MLB Player News

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.

Kemp went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a win over the Tigers on Monday.

Kemp's third-inning blast off Michael Pineda was the veteran's first homer of the season and opened the scoring on the night. Perhaps the long ball will serve to reignite Kemp's bat, as he entered Monday stuck in a 1-for-19 funk that had encompassed his prior six games and led to a 45-point drop in batting average.

Marte went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 4-3 win over the Marlins.

Marte's sixth-inning blast was the game-deciding hit, as he continued to put a season-opening slump in the past. He's hit safely in nine straight game (13-for-32, .406), including an extra-base hit in eight of those contests. The improved bat may also have calmed him in the field, where he ranks lower half among second baseman in Outs Above Average and success rate, per MLB's Baseball Savant. Marte made a game-ending double play on a ball hit sharply to his left -- the kind of play he hadn't made on multiple occasions over the past month.

Estrada went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base in an 8-5 win over Miami on Monday.

Estrada singled in the sixth inning and subsequently stole second base, and he knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. The infielder came into the campaign having notched just one theft in each of his previous two seasons, but he has already stolen four bases on four attempts in 2022. Estrada has above-average speed but last reached double-digit stolen bases in the minors in 2016, so his success in that department thus far comes as a bit of a surprise.

Dubon went 3-for-4 with a home run, two total runs and three total RBI in Monday's 8-5 win over the Marlins.

Dubon plated the first run for the Giants with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and he followed that with a two-run shot to center field in the third. The utility man collected two more hits along the way to finish with his first three-hit performance of the campaign. Dubon is batting just .244 on the season but has heated up of late, going 6-for-12 with a pair of homers and five RBI over his past three games.

Rosario went 3-for-5 with a run scored in Monday's 12-9 extra-innings win over the White Sox.

All three of Rosario's hits were singles. This was his first multi-hit game since April 22, which is an encouraging sign for the 26-year-old as he looks to maintain an everyday role in the lineup. The strong play of Andres Gimenez lately has forced Rosario into left field, where he'll likely compete with Oscar Mercado and Steven Kwan for two places on manager Terry Francona's lineup card. Rosario owns a .220/.278/.260 slash line with seven RBI, 12 runs scored, two doubles and a stolen base through 108 plate appearances. He's yet to hit a home run after going yard 11 times last year.

Gimenez went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an RBI double in Monday's 12-9 extra-innings win over the White Sox.

Gimenez sparked the Guardians' six-run ninth inning with a solo shot. In the 10th, he knocked in Ernie Clement with a double, though Emmanuel Clase failed to protect the one-run lead. With multiple hits in four of his last six games, Gimenez continues to impress with the bat. The speedy infielder has a .351/.363/.571 slash line with three homers, 17 RBI, nine runs scored and two stolen bases through 80 plate appearances.

Drury went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run in Monday's win over the Brewers.

Drury singled in the third inning before launching a three-run homer off Brandon Woodruff in the bottom of the fifth frame. The 29-year-old notched multiple hits for the third time in four games and extended his hit streak to six games Monday. Over that six game stretch, Drury has produced 10 hits including two long balls while collecting 10 RBI and scoring seven runs over 25 at-bats. After signing with the Reds in the offseason, he's batting .284 with six homers and 18 RBI over 24 games this season.