MLB Player News

Diaz was scratched from the lineup for Saturday's game against the Red Sox, Ryan Bass of Rays.tv reports.

It's unclear why the Rays took Diaz out of the starting nine Saturday, but the team should provide more information in the near future. In the meantime, Jake Fraley will fill in as Tampa Bay's designated hitter and bat leadoff.

Rice went 2-for-3 with a home run, a triple, two walks, two RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

Rice has three homers during his seven-game hitting streak, including Friday's solo shot. The slugger has also shown a little speed at times -- he's up to four triples on the year after his three-bagger. On the year, Rice is batting .264 with an .897 OPS, 39 homers, 94 RBI, 100 runs scored, 22 doubles and three stolen bases over 146 contests, building upon his breakout from 2025.

Ramirez went 3-for-5 with a solo home run in Friday's 8-2 loss to the Padres.

Ramirez took Nick Pivetta deep in the third inning to open the scoring. While Ramirez has three homers over 12 games in September, he's struggled with consistency, going just 7-for-35 (.200) at the dish even with Friday's big performance. He's batting .231 with a .681 OPS, five homers, 22 RBI, 28 runs scored, nine doubles, one triple and four stolen bases across 64 contests this season.

Eldridge was scratched from the lineup for Friday's game against the Dodgers due to a head laceration, Justice delos Santos of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Eldridge has posted a .948 OPS with 14 RBI and seven runs scored over 15 games since the beginning of September, but the Giants will be without his services during Friday's series opener. Brett Harris will fill in at first base and bat seventh.

Pederson (hand) is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Blue Jays.

Pederson hasn't played since last Saturday but remains day-to-day for Texas. Josh Jung is handling DH duties for the Rangers on Friday, with Ezequiel Duran leading off and playing third base.

Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Royals.

Alvarez extended Houston's lead to 4-1 in the fifth inning with a 375-foot shot off Seth Lugo, his career-high 40th this season. Over his last six games, Alvarez has gone 6-for-19 (.316) with a pair of homers and a 1.172 OPS. He'll have his sights set on the AL Triple-Crown down the stretch -- Alvarez leads the league with a .311 batting average, while he's second in both home runs and RBI (99).

Pederson (hand) is not yet swinging a bat, but the swelling in his left hand has gone down over the past few days, MLB.com reports.

Pederson missed a fourth consecutive game Thursday after suffering a slight fracture of his left hand Saturday when he was hit by a pitch. The first three of those four missed contests were against left-handers, so Pederson would not have been in the starting lineup anyway, but he was replaced at DH on Thursday by Josh Jung against Boston right-hander Sonny Gray. The Rangers are scheduled to face another right-hander Friday, Toronto's Dylan Cease.

Pederson (hand) is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Red Sox.

Pederson suffered a small fracture in his left hand when he was hit by a pitch Saturday. He hasn't played since then, but the Rangers are facing a righty in Sonny Gray for the first time during that span. Pederson is aiming to play through the injury, but clearly he's not feeling well enough to do so just yet. Josh Jung is slotting in at designated hitter for Texas on Thursday.

Yelich is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Pirates.

Yelich will get a break for the matinee contest after he started in each of Milwaukee's prior four games. Gary Sanchez will step in for Yelich as Milwaukee's designated hitter and will bat fifth.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Thursday that Ohtani (biceps/knee) has progressed to hitting off coaches, Jack Harris of the California Post reports.

Ohtani has been easing back into a hitting progression after landing on the 15-day injured list last week with biceps and knee injuries. He is eligible for activation Sept. 23, and he could be back on that date or shortly after to get a few regular-season games under his belt before the playoffs.