MLB Player News

Waters isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Mariners.

Waters will get a chance to regroup Thursday after going just 1-for-19 with nine strikeouts over his last nine games. Nick Loftin will start in left field and bat seventh while Waters sits.

Grisham (hamstring) will start in center field and bat leadoff in Thursday's game versus the Blue Jays.

Grisham didn't start the previous two contests after left hamstring tightness forced him from Monday's series opener. However, he's feeling well enough to give it a go in Thursday's series finale as the Yankees try to avoid being swept.

Langford (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Frisco on Thursday.

It may be the only rehab game he plays, as Langford is expected to be activated from the 10-day injured list prior to Saturday's game in San Diego, presuming all goes well. Langford has been sidelined since late June with a left oblique strain.

The Orioles optioned Carlson to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.

His roster spot will be filled by Tyler O'Neill (shoulder), who is slated to come off the 10-day injured list prior to Friday's game in Atlanta. Carlson has a .650 OPS with four homers in 118 plate appearances across his multiple stints with the Orioles in 2025.

Wallner went 1-for-4 with a solo home run during Thursday's 4-1 loss to Miami.

Wallner broke the Marlins' shutout attempt in the seventh inning, when he took Cade Gibson deep to center field for a solo home run. It was Wallner's eighth home run of the season, six of which have come since the beginning of June. That hasn't masked the 27-year-old outfielder's struggles at the plate this season, as he sports a .199/.295/.444 slash line with 14 RBI and a 28.9 percent strikeout rate in 173 plate appearances.

McCormick (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land on Friday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

McCormick has been shelved since late May with a left oblique strain but is finally ready to test things out in game action. If all goes well, he has a shot for activation from the 10-day injured list prior to the All-Star break. McCormick was playing sparingly before getting hurt and that's unlikely to change upon his return.

Hummel will start in left field and bat seventh in Thursday's game against the Rockies, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

With all of Yordan Alvarez (hand), Pedro Leon (knee), Chas McCormick (oblique), Zach Dezenzo (hand) and Jacob Melton (ankle) stuck on the injured list, Hummel has been able to emerge as a fixture in the Houston outfield of late. He'll pick up his fifth consecutive start in left field Wednesday and his ninth start in the last 10 games overall. Since the Astros called him up from Triple-A Sugar Land on June 14, Hummel has hit .242 with two home runs, three RBI and two additional runs over 15 games.

Simpson went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored Wednesday against the A's.

Simpson has started eight of nine games since being recalled June 24. He's hit .345 across 29 at-bats, while striking out only 3.2 percent of the time. Simpson has also unsurprisingly been aggressive on the basepaths, logging four stolen bases on five attempts to bring his total on the season to 23 in only 44 games.

Smith went 3-for-5 with two RBI on Wednesday against the Rockies.

Smith opened and closed the Astros' scoring with a pair of singles in the first and sixth innings. He now has five multi-hit games in his last six starts, delivering eight RBI and five runs scored in that span. After a slow start to the season, Smith has an impressive .285/.355/.430 line across 276 plate appearances.

Altuve went 2-for-5 with two RBI on Wednesday against the Rockies.

Altuve had gone 10 consecutive starts without recording multiple hits, but he tallied two singles Wednesday. The latter was a two-RBI knock that gave the Astros the lead. Altuve has hit only .180 across his last 17 games, dropping his average to .259 across 352 plate appearances.