with two homers and four RBI in that stretch. Vogelbach is never going to hit for average, but he should retain some value in deep leagues due to his power.

Martinez went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 9-5 loss to the Rays.

After going 14 games without a long ball to begin the season, Martinez now has homers in two of his last three. Earlier this season, Martinez lamented MLB's new restrictions on communal video terminals. He told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, "In the past I probably already would have been able to get in the video room, break [struggling teammate Andrew Benintendi's] swing down, look at it, do some comparisons. It's kind of what I do for most of the guys on the team. We don't have access to any of that stuff anymore. It's kind of everyone on their own. Survivor." While Martinez can no longer go to the video terminal in the clubhouse during games to examine the mechanics of his swing and make adjustments, this is a player coming off six straight highly-productive seasons and we expect he will be able to make do.

Buxton went 3-for-5 with two solo home runs in Wednesday's 12-2 blowout win over the Brewers.

Buxton's homered in the fifth and sixth innings, giving him five homers in his last seven games. The outfielder has back-to-back three-hit games as well, raising his batting average from .211 to .298 with the recent surge. Buxton has five homers, 10 RBI, nine runs scored and a stolen base in 15 contests this season.

Brantley is not in Wednesday's lineup against the Giants, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brantley will head to the bench for Wednesday's series finale following a string of six straight starts during which he went 2-for-24 with a pair of doubles. The Astros are going with an outfield consisting of Kyle Tucker, Myles Straw and Josh Reddick (from left to right) in Brantley's absence.

Manager Dusty Baker said Wednesday that Alvarez (undisclosed) is "very close" to rejoining the Astros, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

Alvarez missed all of summer camp for undisclosed reasons, but he's been training at Houston's alternate training site for more than two weeks. Assuming the 23-year-old checks out OK in the coming days, it sounds like he could be cleared to return as soon as this weekend.

Ford went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI in a win over Atlanta on Tuesday.

Ford doubled home a pair of runs in the fifth inning and drove in another with a two-bagger in the seventh. The 28-year-old figures to see his playing time increase with Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list with a hamstring injury, and Ford has now started consecutive games at DH. On the season, Ford is slashing .227/.280/.455 with a home run and seven RBI.

Solak went 3-for-4 with three RBI in Tuesday's win over Seattle.

Solak is seeing the ball well of late, hitting safely in five of his last seven games while notching four multi-hit appearances during that span. The second baseman is hitting .306 with a .779 OPS and five RBI in 36 at-bats this month.

Buxton went 3-for-4 with a stolen base in Tuesday's 6-4 loss to the Brewers.

The center fielder swiped his first bag of the year in the second inning after beating out an infield single. Buxton has been on a roll at the plate during one of his rare healthy periods, hitting .370 (10-for-27) over the last eight games with three homers, seven RBI, six runs and Tuesday's steal.

Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored in Tuesday's win over Oakland.

Ohtani has been heating up of late, going 6-for-11 with three walks over his last three games. That stretch has brought his average from .132 to .224 on the campaign. He has also driven in 10 runs and scored eight times.

Jimenez went 2-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and one run scored Tuesday against the Tigers.

Jimenez got the White Sox's offense rolling in first inning, blasting a three-run home run. He followed up his fourth home run of the season with an RBI single in the sixth frame. Jimenez had reached base just once in his last 23 plate appearances, so he'll look to build on this productive performance. Overall, Jimenez has still been productive however, as he has 12 RBI and six runs scored through 16 contests.