MLB Player News

Fletcher is not in the lineup Thursday against the Athletics.

Fletcher will retreat to the bench after starting the past 12 games and slashing .234/.302/.298 with one home run and a 5:6 BB:K during that stretch. In his place, Luis Rengifo is starting at the keystone and hitting eighth.

Manager Bud Black said Story (thumb) is unlikely to return from the injured list when first eligible Saturday, Nick Groke of The Athletic reports.

There was some hope that Story would be ready to rejoin the Rockies after a minimum stay on the shelf, but it turns out the team wants the shortstop to play in two or three rehab games before being activated, likely pushing his return date to sometime late next week. Story, who has been on the shelf since June 20 with a sprained and bruised thumb, recently resumed swinging and is scheduled to go through his normal pregame routine Thursday.

Edman went 2-for-4 in a loss to the Athletics on Wednesday and is now hitting .421 (8-for-19) over his first 20 big-league plate appearances.

Edman's playing time has been few and far between, but the rookie has certainly made a good impression with his work at the plate. Edman already has a double, a triple and a home run on his ledger, and he's added a pair of stolen bases and four runs overall for good measure. While Wednesday marked just his fourth start overall since his promotion June 8, Edman figures to receive more opportunities with Jedd Gyorko (calf/back/wrist) still on the injured list for the foreseeable future.

Story (thumb) will go through his normal pregame routine Thursday, Kyle Newman of The Denver Post reports.

This is another encouraging step for Story, who resumed swinging Wednesday and said his injured thumb feels "really good." If the shortstop continues to respond well to increased activities, he could be cleared to return from the 10-day injured list when first eligible over the weekend.

Crawford went 3-for-5 with a pair of run-scoring doubles, an RBI triple and a run in a win over the Brewers on Wednesday.

The shortstop's blistering-hot bat went up another few degrees in the win, with Crawford having a hand in all four of the team's runs. Crawford opened the scoring with his first two-bagger in the first inning and subsequently came home on an Omar Narvaez single before eventually also plating Seattle's third and fourth runs of the contest. The latter came on a game-winning, ninth-inning double, giving Crawford an impressive total of nine RBI over the last three games.

Wendle is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Twins, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

The lefty-hitting Wendle's absence from the starting nine doesn't come as a surprise with southpaw Martin Perez on the bump for Minnesota, but the 29-year-old looks on track to find himself on the bench more frequently versus right-handers, too. The Rays welcomed Yandy Diaz (hamstring) back from the 10-day injured list Thursday, and it's expected that he'll be a fixture at third base on a full-time basis. Wendle is hitting just .175 over 12 games since returning from his own IL stint two weeks ago, which doesn't help his case for seeing steady action now that the Rays are at relatively close to full strength in the infield.

Diaz (hamstring) ran in the field for a fifth straight day Wednesday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Diaz is also taking fastball-only batting practice in the cages and hopes to take groundballs Thursday. There's no immediate timetable for a minor-league rehab assignment for Diaz, who strained his left hamstring May 27, but that he's ramping up activity is a positive sign. Manager AJ Hinch has already ruled him out of major-league action until after the All-Star break.

Adames went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's loss to the Twins.

Adames left the yard for the second straight game, slugging a 423-foot solo shot off reliever Trevor May in the seventh inning. Despite some inconsistency at the plate, the 23-year-old clearly still has some pop in his bat and is batting .253/.318/.402 with nine home runs, 23 RBI and 33 runs.

Turner went 2-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base and two runs Wednesday against the Marlins.

Turner didn't collect an extra-base hit but failed to reach base only once Wednesday. He also nabbed his 14th base of the season, tying him for 10th in the league despite missing a month and a half earlier in the campaign. With the strong performance, Turner brought his line up to .287/.350/.503 across 183 plate appearances for the season.

Gordon went 2-for-5 with an RBI double and a run in a win over the Brewers on Tuesday.

Gordon had snapped out of a 2-for-20 skid with a multi-hit effort to close out the four-game series against the Orioles on Sunday, and he encouragingly remained hot Tuesday with his second straight two-hit tally. The extra-base hit was also Gordon's first since he laced his second triple of the season against the Athletics on June 16, and he's now boosted his season line back to .273/.297/.368, all improvements over his 2018 figures.