MLB Player News

General manager Ross Atkins said Thursday that he is "extremely optimistic" that Bichette (knee) will contribute again this season, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic reports.

There is no hard timeline for Bichette's return, but he will get a follow-up assessment this week. The swelling has gone down, and Atkins said the team will take it day by day, per Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. Bichette was diagnosed with a Grade 1 sprain of the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee earlier this week.

Adames went 2-for-4 with an RBI single in a win over the Yankees on Wednesday.

Adames' eighth-inning single gave the Rays some key breathing room by extending their lead to 4-2. The young shortstop now has a nine-game on-base streak, a stretch during which he's raised his batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage by 60, 49 and 158 points to .293, .376 and .507, respectively.

Owings was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a strained hamstring, Nick Groke of The Athletic reports.

He exited a game last week with left hamstring tightness, and has since appeared in several games, but it sounds like he made the injury worse, despite going 2-for-4 in Wednesday's game. Brendan Rodgers was recalled and will start at second base Thursday against the Astros.

Fletcher went 2-for-4 with a double in Wednesday's loss against the Giants.

Fletcher went 0-for-4 in Tuesday's game against San Francisco, but he got right back to it Wednesday and continued what has been a very consistent stretch. He has hit safely in all but one of the Angels' last 18 games, posting a .345 on-base percentage during that stretch, and he's also produced three multi-hit efforts in the Angels' last five games. He doesn't have raw power, but he's tapped into more game power this year and should remain valuable if he keeps getting on base at a strong clip as he has done this year.

Ahmed went 2-for-4 in Wednesday's loss against the Athletics.

The Diamondbacks went 6-for-30 as a team against Oakland's pitching, and Ahmed was one of two players who recorded multiple hits -- Ketel Marte was the other one. Ahmed endured a tough start to the season but has bounced back of late, hitting safely in all but one of Arizona's last 10 games, posting three consecutive multi-hit games and slashing .500/.550/.778 with two homers and 14 RBI during that 10-game stretch.

Correa went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored in Wednesday's win over the Rockies.

Correa entered this game a bit cold with five hits in his last 28 at-bats, but Coors Field is just the place for a hitter to get right. Through 24 games this season, Correa is batting .321 with an .894 OPS. He was batting .295/.360/.547 at the All-Star break last year before back issues derailed his season.

Anderson went 1-for-4 with an RBI single, a stolen base and a run scored in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Tigers.

Anderson singled to score Zack Collins in the fifth inning, then promptly stole second. The 27-year-old Anderson tied the game when he scored on a Yoan Moncada single. Anderson now has two steals, five homers, eight RBI and 20 runs scored in 15 games this season. He's slashing .371/.400/.726 across 65 plate appearances.

Owings (hamstring) is starting at second base and batting seventh Wednesday versus Houston.

Owings appeared off the bench the past two games after missing almost a week with a left hamstring issue, but he didn't end up requiring a trip to the injured list. The 29-year-old has a .243/.300/.432 slash line with two homers through 40 plate appearances this season.

Edman went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI in Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Cubs, but he's out of the lineup for Game 2, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Edman started the past seven games at shortstop with Paul DeJong (illness) on the injured list, but he'll receive the night off after a strong performance in the matinee. Brad Miller will take over at shortstop for the Cardinals, while Max Schrock starts at third base.

Franco continues to work out regularly at the Rays' alternate training site in Port Charlotte, but he's unlikely to receive a promotion to the big club at any point in 2020, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The 2020 Super Two deadline has come and gone, but the extra year of service time the Rays have already gained won't be enough to entice the organization to call up its top prospect. Instead, the Rays appear inclined to treat this season as another development one for the 19-year-old phenom, who will at least have the benefit of playing in simulated games against some of the team's top pitching prospects in Port Charlotte. Assuming he stays healthy and continues to pass any tests the organization's braintrust gives him, Franco looks on track to make his MLB debut at some point in early 2021.