MLB Player News

Its only April, but the addition of third baseman Josh Donaldson certainly appears to be a great one for the Blue Jays.

Donaldson has been mashing since an 0-for-7 start to the season. He remained on a roll Tuesday night with a three-hit game against Boston in which he singled in a run and scored in the third, singled and scored in the fourth and put the cherry on top in the ninth with a 415-foot solo homer to center.

The big night gave Donaldson 24 hits in his last 57 at-bats and 13 RBI during that stretch. He boasts a fine slash line of .349/.402/.602.

Twins right fielder Torii Hunter received another day of rest on Wednesday against the Tigers. With Hunter on the bench, Minnesota moved Oswaldo Arcia to right field, with Eduardo Escobar playing left.

Hunter is hitting .203 (14 for 69) with one homers and seven RBI in 18 games.

Twins second baseman Brian Dozier is out of the lineup Tuesday against the Tigers, according to MLB.com. Dozier will get his first day off of the year after starting the first 19 games in a row. Dozier is hitting .205 with a home run and six RBI in 73 at-bats.

Eduardo Escobar will draw the start at second base and bat sixth. He is hitting .146 in 41 at-bats this season. The Twins are currently the underdogs (+125) against Detroit.

Blue Jays infielder Ryan Goins will start at shortstop Tuesday for the injured Jose Reyes, the team announced. Goins fills in for Reyes, who was placed on the 15-day DL Monday with a rib injury. Goins is hitting .238 in 21 at-bats this season.

Outfielder Dalton Pompey is out of the lineup, with Danny Valencia taking over in left field and Kevin Pillar playing center. 

Pompey told Sportsnet.ca he suffered a bit of whiplash making a catch Monday at Boston.

Despite struggling to open the season, the Indians want to be patient with shortstop Jose Ramirez, reports MLB.com.

"I would encourage [fans] to take a look at Jose Ramirez's body of work," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said, per MLB.com. "Not only what he did last year at the Major League level, but the way he played and performed throughout our development system, because he's a guy that's produced at each level and played very well at each stop he's been at -- including the Major Leagues."

Ramirez is hitting .196 with one home run in 51 at-bats this season and the team has prospect Francisco Lindor waiting in the minor leagues.

"Admittedly, he's had a rough start to the season -- offensively, especially -- but he's the same guy that came up last year, struggled initially and then figured things out the second time and performed pretty well and was a big part of our team's success in the second half," Antonetti said. 

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria followed up Saturday's 4-for-4 day with a 3-for-3 performance on Sunday. Longoria has now hit in five straight games and lifted his average to .306.

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria went 4 for 4 in Saturday's 4-2 win over Toronto. 

Longoria hit his seventh double of the year and drove in his fourth run, while lifting his average to .271. Longoria has hit 8 for 16 in his four-game hitting streak. 

Catcher Kurt Suzuki, DH Kennys Vargas and right fielder Torii Hunter were not included in the Twins' Sunday lineup. 

Suzuki was replaced by Chris Herrmann, who started his fourth game at catcher, batting eighth.

Oswaldo Arcia moved over from left to replace Hunter. Eduardo Escobar picked up his fourth start of the year in left, batting sixth.  

Eduardo Nunez played Dh for the first time this year, batting fifth. 

Indians infielder Mike Aviles is in the starting lineup Sunday, batting second and playing shortstop in his team's matchup with the Tigers.

Aviles is seeing just his second start of the season at shortstop, as most of his work has come in the oufield. He'll take the place of Jose Ramirez, who had started 10 straight games coming into Sunday.

The Indians have also made a change at the top of the lineup, moving second baseman Jason Kipnis to the leadoff spot. Kipnis and Aviles batted 1-2 in the team's last start against a southpaw, and lefty Kyle Lobstein is on the mound of the Tigers Sunday. Center fielder and typical leadoff man Michael Bourn will bat ninth.

The Indians are road favorites (-115) in Detroit Sunday.

Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar went 1 for 5 at the plate in Minnesota's 8-5 win over the Mariners Saturday.

Escobar did his only damage in the fourth inning when he ripped a 3-2 pitch off James Paxton over the left center field wall for a solo home run, his first of the season. Escobar, who also struck out twice, boosted his average to .171 in 35 at-bats this season.