MLB Player News

Diaz started at second base and went 1-for-5 with a double in Friday's 6-5 loss to the Angels.

Diaz, who had been manning third base for the injured Alex Bregman (hamstring), moved to second base Friday as a replacement for Jose Altuve (knee). Altuve's knee injury is expected to prevent him from playing the rest of the weekend, so Diaz should receive at-bats in Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game. Playing time beyond that depends on how Altuve's knee responds and/or Bregman's pending return.

Wendle went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base in Friday's win over the Marlins.

Wendle is not capturing many headlines but has a couple homers and three steals now with a palatable .269 batting average. He's in a good spot, batting regularly in the top third of the Rays' order against right-handed pitching, and best of all for fantasy, Wendle has three-position eligibility.

Velazquez went 0-for-2 with a stolen base and a walk in Friday's 6-3 win over the Yankees in Game 2 of their doubleheader.

Velazquez drew the walk in the sixth inning and stolen second base. It's his fourth steal of the year. The 26-year-old has added two RBI and eight runs scored across 62 plate appearances.

Crawford went 1-for-5 with a three-run home run during Friday's win over the Rangers.

Crawford extended Seattle's lead with a three-run shot off Taylor Hearn in the eighth inning. The 25-year-old is now averaging .248/.338/.358 on the season with two long balls and 23 runs scored.

Mondesi went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and a pair of RBI singles in Friday's 7-4 loss to the White Sox.

Mondesi had RBI singles in the second and fourth innings. After the latter one, he also recorded his first stolen base of the game. His second steal came in the eighth. The shortstop snapped an 0-for-22 skid Friday, but he's still slashing only .196/.224/.246 with a major-league-leading 10 stolen bases as well as 11 runs scored and five RBI in 38 games this year.

Anderson went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, two runs scored and an RBI in Friday's 7-4 win over the Royals.

Both of Anderson's hits were singles, but his RBI came in the form of a sacrifice fly in the fourth. He also scored on an Edwin Encarnacion sacrifice fly in the first and Jose Abreu's two-run double in the sixth. Anderson is slashing a stellar .352/.389/.607 with seven homers, four steals, 32 runs scored and 14 RBI in 29 contests.

Bogaerts isn't in the lineup for the second game of Friday's doubleheader against the Blue Jays.

Bogaerts will take a seat for the nightcap after going 0-for-4 with one strikeout in the first game of the twin bill. Jonathan Arauz will take over at shortstop.

Rojas (abdomen) is starting at shortstop and batting sixth Friday against the Rays, Andre Fernandez of Sirius XM Radio reports.

The 31-year-old was removed from Tuesday's game with abdominal soreness and didn't play Wednesday, but he's back in the lineup after Thursday's scheduled off day. Rojas has a .250/.325/.389 slash line with one home run and one stolen base in 12 games since rejoining the Marlins on Aug. 21.

Gordon will use his full legal surname, Strange-Gordon, going forward, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

The 10-year veteran elected to go by Strange-Gordon to honor his mother, DeVona Strange, who was killed when he was six years old. Strange-Gordon has been his surname for his whole life, though he'd previously chosen to go by the simplified "Gordon" after an announcer mispronounced his full name in rookie ball.

Bichette (knee) will face reliever Ken Giles (forearm) during his simulated game Saturday, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Bichette ran the bases and took part in field work Thursday as he's closing in on his return to the Blue Jays. The 22-year-old suffered a Grade 1 sprain of the LCL in his right knee in mid-August, but if he continues on his current progression a return sometime next week appears possible.