MLB Player News

Kemp is not in the starting lineup Tuesday against the Padres, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Kemp enters Tuesday will seven hits in his last 19 at-bats, but the versatile 29-year-old will sit against right-hander Chris Paddack to start the series. Jed Lowrie will man the keystone as Mark Canha, Ramon Laureano and Seth Brown start in the outfield from left to right.

Mayfield went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Monday's 6-2 win over the Rockies.

He broke open a tight contest by taking German Marquez deep in the seventh inning, giving the Angels a 4-1 lead. Mayfield is thriving with regular playing time, slashing .333/.385/.917 over his last eight games with all four of his homers on the season. Anthony Rendon is making slow progress in his recovery from a hamstring injury, so Mayfield should remain the starter at third base for at least another couple weeks, and his recent power display does have a precedent -- he launched 26 homers in 100 games at Triple-A Round Rock in 2019.

Short will be on the bench Monday against the Twins.

Short finds himself on the bench for the second time in three games. He's hit an unimpressive .188/.306/.400 in 28 games this season, though that's still overall better than the .217/.277/.360 line produced by Willi Castro, who starts at shortstop in his absence.

Lopez will sit Monday against the White Sox.

Lopez will sit against veteran southpaw Dallas Keuchel, marking the second straight day he's been on the bench against a lefty. Hanser Alberto will get another start at shortstop in his absence.

Chavis will start at second base and bat ninth Monday against the Blue Jays, Bill Koch of The Providence Journal reports.

Chavis will essentially be filling in for Xander Bogaerts in the series opener, as regular second baseman Enrique Hernandez bumps over to shortstop while Bogaerts gets the day off. With all of Christian Arroyo (hamstring), Marwin Gonzalez (hamstring) and Danny Santana (groin) residing on the injured list and none believed to be close to returning, Chavis should serve as the Red Sox's top utility man in the short term. He'll be making his fourth start in six games Monday.

Polanco (back) will bat third and play second base Monday against the Tigers.

Polanco sat Sunday to rest his lower back, but he's evidently not dealing with any significant injury. He appeared off the bench in that contest and will be involved from the start in this one.

Kemp is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with a double, an RBI, two walks, a stolen base and three runs over his last eight games.

The veteran's impressive numbers even factor in an 0-for-4 showing Sunday, with Kemp having preceded that clunker by having hit safely in each of the previous six games in which he'd logged a plate appearance. Kemp has raised his season average 13 points to .253 since July 10, and both his .374 on-base percentage and .763 OPS qualify as career highs.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Sunday that Arroyo (hamstring) is progressing, but the infielder is without a timeline to return from the 10-day injured list, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

Arroyo strained his left hamstring just as Boston was preparing to give him a look as its primary first baseman, and the fact that he won't be ready to move past the injury quickly likely means that he won't be guaranteed a meaningful role once he eventually returns. Boston is expected to rely on a combination of Bobby Dalbec, Michael Chavis and Franchy Cordero to hold down the fort at first base in the meantime, with the team presumably hoping that one of the three catches fire at the plate and seizes control of the everyday gig.

Semien went 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and two runs scored in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Mets.

Semien scored in the sixth and eighth innings and collected his third multi-hit game since the All-Star break. The veteran infielder went 4-for-9 with four runs and three extra-base hits over the weekend, raising his season OPS to .873 through 428 plate appearances. Still, he's just 15-for-66 (.227) with 15 strikeouts in July.

Torres went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Red Sox.

The shortstop has had a green light on the basepaths lately with four stolen bases in his last four games. Torres has a career-high 10 steals this season. He's hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 13-for-42 (.310) with three home runs, nine RBI, five runs scored and three doubles in that span.