Nacho Alvarez officially traded to Angels

It’s definitely not looking good for Smith at the moment, though a couple of nice games could always change things. It’s not like Trammell or Wade is hitting, and Smith is the best defensive outfielder of the three.

Taillon, absent since Aug. 11 with forearm tendinitis, returns after giving up four runs in 3 2/3 innings in his lone rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo. He’s facing the Royals tonight.

We’d certainly like to see more of Tiedemann, but the Blue Jays have used him a total of twice in two brief stints in the bullpen. He pitched a hitless ninth on Tuesday in his one outing this time around.

Stowers left Thursday’s game with hamstring tightness, but he said today that it doesn’t feel anything like the hamstring injuries that have put him on the IL twice this year. Deyvison De Los Santos is playing first base in his place for the Marlins tonight.

Sinclair, 27, will be making his major league debut five years after the Nationals made him a 16th-round pick out of Central Florida. He had a 4.03 ERA and a 74/32 K/BB in 60 1/3 innings of relief work for the Red Wings.

Kranick had a 9.33 ERA and an 11/13 K/BB in 18 1/3 innings since returning from elbow surgery in July. That’s probably not going to get him claimed off waivers.

McClanahan’s stuff was pretty normal while he gave up four runs in five innings Thursday in a loss to the Rangers, but it turns out things weren’t right. Maybe this is just a maintenance thing to try to get him ready for the postseason, but we’ll know more in a bit. This means Ian Seymour will continue to start with Griffin Jax back, though that already seemed to be part of the plan with the Rays looking at a six-man rotation. If the Rays still want to use six starters for a bit, Jesse Scholtens could be called up next week.

With Shane McClanahan going on the DL, Cook returns two days after being sent down. He’s allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings in his two major league relief appearances this season.

Marte served as a DH in his first two games back and then didn’t play Wednesday. With Marte at second, Ildemaro Vargas is on the bench Friday for the first time since Aug. 16, which was the last time Marte played second base prior to his stints on the restricted and injured lists.

Max Kepler is starting tonight for the first time since Saturday, but still no Gurriel. Gurriel might have started against a left-hander on Tuesday, but Ketel Marte was limited to DH duties then. The D-backs clearly don’t believe he’s one of their better choices against right-handers, so it seems he’ll finish out his time with the team in a bit role.