MLB Player News

Keaschall is starting in right field and batting ninth Friday against the Rockies.

Keaschall will be making his first major-league start in right field Friday, as he's almost exclusively played second base at the big-league level the past two seasons. With Keaschall in right, Kody Clemens is manning second base for Minnesota. Keaschall has slashed an underwhelming .249/.331/.325 with two homers, 24 RBI, 38 runs scored, 11 stolen bases and a 29:47 BB:K across 302 trips to the plate this season.

McNeil went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in Thursday's 9-6 win over the Giants.

McNeil collected a trio of singles, including an RBI knock in the eighth inning to pull the Athletics within a run before the club completed a comeback in the ninth. Thursday marked the second baseman's third three-hit effort and 15th multi-hit performance in what has been a fairly lackluster season. The 34-year-old is slashing .237/.309/.319 with three homers, 10 doubles, 20 RBI, 21 runs and a stolen base across 74 games.

Mayer started at shortstop and went 0-for-4 in Thursday's 6-3 win over the Yankees.

The 23-year-old had opened the previous two games on the bench while dealing with a foot injury, but he played seven innings Wednesday in place of Caleb Durbin (finger) to prove his fitness. Mayer is expected to resume his role as the primary shortstop while Trevor Story (abdomen) works his way back from surgery.

Clement (hip) will start at shortstop and bat second Thursday against the Rangers.

Left hip soreness forced Clement to miss four starts in the past six games, but he was able to appear as a pinch hitter Wednesday and will now return to the starting nine for Thursday's series opener. The 30-year-old infielder has fallen into a cold spell at the plate recently, going just 2-for-19 with a walk and a run scored across his last six games.

Kiner-Falefa will undergo a CT scan Thursday on his injured left forearm to check for fractures, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.

Kiner-Falefa was placed on the 10-day injured list this past weekend, but the Red Sox wanted to wait for the swelling in the infielder's arm to go down before sending him for testing. Once those results are in, the team will have a better idea as to how much time Kiner-Falefa might miss.

Massey is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rays.

The Rays have a right-handed opener (Casey Legumina) followed by a left-handed bulk reliever (Ian Seymour) going in the series finale, so the left-handed-swinging Massey will take a seat. Josh Rojas is at second base and will bat fifth for the Royals.

Seigler started at second base and went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 8-6 loss to Colorado.

Seigler made a fifth consecutive start at second base since being called up before being moved mid-game to third base for an injured Caleb Durbin (finger). The Red Sox confirmed Durbin's injury is not a fracture, per Owen Perkins of MLB.com, and it will be a matter of how much pain he can tolerate. If Durbin misses time, Seigler could take over at the hot corner while Andruw Monasterio fills in at the keystone.

Monasterio started at shortstop and went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 8-6 loss to the Rockies.

Monasterio made a second consecutive start at shortstop with Marcelo Mayer (foot) opening the game on the bench. The homer was the third of the season for Monasterio, who entered Wednesday's contest batting just .087 (2-for-23) over his last 11 games. Mayer eventually entered the game for an injured Caleb Durbin (finger) and took over at shortstop while Monasterio covered second base.

Mayer (foot) replaced an injured Caleb Durbin (finger) in the third inning of Wednesday's 8-6 loss to the Rockies. The former went 1-for-2 with a run scored and a critical fielding error.

Mayer was held out of starting lineups Tuesday and Wednesday due to a sore left foot. However, the fact he was able to play defense for seven innings indicates the injury wasn't too serious.

Lopez started at second base and 1-for-1 before being lifted for a pinch hitter in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Marlins.

Lopez has been a frequent presence at second base and started every game there after the team optioned Josh Smith to Triple-A Round Rock. That opportunity could close as soon as Thursday, when shortstop Corey Seager (concussion) is expected rejoin the club. His return means Texas manager Skip Schumaker will need a home for Ezequiel Duran, who has served as the fill-in shortstop.