MLB Player News

Witt is out of the lineup for Friday's game versus the Red Sox, Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports.

Witt is 4-for-8 with a home run, two RBI, three runs and a stolen base in the past two games but will receive Friday off. Nicky Lopez will shift to shortstop while Michael Massey starts at the keystone.

Allen went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run in a win over the Angels on Thursday.

The young shortstop has hit safely in five of his last eight starts, although he's still carrying just a .197/.261/.276 slash line for the season. Allen does have three doubles over that eight-game span, and seven of his first eight extra-base hits at the big-league level have been two-baggers.

Barger has hit .418/.467/.657 with four home runs in 18 games since being promoted to Double-A New Hampshire.

This hot streak has hardly come out of nowhere, as Barger posted a sharp .295/.361/.549 line with 14 homers and seven steals at High-A Vancouver before moving up. A sixth-round pick in 2018, he was mostly unremarkable in minor-league action prior to this season -- he did show some power in A ball last year, but he struck out far too often. However, Barger has cut his strikeout rate noticeably this season, and he's maintained that improvement since his promotion. He's still a bit raw defensively, but the 23-year-old has a strong arm and may be able to stick at shortstop. Of course, the Jays have Bo Bichette holding that position down for the foreseeable future.

Witt went 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base in Thursday's 7-3 win against Boston.

Witt singled, stole second and scored in the first inning and brought home the game-winning run with a single before scoring in the seventh for his second straight multi-hit effort. The 22-year-old is one of two players with 15 home runs and 20 thefts and could put together a strong close to his rookie campaign with a .308 average, two home runs and three stolen bases across his last seven games.

Bichette went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of runs scored in Thursday's 9-3 win over the Twins.

Bichette had gone 2-for-16 across his last five games prior to breaking out of the mini-slump Thursday. He was able to score as part of the Blue Jays' rallies in the sixth and eighth innings. The shortstop lifted his season slash line to .260/.303/.419 with 14 home runs, 56 RBI, 57 runs scored, seven stolen bases and 26 doubles through 104 contests.

Smith isn't starting Thursday against the White Sox, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Although right-hander Johnny Cueto is on the mound for the White Sox on Thursday, Smith will head to the bench after he went 3-for-8 with two walks and three strikeouts over the last three games. Ezequiel Duran is starting at third base while Elier Hernandez serves as the designated hitter.

Velazquez will start at shortstop and bat ninth in Thursday's game against the Athletics, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Velazquez will crack the lineup for the fourth time in five games, and he could handle a near-everyday role in the short term if the Angels elect to give Luis Rengifo more exposure to third base rather than leaning on struggling veteran Phil Gosselin at the position. Though the Angels appear to value Velazquez's defense in the middle infield, he's produced an anemic .487 OPS in 262 plate appearances. Velazquez's 12-for-12 success rate on stolen-base attempts has been the only thing propping up his fantasy value.

Fletcher is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Fletcher is 5-for-17 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI and three runs in five games since returning from the injured list, and he'll take a seat Sunday for the third time in the Angels' past five contests. Luis Rengifo and Andrew Velazquez will start at second base and shortstop Thursday.

Mateo went 0-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored in Wednesday's 6-3 win over the Rangers.

Two of the top three base-stealers play for Baltimore, with Mateo (26) and Cedric Mullins (23) trailing only Miami's Jon Berti's (groin) major-league-leading 28. In his last 11 games, Mateo's provided a more well-rounded line with three home runs, four steals, eight RBI and eight runs scored. He's batted .297 in that span to lift his season average to .216 through 97 contests overall.

Bogaerts went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 6-1 loss to the Astros.

Bogaerts' ninth-inning solo shot would turn out to be the only offense for Boston on Wednesday. It was his ninth home run of the year. The shortstop is already halfway to his home run total for July. Bogaerts is slashing an impressive .312/.387/.460 after Wednesday's performance, although he is trending toward his lowest home run total in a full season since he hit 10 in 2017.