MLB Player News

Meadows will start in center field and bat leadoff in Friday's game versus the Marlins.

It's the first time since June 14 that Meadows has occupied the leadoff spot. Each of his first five starts back from the injured list have come from the bottom-third of the lineup, but he's earned a move up by going 7-for-15 with two home runs and a 3:1 BB:K.

Varsho is absent from the lineup for Friday's game versus the Orioles.

The left-handed-hitting Varsho will take a seat as the Orioles send southpaw Trevor Rogers to the bump. Varsho -- who is slashing just .162/.238/.162 against lefties this season -- will yield center field to Myles Straw.

Lukes is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Orioles.

It's southpaw Trevor Rogers on the hill for the Orioles, so the left-handed-swinging Lukes will take a seat. The Blue Jays are going with Davis Schneider, Myles Straw and George Springer in the outfield for the series opener.

The Orioles optioned Johnson to Triple-A Norfolk on Friday.

He's being sent down to accommodate the return of Tyler O'Neill (wrist). Johnson had made just two starts since being recalled three weeks ago and had yet to start a game in September.

The Orioles activated O'Neill (wrist) from the 10-day injured list Friday.

O'Neill missed the last five-plus weeks with right wrist inflammation but is ready to go after playing three rehab games and homering in his final rehab contest Wednesday at Triple-A Norfolk. Jeremiah Jackson has played well in right field in O'Neill's stead and could become the Orioles' regular third baseman now that O'Neill is back in the fold.

Lowe is absent from the lineup for Friday's game against the Cubs.

The left-handed-hitting Lowe has been playing against most lefties, but he'll take a seat in this one as the Cubs send southpaw Matthew Boyd to the bump. Jake Mangum will shift over to right field and Everson Pereira will patrol center field in Friday's series opener.

Smith slashed .308/.379/.500 with four home runs, 10 steals, a 10.3 percent walk rate and a 26.4 percent strikeout rate in his final 20 games for High-A Bowling Green.

On the season, Smith slashed .237/.331/.388 with 14 home runs, 41 steals, an 11.5 percent walk rate and a 31.2 percent strikeout rate in 102 games for the Hot Rods. The righty-hitting outfielder will play in the Arizona Fall League this year before heading to Double-A next year for his age-21/22 season. Smith's production was down from what he did last year at Single-A, but he was still 13 percent better than the average Sally League hitter while being two years younger than the average player in the league. He primarily played center field and had an 87.2 percent success rate stealing bases, so Smith has several ways to impact the game in a positive way. Strikeouts are a bigger problem for Smith than they appeared to be before the season, but he still showed plenty of power/speed potential while getting on base at a passable clip.

The Astros will call up Cole from Triple-A Sugar Land prior to Friday's game in Atlanta, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Cole has had a nice season between Double-A Corpus Christi and Sugar Land, slashing .279/.377/.539 with 19 home runs and 18 steals over 97 contests. The 25-year-old is capable of playing all three outfield spots, though he wouldn't seem to have a clear path to playing time. Cole will be making his major-league debut when he gets into a game.

Simpson went 4-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base Thursday against the White Sox.

All four of Simpson's hits were singles, his second multi-hit effort across nine starts in September. He also successfully stole second base in the first inning to tally his 40th swiped bag of the season across only 96 games. While it's been a successful rookie season, Simpson hasn't recorded an extra-base hit across his last 15 games and is hitting only .219 in that span.

Kayfus went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Thursday's 3-2 win over Kansas City.

Kayfus flipped the script in the bottom of the eighth inning when he launched a two-run, go-ahead homer 425 feet to center field. Up to the point, the Guardians offense put up little fight (three hits, one run) against Royals pitching. The home run was the first in 17 contests and third of the season for Kayfus, who's been on a bumpy road since late August. He entered the night batting .128 (5-for-39) with a .453 OPS over his previous 14 games.