MLB Player News

Alvarez (personal) will serve as the Astros' designated hitter and No. 3 batter in Thursday's game against the White Sox, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Alvarez was away from the Astros for the last two days to tend to a family matter, but he caught a flight back to Chicago and rejoined the team in time for the series finale with the White Sox. Before his brief absence, Alvarez had been sizzling at the plate in June, producing a monstrous 1.212 OPS over 14 games on the month.

Pederson is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game versus the Nationals.

As usual, Pederson is sitting against a left-hander, as the Nationals are starting southpaw MacKenzie Gore on Thursday. Ketel Marte will get a day out of the field and serve as Arizona's designated hitter while Blaze Alexander starts at second base.

Soler went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the Cubs.

With his team down 6-1 in the eighth inning, Soler took Tyson Miller deep to make things interesting, but the Giants couldn't tie it up late. The veteran slugger has found a groove in June, slashing .298/.403/.526 through 16 games this month with three of his nine homers and 10 of his 26 RBI on the season.

Grossman started in left field and went 1-for-2 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Mets.

Grossman ignited a rally in the bottom of the first inning when he drew the first of three two-out walks, stole a base (his third of the season), and eventually scored Texas' first run. He later raced home from first base on a double in the sixth. Grossman has recently become a fixture in the starting lineup against left-handers, usually batting third. He's batting .333 (9-for-27) with a home run, a double, six RBI, a stolen base and five additional runs scored during the month of June.

Stanton went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in a 7-6 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday.

Stanton did his best to provide some late-game heroics, crushing a three-run homer in the seventh inning and tying the game on an RBI single in the ninth. Stanton extended his hitting streak to seven games and is now hitting .300 with five home runs and 16 RBI in 60 June at-bats. He is enjoying a nice bounceback season and owns a .243/.301/.494 slash with 18 home runs and 45 RBI over 272 plate appearances.

De La Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 4-3 win over St. Louis.

De La Cruz led off the contest with a 429-foot solo shot off Matthew Liberatore. The 27-year-old outfielder has gone 4-for-14 with a pair of homers in his last three games -- De La Cruz is up to 13 long balls this year, putting him well on pace to surpass his career high of 19. Overall, he's slashing .245/.296/.424 with 34 RBI and 34 runs scored across 314 plate appearances this season.

Calhoun isn't in the Angels' lineup for Wednesday's game versus Milwaukee, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

Calhoun was held hitless in seven at-bats through the first two games of the series, and he'll now sit down for Wednesday's series finale. His absence will move Logan O'Hoppe into the DH role while Matt Thaiss starts behind the plate.

Blackmon (hamstring) is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Dodgers, Luke Zahlmann of The Denver Gazette reports.

Blackmon exited Tuesday's 11-9 loss with right hamstring tightness and is considered day-to-day. With Blackmon on the bench Wednesday, Jake Cave will start in right field and Elehuris Montero will serve as the Rockies' designated hitter.

Garver is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Guardians.

Garver and Mitch Haniger seem to have settled into a timeshare at the designated hitter spot of late, and it'll be the latter's turn to start Wednesday after Garver was included in the lineup for Tuesday's 8-5 win. The Mariners should have room for both players in the starting nine versus left-handed pitching, but neither of the two appears to be locked into a full-time role versus righties at the moment.

Pederson is out of the lineup for Wednesday's contest against the Nationals.

Pederson's only start against a lefty this season came earlier this month versus a left-handed opener in the Giants' Erik Miller. With the Nationals sending southpaw Patrick Corbin to the bump Wednesday, Pederson will take a seat while Eugenio Suarez serves as Arizona's designated hitter.