MLB Player News

Valencia, who went 3-for-5 with an RBI single and a double in Monday's 6-5 win over the Rockies, is hitting .333 in his 25 plate appearances since returning from a three-game absence due to a wrist injury.

The veteran infielder also sports a 42.1 percent hard contact rate over that stretch and has now hit safely in seven straight games. Valencia has been much better overall during May after hitting just .181 in April, as he's slashed .311./.367/.467 while compiling a .361 wOBA during the month. His strikeout rate still leaves plenty of room for improvement, but he's had much better fortune when making contact recently; after generating a .222 BABIP in April, Valencia has seen a notable boost to .391 in that category during the current month.

Longoria went 1-for-5 with four RBI from a groundout, a fielder's choice and a two-run home run in Monday's 10-8 win over the Rangers. He also scored once.

Longoria's 421-foot shot to center in the fifth, his second in as many games, plated Steven Souza, Jr. and knotted the score at 5-5. The veteran third baseman has six RBI over his last two games and has seen a boost in hard contact rate from April's 33.8 percent to 39.4 percent in May.

Ramirez went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two stolen bases and a run scored in Monday's 5-3 win over the Athletics.

After cooling off in the middle of May, Ramirez now has a modest four-game hitting streak that has helped raise his slash line to .287/.352/.489. He's in a great position to surpass his career high in home runs last year (11) while also offering 20-steal potential and great on-base skills.

Robinson was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Monday, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

With Adrian Beltre (calf) coming off the disabled list Monday, Robinson was sent back to Round Rock without making an appearance for the big club. Robinson will likely stick around Triple-A, where he owns a .264/.384/.405 triple slash this season, unless the Rangers get hit with some injuries.

Bregman went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer during Monday's win over Minnesota.

Bregman sports a respectable .254 batting average, but Monday's homer was just his 15th extra-base hit of the season and improved his slugging percentage to a disappointing .393. Additionally, this was just his fourth multi-hit game in May. It's probably wise to remain patient with the youngster, though. Bergman owns oodles of upside and is a mainstay in a dangerous lineup.

Longoria went 2-for-6 with his seventh home run of the year, three runs scored and two RBI in Sunday's 8-6 win over the Twins in 15 innings.

Longoria hit the first of back-to-back home runs with Logan Morrison in the 15th inning to put the finishing touches on. He continues his dominance of Minnesota with 16 home runs and 57 RBI in 58 career games against them. His ninth-inning double snapped an 0-for-12 slump. Longoria has been off to a somewhat disappointing start, but his .268 BABIP should rise and help him improve his average as the weather heats up.

Bregman is out of the lineup Sunday against the Orioles.

Bregman seems to have broken out of his season-long power outage with three homers and three doubles in the last two weeks, but he's still been unable to make up much ground with his batting average, which sits at a disappointing .250 for the campaign. After going 1-for-11 with five strikeouts over his previous three games, Bregman will hit the bench for the day game after the night game, allowing Marwin Gonzalez to pick up a start at the hot corner.

Plouffe is out of the lineup Sunday against the Yankees.

Plouffe was included in the initial lineup that the Athletics released, but will now shift to the bench after the team cleared Yonder Alonso (wrist) to rejoin the starting nine. Despite getting the day off Sunday, Plouffe should continue to see a steady diet of at-bats while he performs capably at the plate. He's posted a .342 on-base percentage over 76 plate appearances in May.

Robinson was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on Sunday.

The Rangers had ample insurance on hand in the bullpen following the recent recall of Dillon Gee from the minors, so with Dario Alvarez (elbow) hitting the disabled list Sunday, the team decided to bring up Robinson, who will serve as a utility man off the bench. Robinson offers the ability to play the outfield and multiple infield spots, but with the Rangers relatively healthy at most positions, it's unlikely he'll garner regular at-bats during his time with the big club. In fact, Robinson could head back to Round Rock as soon as Monday if the Rangers clear Adrian Beltre (calf) to return from the DL.

Moustakas went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Saturday's 5-2 win over Cleveland

Moustakas slugged the first pitch he saw from Indians reliever Shawn Armstrong to center field for his 13th home run of the season. That makes three long balls in the last four games and 12 RBI in the past two weeks for the Royals third baseman.