MLB Player News

Julien will start at second base and serve as the Twins' leadoff hitter in Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.

After being called up from Triple-A St. Paul on Saturday, Julien stepped into the table-setting role in the Twins' 9-4 win and went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a stolen base and a run. While Jorge Polanco (hamstring) is on the injured list, Julien will have a clear path to everyday playing time at the keystone, and the on-base skills he's demonstrated at every stop of the minors should allow him to gain traction atop the lineup.

Altuve is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians, Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest reports.

Due to the early start time (12:40 p.m. ET) for the series finale coupled with an off day Monday, the Astros appear to be holding out a number of lineup regulars for rest purposes. Along with Altuve, shortstop Jeremy Pena and catcher Martin Maldonado will be riding the pine Sunday. Mauricio Dubon will man the keystone and hit leadoff in Altuve's stead.

Short is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Short will hit the bench for the series finale after starting at second base in each of the past four games while going 3-for-14 with a double and three RBI. Nick Maton will step in for Short at the keystone.

Dubon went 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI and two stolen bases against Cleveland in a 6-4 win Saturday.

Houston was a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen-base attempts in the victory, with Dubon nabbing a pair out of the leadoff spot. The 28-year-old also recorded multiple hits for the fourth straight game and extended his current hitting streak to seven contests. During that stretch, he's slashing .382/.371/.559 with a three doubles, a home run, five RBI, five runs and two steals.

Torres went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Red Sox.

Torres has gone 4-for-9 with two homers and three RBI over his last three contests after snapping an 0-for-16 drought. The second baseman was back at leadoff Saturday after playing both games of Thursday's doubleheader in the No. 2 spot and starting Friday's contest on the bench. The 26-year-old has bounced back to a .256/.332/.434 slash line with 11 homers, 28 RBI, 39 runs scored and six stolen bases over 65 contests this year. Torres continues to hold down a starting role at the keystone.

Polanco's hamstring strain is worse than the one he just recovered from, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Polanco missed two weeks in late May with a left hamstring strain and made it less than 10 days before injuring the same muscle. The strain is reportedly in a different spot and is "somewhat more severe" according to manager Rocco Baldelli, though an exact timeline for Polanco's recovery is not yet clear. Edouard Julien was recalled Saturday and should serve as the Twins' primary second baseman.

Gimenez will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the Astros, Andre Knott of Bally Sports Ohio reports.

Gimenez has shown more life at the plate recently, hitting .333/.372/.487 over his last 10 games, though that's only been enough to raise his OPS to .656. He'll rest Saturday with Tyler Freeman starting at second base.

Gonzalez will be on the bench Saturday against Miami.

Gonzalez had been settling in as the White Sox's primary second baseman, starting 14 of 16 games at the keystone even with Elvis Andrus back from his oblique injury for the last six games of that stretch. Gonzalez has hit just .198/.213/.384 through 39 games this season, however, so it's perhaps no surprise that he's been back on the bench for the last two games. That said, Andrus is hitting just .200/.278/.248 himself, so he hasn't deserved everyday at-bats either.

Julien was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul ahead of Saturday's game against the Blue Jays.

He will take the place of Jorge Polanco, who was placed on the injured list with a hamstring strain. Julien has been back and forth between the majors and Triple-A this season, but when he's been up, he has typically played pretty regularly against righties. He hit second or first in his last five games before his most recent demotion.

Polanco was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a left hamstring strain.

He was pulled from Thursday's game after suffering the hamstring injury and an MRI revealed a strain. Edouard Julien was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to take Polanco's spot on the active roster and should fill in for him at second base, at least against righties.