MLB Player News

Alvarez underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees Wednesday and is expected to be ready for spring training.

He will begin physical therapy immediately and is expected to make a full recovery, per the press release. A slight tear of the patellar tendon in his right knee was repaired, and a routine cleanup was performed on his left knee. Alvarez will make for a very tricky evaluation in 2021 redraft leagues, as he has shown his immense potential when healthy, but he is still a high-risk player given his large frame and multiple knee procedures.

Stanton (hamstring) is at least a week away from returning, according to general manager Brian Cashman, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

It was just reported that Aaron Judge (calf) will be out another three weeks, so Stanton figures to beat him back into the Yankees lineup. That said, it could be more than a week for Stanton, so an early September return seems like the best-case scenario.

Winker went 3-for-3 with a walk, two home runs and three RBI in a 6-1 win over the Brewers during the first game of Thursday's doubleheader.

The 27-year-old had been in a bit of a slump, going 3-for-21 with zero RBI over his prior six games, but Winker's bat snapped back to life in impressive fashion in Thursday's matinee. On the season he's now hitting .325 with eight homers, but only 13 RBI, through 29 contests.

Pederson went 2-for-2 with a solo home run, a double and another run scored during Thursday's win over the Giants.

Pederson accounted for all of the scoring in the second half of Thursday's twin bill against the Giants, helping Los Angeles complete a doubleheader sweep. The 28-year-old got the scoring started with a solo shot off Kevin Gausman in the second inning. He then doubled and scored in the fourth. The long ball was the fifth of the year for Pederson, who is batting just .218/.330/.449 across 27 games.

Dickerson is in the starting lineup for Game 2 of Thursday's doubleheader against the Dodgers, batting sixth and playing left field.

Dickerson sat Game 1 with the Giants going up against Clayton Kershaw, but he's back in the fold for Game 2. The Dodgers are going with lefty Caleb Ferguson, but Giants manager Gabe Kapler is likely banking on it being a short start for the southpaw.

Ruf is not in the starting lineup for Game 2 of Thursday's doubleheader against the Dodgers.

Ruf started Game 1 of the twin bill against Clayton Kershaw, but will return to the bench despite lefty Caleb Ferguson starting Game 2 for the Dodgers.

Choi isn't in the lineup Thursday against the Orioles.

Choi will get a day off with southpaw John Means taking the mound for the Orioles on Thursday. Mike Brosseau will take over at first base.

Dickerson is not starting Game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader against the Dodgers.

Dickerson will stick on the bench for a second straight game with the Dodgers deploying another left-hander in Clayton Kershaw. Darin Ruf is once again starting in left field in his place.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Vogelbach will be activated ahead of Thursday's game against the Red Sox, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Toronto acquired Vogelbach from the Mariners on Sunday, but the first baseman/designated hitter had been stuck in limbo for the past few days while he waited to complete the COVID-19 intake testing process. Now that Vogelbach has cleared all health-related protocols, he'll provide the Blue Jays with a left-handed power bat off the bench. Vogelbach is somewhat redundant with another lefty-hitting, first base/DH type in Rowdy Tellez already on the roster, so the former could be a store for a limited role initially.

Blackmon went 1-for-4 with a grand slam and a walk in Wednesday's win over the Diamondbacks.

Blackmon essentially put the game out of reach for the Rockies with a grand slam in the top of the eighth that made it 8-1 for Colorado and, although Arizona came just one run away from forcing extra innings, the Rockies came through and got the win. This was Blackmon's fourth homer of the season and first one since Aug. 7. The star centerfielder, who hovered around the .400 mark earlier this season, has slowed down of late and is "only" hitting .289 with a .767 OPS in his last 10 games.