MLB Player News

Pena was scratched from the lineup ahead of Thursday's game with the Royals due to an unspecified reason, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The Astros haven't provided an immediate explanation behind Pena's removal from the lineup, but he's presumably dealing with an injury. Just one week ago, Pena missed a game after suffering a mouth laceration in a collision with teammate Yordan Alvarez, but he cleared the concussion protocol and proceeded to start each of the past six games, going 7-for-29 with three home runs over that stretch. Mauricio Dubon will fill in for Pena at shortstop in Thursday's series finale.

Witt (hand), who remains out of the lineup for Thursday's game in Houston, is scheduled to field grounders and take swings as the Royals look to gauge his availability moving forward, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Manager Mike Matheny said that all scans conducted on Witt's right hand came back clean, but the club will wait and see how the star rookie responds to Thursday's on-field workout before a determination is made on when he might be ready to return to the lineup. Nicky Lopez is expected to fill in as the Royals' primary shortstop for however long Witt's absence may linger.

Witt (hand) is not in the starting lineup Thursday versus the Astros, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Witt will be unavailable for a second straight contest after he was hit in the right hand by a pitch Tuesday. He remains day-to-day while Nicky Lopez takes over at shortstop again Thursday.

Diaz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Wednesday against the Royals.

Diaz took Brad Keller yard in the sixth inning to record his fifth homer of the season and second in as many games. He's been in the lineup for three of Houston's last four games, primarily at the expense of Chas McCormick. Despite the nice stretch, Diaz is hitting only .227/.275/.347 across 160 plate appearances on the season.

Correa was held out of the lineup for Wednesday's loss to the White Sox due to tightness in his legs, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

It's unclear when the injury first surfaced, but it could help explain his 0-for-12 run across the previous four games. Correa will now have extra time to recover since the Twins have a scheduled day off Thursday, so he may be able to rejoin the lineup for Friday's series opener at Texas.

Crawford, who went 1-for-4 with a two-run triple in a win over the Padres on Tuesday, is hitting .333 with a hit-by-pitch, four RBI and four runs with men on base over his last five games.

The veteran shortstop is also 4-for-10 over his first two games back from suspension when factoring in Tuesday's clutch three-bagger. Crawford could be in the process of authoring his best season at the plate yet, as he's currently sporting a career-high .738 OPS, while his 22 extra-base hits put him nearly halfway to last season's total of 46 in 86 fewer games.

Smith isn't in the lineup Wednesday against Baltimore.

Smith went 1-for-13 with a run, an RBI, two walks and three strikeouts over the last three games and will get a day off Wednesday. Charlie Culberson is starting at the hot corner and batting ninth.

Witt (hand) isn't starting Wednesday against the Astros.

Witt suffered a hand injury Tuesday against the Astros but underwent X-rays that came back negative. He should be considered day-to-day for now, but Nicky Lopez will start at shortstop and bat ninth Wednesday.

Bichette went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in Tuesday's 5-3 loss to Oakland.

His single in the top of the fifth inning extended his hitting streak to a season-long 10 games. Bichette has delivered a strong .286 average during the streak, but he's supplemented it with limited counting-stats production (four runs, four RBI, no home runs and no stolen base). The 24-year-old will look to built the streak to 11 in Wednesday's series finale, as he'll start at shortstop and bat second.

Mateo went 1-for-4 with an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in Tuesday's 10-9 extra-inning win over the Rangers.

Mateo is reportedly playing through a sore left quadriceps, but it didn't slow him down Tuesday. He led off the scoring with an RBI single in the second inning before stealing second and scoring on a Cedric Mullins double. The steal was Mateo's 20th of the year, though it was also his first since June 24. Only Miami's Jon Berti (25) and Seattle rookie Julio Rodriguez (21) have more steals than Mateo this year. The 27-year-old has added six home runs, 22 RBI, 28 runs scored, 10 doubles and two triples, though he still has a lackluster .195/.252/.325 slash line in 75 contests. Since he's nursing an injury, it wouldn't be surprising to see Mateo receive rest some time this week.