MLB Player News

Rendon (groin) is likely to be activated in time for the team's series beginning Monday at Texas, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Rendon is reportedly very close to a return, though it appears the Angels will be cautious with him. As a result, he may miss the remainder of the team's series in Houston. Jose Rojas and Luis Rengifo should continue to fill in during his absence.

Urshela (back) is out of the lineup for Thursday's game at Cleveland, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.

DJ LeMahieu will shift over to third base in the series opener in Cleveland while Urshela gets a day of recovery after he was removed from Wednesday's 4-1 loss to Atlanta with back tightness. Manager Aaron Boone suggested Urshela wouldn't be sent in for any further medical tests, so the 29-year-old should be ready to rejoin the lineup at some point during this weekend's four-game series.

Donaldson went 4-for-6 with a home run, three runs scored and two RBI in Wednesday's 13-12 extra-inning loss to the A's.

He got the wild slugfest started by launching a solo shot off Frankie Montas in the first inning, Donaldson's first homer of the year. The veteran has hit safely in all six games he's played sandwiched around a hamstring injury, and he's now hitting .556 (10-for-18) on the season.

Urshela exited Wednesday's loss to the Braves with tightness in his lower back, though manager Aaron Boone said the third baseman isn't scheduled to undergo any medical testing, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

The 29-year-old went 1-for-3 before leaving the contest with the injury, and he should be considered day-to-day for the time being. DJ LeMahieu could be shifted to play third base should Urshela be forced to miss any time.

Angels manager Joe Maddon said that Rendon (groin) doesn't have a definitive return date from the 10-day injured list, but the skipper believes the third baseman is "getting really, really close" to being activated, Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Maddon's comments came after Rendon went through some light pregame work on the field Wednesday, which included fielding grounders and throwing across the diamond. The Angels may want to see Rendon ramp up his running program before they're comfortable activating him, but he at least looks to be in the day-to-day stage of his recovery at this point. It's not out of the question for Rendon to make his return to the lineup at some point during the Angels' four-game series in Houston over the weekend.

Astudillo will start at first base and bat sixth Wednesday against the Athletics.

Astudillo is in the lineup for a third straight game, this time filling in for the injured Miguel Sano (hamstring) after making his previous two starts at second base. Even if Sano is back in action for the Twins' next game Friday versus the Pirates, Astudillo should still be a decent bet to pick up steady work at the keystone. The Twins' primary option at second base, Jorge Polanco, is mostly working at shortstop these days since Andrelton Simmons tested positive for COVID-19 a week ago.

Toro is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Rockies, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Toro picked up a pair of starts last week after Alex Bregman missed five games while on the COVID-19 injured list, but the former likely won't see much use going forward after Bregman was reinstated from the IL on Wednesday. With the Triple-A season set to begin in May, Toro likely won't remain with the big club much longer, as the organization still wants him to play on an everyday basis in the minors.

Bregman started at third base and went 0-for-4 in Tuesday's 6-2 loss to Colorado.

Bregman was back with the team after clearing health and safety protocols and missing the last four games. He and three others flew by private plane to Colorado, cleared some final intake protocols, and were activated in time for the game. There had been talk of Bregman not returning before Thursday.

Ramirez went 0-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base in Tuesday's 8-5 loss to the White Sox.

Ramirez drew a walk and stole second base in the third inning. The third baseman didn't find much success at the plate Tuesday, but he recorded his third steal in five games. He's slashing .217/.294/.433 with four stolen bases, four homers, eight RBI and six runs scored in 16 contests overall.

Urshela went 2-for-3 with a double and a solo home run in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Atlanta.

The third baseman is heating up at the plate. Over his last eight games, Urshela has gone 9-for-29 (.310) with both his homers on the year, three doubles, three runs and six RBI.