MLB 2022 | Cuban Players News

Daily Major League Baseball (MLB) Cuban Players News for the 2022 season. A compendium from several MLB sources.

Yordan Álvarez (Photo: Thomas Shea/USA Today)

May 12, 2022

Yordan Álvarez homered twice in the Astros' 5-0 win over the Twins on Thursday.

The Astros didn't need much offense on Thursday with Luis Garcia and the Houston bullpen blanking the Twins, but Álvarez provided more than enough. He gave the Astros a 2-0 lead in the third with a two-run blast off Josh Winder, and then took Cole Sands deep to provide some insurance in the ninth. The 24-year-old has socked 10 homers on the season thus far, and he improves his slash to .271/.377/.615. The designated hitter had been hitless in his previous four ball games, going 0-for-11 with five walks. As impressive as his 10 home runs and .992 OPS are, Alvarez's 17:20 BB:K ratio through 109 plate appearances represents a dramatic improvement over his career rate. Álvarez remains one of the best -- and most underrated -- young sluggers in the sport.

Yennier Cano surrendered three runs over 2 1/3 innings Thursday in his major-league debut against the Astros.

Cano took the mound Wednesday evening for the fourth inning in relief of Twins' starter Chris Archer, but didn't throw an actual pitch before play was suspended due to inclement weather. He retired six consecutive batters before Kyle Tucker launched a sixth-inning solo homer. He was charged with two more runs in the frame after his exit.

Rays' Randy Arozarena: Records fifth steal Arozarena went 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Wednesday's 4-2 extra-inning win over the Angels. The 27-year-old has yet to really get hot this season, but he's finding a way to contribute while trying to lock in his swing. Arozarena is slashing .223/.266/.347 on the season with one homer, five steals, nine RBI and 14 runs through 31 contests, though he is batting .273 (12-for-44) through 11 games in May.

Yoán Moncada walloped a three-run homer Thursday in the White Sox' loss to the Yankees.

Moncada launched a game-tying three-run homer to center field -- his first round-tripper of the season -- off Yankees' reliever Jonathan Loáisiga in the seventh inning. It was his lone hit in five at-bats in the high-scoring affair.

Gurriel didn't start Thursday

Gurriel didn't start Thursday's game against the Twins. Gurriel finished Wednesday's suspended game by going 1-for-5 with a run. Gurriel will get ready for the weekend series against the Nationals in DC.

Astros manager Dusty Baker said Thursday that Aledmys Díaz is dealing with a nagging injury.

Baker declined to comment further. So, there's that. Díaz exited Sunday's win over the Tigers for undisclosed reasons and has missed three consecutive games since then. We'll see.