MLB Player News

Moustakas is not in the lineup Friday against the Rangers, Joel Goldberg of FOX Sports Kansas City reports.

The 29-year-old is producing one of the best seasons of his career at the plate, but he'll head to the bench for a night off with southpaw Cole Hamels taking the ball for Texas. Cheslor Cuthbert will man the hot corner in his stead.

Plouffe went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer in Thursday's win over the Mariners.

The veteran opened up a one-run ballgame with his third blast of the year off Seattle reliever Dan Altavilla in the seventh inning. Plouffe has been struggling a bit at the plate this year as evidenced by his .216 batting average and his 21 strikeouts on the season (including three Thursday night), but at least he's producing power consistent with his past numbers (.176 ISO).

Segura (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Arkansas on Friday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Segura will serve as the team's designated hitter in Friday's game and will work his way up to playing the field in the near future. It appears unlikely that Segura will return for Seattle's upcoming series against the Athletics, but as long as his rehab assignment goes smoothly, he should come off the disabled list early next week.

Moustakas went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Wednesday's 2-0 victory over the A's.

The third baseman plated his seventh RBI of the year with a fifth-inning infield single off Madison Bumgarner that broke a scoreless tie. Moustakas' third multi-hit effort of the season helped boost his average to .300 and extended his on-base streak to seven games. He's off to a strong start in 2017, and if still available in shallower formats, the 28-year-old should be picked up off waivers.

Longoria went 3-for-4 with a walk, a double and three RBI in Wednesday's 8-7 win over the Tigers.

It's his first multi-hit game since Opening Day, and even with Wednesday's big performance Longoria, has still limped out to a .237/.343/.390 line through 16 games. He does have nine RBI but eight of them have come in only three games, as the 31-year-old has struggled to find any consistency early in the season.

Duffy (heel) fielded groundballs, took full batting practice and ran on the field prior to Wednesday's game, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. "It went really well and feels good," Duffy said.

Duffy was recently cleared to begin a running program and he continues to ramp up his activity with no reported issues. The heel injury has been an ongoing problem for Duffy -- he underwent surgery in September after missing a significant portion of the 2016 season. A timetable for his return to the big-league team remains uncertain, but Duffy figures to take on the primary role at shortstop once he is back to full health.

Wilson signed a minor-league contract with the Rangers on Wednesday.

The 36-year-old infielder has some major-league experience to his name, most recently spending 2014 with Texas and 2015 with Detroit. The latter stint showed some promise, as he pieced together a .316 batting average in 38 at-bats with the Tigers. He'll likely provide organizational depth unless a glaring hole appears at the major-league level.

Segura (hamstring) is expected to play several games in a rehab assignment with Double-A Arkansas, which could push his return to Tuesday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

It was initially thought that the young shortstop could return in time for Seattle's weekend series with Oakland, but it seems that manager Scott Servais would rather have Segura appear in two or three games in the minors just to be sure he's 100 percent. A Sunday return hasn't been ruled out, but it appears likelier that Segura will slot back into the lineup Tuesday when the Mariners take on the Tigers.

Valencia is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Marlins, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

After showing signs of life at the plate over the weekend, Valencia went hitless over the past two games to bring his batting average down to .154. He'll head to the bench for a day off as Mike Freeman takes over at first base.

Longoria went 0-for-3 with a walk in Tuesday's 5-1 win over the Tigers.

Longoria's average now sits at .200 following Tuesday's action, and he's gone just 2-for-15 over the last four games. He also has just one extra-base hit over the last seven contests and hasn't homered since April 7 versus the Blue Jays. The 31-year-old slugger enjoyed a resurgent season in 2016, but his strikeout rate (33.8 percent) and contact rate (60 percent) are currently sitting at career lows, a major factor in his struggles thus far.