Nelson Velázquez slams fifth home run in win

He’ll be part of the low-leverage mix for the Astros going forward as they try to figure out the middle-to-late innings without LHP Steven Okert.

This is a tough one for the Astros; Okert has a 2.13 ERA and has allowed just 45 hits in 67 2/3 innings as one of Josh Hader’s main setup men. There’s no timeline for a return just yet and hamstrings are tricky things; they’ll try to manage the AL West race without him for at least the next two weeks.

No surprise here. Rafaela seemed optimistic he’d skip a trip to the injured list while manager Chad Tracy was a little more evasive on the topic last night. Consider Rafaela day-to-day for now; we wouldn’t be surprised if he missed more games this weekend.

He’ll miss the rest of the regular season. As things currently stand, the 24-year-old should have a chance to battle Drew Cavanaugh for the starting catcher job next spring training. A lot can change by then, of course. Rodriguez hit .235/.316/.412 in 58 plate appearances with the Giants with two homers and one stolen base and had a .268/.347/.397 line in 225 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento.

Taylor has a 5.88 career MLB ERA and will likely handle low-leverage duties for the Mariners this weekend.

It’s unclear when Milner will return but we wish him well.

He’s sitting against LHP Tugboat Wilkinson. When the Mets lost Luis Robert Jr. on waivers the assumption was that Ewing’s playing time would be safe, but Nick Morabito is manning center field for the platoon advantage. Since the start of August, Ewing is hitting .168/.242/.212 with no homers and eight stolen bases.

It appears to be a routine off-day for Tovar. Hopefully you dropped him early if you drafted him, as his .209/.256/.333 line has been extremely disappointing this year. Cole Carrigg will get the start at shortstop — it sure would help next year’s fantasy value for Carrigg if he could get enough starts at the position to be eligible next year, but that seems unlikely.

It’s a bit of a surprising move given the Phillies are trying to chase down the Braves in the NL East and Harris is hitting .351/.373/.684 with four homers and three stolen bases in his last 15 games. They are facing LHP Cristopher Sánchez and Harris is hitting .269/.306/.462 against left-handers this year, we guess. Lane Thomas will get the call in left field for the Braves with Mauricio Dubón shifting over to center.

Perhaps the Reds will turn to Jorge down the stretch in center field, where the uninspiring Dane Myers/TJ Friedl platoon has mostly gone nowhere. The 22-year-old certainly has enough speed to be fantasy interesting if he gets a shot at extended playing time.