Alejandro Kirk stays hot with a solo homer

Adell fouled a ball off of his knee on Tuesday and sat out the final two games of the team’s series against the Giants due to soreness. He’s feeling much improved on Friday though and will serve as the Guardians’ designated hitter at Coors Field against Rockies’ right-hander Tanner Gordon.

DeLauter missed three straight games to start the week after suffering a hamstring injury on Sunday, but he’ll return just in time to take advantage of the premium hitting environment at Coors Field over the weekend. DeLauter is starting in right field and batting second against Rockies’ right-hander Tanner Gordon on Friday evening.

Montero had been scheduled to start against the Rays on Monday, but he didn’t recover well after his last start so the team wants to give him some extra time to rest and recover. The club will also push Framber Valdez back from Sunday to Monday, with the team going with a bullpen game in Sunday’s series finale against the Royals in Kansas City.

Schanuel made an early exit from Thursday’s thrashing of the Astros due to soreness in his right side. He was unlikely to start on Friday night with left-hander MacKenzie Gore taking the hill for the Rangers, but Schanuel has yet to even attempt to swing to determine whether or not he’ll be available off the bench. He’s considered day-to-day.

Meckler was hit in the helmet by a pitch during Thursday’s game and is still in the concussion protocol. It’s unlikely that he would have started against left-hander MacKenzie Gore on Friday night regardless, but he’ll need to clear the protocol before he’s able to return.

Fernandez will add a fresh arm that’s capable of working multiple innings to the Cardinals’ bullpen while the club figures out how to replace the injured Andre Pallante (elbow) in their starting rotation. The 28-year-old has posted an impressive 2.70 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and a 20/7 K/BB ratio over 13 1/3 innings of work in 11 appearances with the Cardinals this season.

The 27-year-old righty came out of Monday’s start against the Reds feeling a bit of extra soreness in his elbow and further examinations revealed the inflammation. The Cardinals are hopeful that he’ll able to return after missing just a couple of weeks, but with the season winding down he may be a tough hold in redraft leagues.

It’s the second straight game that the 28-year-old shortstop has missed after being struck by a 100-mph sinker from Walbert Ureña on Wednesday. While he has reported improvement and is able to field his position defensively without issue,
Peña isn’t quite comfortable swinging the bat just yet. He could be available off the bench on Friday and is expected to return to the lineup before the weekend is through.

The 23-year-old slugger was removed from Wednesday’s game due to soreness in his ankle and it was bothering him enough that he was held out of Thursday’s contest as well. The day off seems to have done him some good though, as he’s back in there in right field and batting third against Tigers’ right-hander Troy Melton on Friday evening in Kansas City.

The switch-hitting 23-year-old outfielder has been struggling at the plate in recent weeks, hitting just .192/.306/.274 with one homer, 10 RBI and a 23/11 K/BB ratio over 85 plate appearances in his last 20 games, so perhaps giving him a day off to clear his head is a good idea. Tristan Peters will slide over and cover right field while Brenton Doyle draws a start in center and will bat sixth for the White Sox against Mets’ left-hander Sean Manaea.