MLB Player News

Heim will start at catcher and bat ninth in Thursday's game against the Royals.

Heim will be included in the lineup for a sixth straight game, but he's likely to see his playing time tail off after Kyle Higashioka returned to the starting nine behind the plate in Wednesday's 6-3 win. Before playing Wednesday, Higashioka had missed out on three consecutive starts due to a hamstring injury, and though he's out of the lineup Thursday, his absence appears to be mostly for maintenance purposes as the Rangers wrap up their series in Kansas City with a day game. Heim will head into the series finale with a four-game hitting streak, but Higashioka has been the far more productive hitter of the two catchers since the All-Star break, posting a .902 OPS to Heim's .654 mark over that same stretch.

Karros is out of the lineup for Thursday's contest versus the Dodgers.

Karros will miss a second straight start while he deals with back tightness. He's considered day-to-day and will attempt to return to the lineup sometime over the weekend in Pittsburgh. Orlando Arcia will man the hot corner and bat eighth for the Rockies on Thursday.

Higashioka is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.

After missing three straight starts due to a hamstring injury, Higashioka returned to the lineup for Wednesday's 6-3 win and made his presence felt with a tie-breaking three-run double in the top of the ninth. Higashioka will rest for the day game after a night game, but he should settle back in as the Rangers' primary backstop now that the hamstring issue is seemingly behind him.

Freeman will start at third base and bat eighth in Thursday's game against the Royals.

Since being called up from Triple-A Round Rock on Sunday, Freeman has gone just 1-for-14 at the dish, but he will stick in the lineup for the fourth time in five games nonetheless. During that five-game stretch, he's made three of those starts against right-handed pitching and three at third base, where he could occupy the strong side of a platoon with the struggling Josh Jung until super-utility player Josh Smith likely gets pushed back to the infield once right fielder Adolis Garcia (ankle) returns from the injured list.

Jung is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.

After starting at third base and going 0-for-2 in Wednesday's 6-3 win while lefty Noah Cameron was on the hill for Kansas City, the right-handed-hitting Jung will head back to the bench as the Royals send righty Michael Lorenzen to the bump for the series finale. Jung has now been held out of the lineup for four straight matchups versus righties and looks to have moved into a platoon role after slashing just .163/.217/.279 so far in August. Cody Freeman will draw the start at the hot corner Thursday, but super-utility player Josh Smith is more likely to occupy the strong side of a platoon at third base with Jung once right fielder Adolis Garcia (ankle) returns from the injured list.

Hancock has moved to the bullpen at Triple-A Tacoma and allowed one run on two hits and one walk over one inning of work in his first relief appearance there Wednesday.

The bottom-line results weren't there for Hancock, but he averaged 97.4 mph with his four-seamer in the outing. That's a substantial velocity uptick from the 94.7 mph he's averaged this season during his time as a starter with the Mariners. It's not clear whether this is a permanent move to the bullpen for Hancock, but he could turn into a weapon in relief with his stuff playing up in shorter bursts.

The Red Sox will recall Hamilton from Triple-A Worcester prior to Thursday's contest against the Yankees, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

He'll take the roster spot vacated by Abraham Toro, who will be designated for assignment. Hamilton has slashed only .174/.227/.265 in 69 games with the big club this season, but he's a better fit for Boston's bench than Toro.

The Red Sox will designate Toro for assignment prior to Thursday's game versus the Yankees, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

The writing on the wall for Toro to lose his 40-man roster spot following the team's addition of Nathaniel Lowe, and Toro didn't help himself with a .524 OPS in his last 49 games. David Hamilton will be recalled from Triple-A Worcester to replace Toro on the active roster.

Rave is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rangers.

Rave was included in the lineup for each of the Royals' last four games -- all against right-handed starters -- and went a collective 1-for-12 at the plate, bringing his average down to .205 for the season. The left-handed-hitting outfielder will head to the bench Thursday while southpaw Patrick Corbin takes the hill for Texas, and Rave could soon be at risk of losing out on more opportunities to play against right-handed pitching with rookie Jac Caglianone (hamstring) on track to return from the injured list as soon as this weekend.

Houston was recently promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids. He's 1-for-10 with a stolen base in his first two games. He was promoted after hitting .370 with a .868 OPS for Single-A Fort Myers in 12 games.

Houston, the 16th overall pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft, was a bit old for Single-A at age 21 out of Wake Forest, so this isn't too surprising. Still, it shows the Twins are optimistic about his progress after an initial look at Fort Myers.