MLB Player News

Vargas is slashing .367/.486/.600 with a home run, two doubles, a triple, 12 runs, seven RBI and 7:4 BB:K through eight games with Triple-A Oklahoma City in May.

Vargas batted a modest .259 in April but has picked things up significantly this month to lift his average to .287 on the season. The 22-year-old turned heads with .319/.380/.526 slash line, 23 homers and 11 stolen bases between two minor-league levels in 2021 and hit .308 with a .500 on-base-percentage in nine Cactus League games with the Dodgers this spring. He has impressed at every level of the minors and has even improved his already steady plate discipline this season, walking almost as many times (21) as he has struck out (22). He figures to be a big part of the Dodgers' future plans and could get his first call-up at some point during the current campaign.

Donovan went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's loss to the Orioles.

After Paul DeJong was demoted to Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday, Donovan was given the first opportunity to replace him in the lineup at shortstop. The 25-year-old launched a solo homer off Dillon Tate to open the bottom of the ninth inning, narrowing the deficit to the eventual 5-3 final score. The long ball was Donovan's first of the season and he has posted a .188 batting average with two RBI in 16 at-bats this year. He will compete with Edmundo Sosa (illness) for playing time at shortstop with DeJong now out of the picture.

Rodgers is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game at San Francisco, Patrick Lyons of TheDNVR.com reports.

Rodgers started the past eight games and came alive offensively during that stretch, going 10-for-32 with a home run, two doubles, eight RBI and six runs. Garrett Hampson will start at the keystone Tuesday.

Arraez cleared COVID-19 protocols Tuesday but has yet to return to the active roster, Megan Ryan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Arraez has been out since testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, but he's apparently beaten the virus rather quickly. He'll remain inactive for at least one more day but seemingly has a chance to return Wednesday.

India (hamstring) took part in agility drills on the field prior to Tuesday's game against the Brewers, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Back on the 10-day injured list for the second time this season after aggravating his lingering right hamstring issue, India is likely to remain on the shelf for at least another week. The fact that he's taking part in on-field work bodes well for his chances of returning before the end of May, but India still has several more hurdles to clear in the recovery process before the Reds pinpoint a target date for his activation from the IL.

Ibanez will sit Tuesday against the Royals.

Ibanez sits after starting four straight games and eight of the last nine. Brad Miller will get the start at third base.

Brujan was recalled by the Rays on Tuesday and will bat eighth and play right field against the Angels, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Brujan has spent the bulk of this season with Triple-A Durham, spending just two days on the big-league roster. He's gone 0-for-3 at the major-league level but has hit .300/.400/.467 with six steals and as many walks as strikeouts in 16 Triple-A games. He can play all around the diamond and could fill in at multiple spots if he's allowed to stick around, but for now he'll cover for Manuel Margot (hamstring) in the outfield. Calvin Faucher was optioned to clear space on the roster.

Donovan will start at shortstop and bat ninth in Tuesday's game against the Orioles, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Following the demotion of the struggling Paul DeJong to Triple-A Memphis earlier Tuesday, Donovan will get the first chance to replace him in the starting nine. Donovan turned in a .789 OPS at Memphis prior to earning his first call-up to the majors April 25, but he's seen limited action with the Cardinals thus far, slashing .154/.214/.154 across 14 plate appearances. He likely won't have much time to try and establish himself as the Cards' starting shortstop, as Donovan is expected to face competition for the role as soon as Thursday, when Edmundo Sosa (illness) could be cleared to return from the COVID-19 injured list.

Andrus will sit for the second half of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Tigers due to a knot in his shin, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Andrus was involved in an outfield collision with Chad Pinder in the Athletics' 6-0 loss in Game 1, though both players remained in the contest. Manager Mark Kotsay noted that the shin injury Andrus picked up in the first game is to the opposite shin he had surgically repaired in September, so Andrus doesn't look to be dealing with anything significant. In Andrus' absence for Game 2, Kevin Smith will shift to shortstop.

Biggio (illness) will begin a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday.

Biggio, who has resided on the COVID-19 injured list since testing positive for the virus April 25, was expected to start his rehab assignment last week, but the Blue Jays opted to hold him back for a few more days to regain conditioning. The 27-year-old now appears healthy again and will look to get some at-bats in at Buffalo, but the Blue Jays likely aren't in any rush to activate him from the IL. Before being shut down, Biggio was slashing .043/.214/.043 over 28 plate appearances and had lost hold of the everyday role at second base to Santiago Espinal.