MLB Player News

Duffy went 2-for-5 with two runs and a stolen base in a win over the Blue Jays on Monday.

Duffy was effective in a table-setting role at the top of the order, coming home in the first and fourth innings on a Joey Wendle sacrifice fly and Jake Bauers home run, respectively. The hot-hitting infielder pushed his June average to .359 with Monday's tally, his fourth multi-hit effort over the last five games and sixth overall of the month.

Manager Buck Showalter is optimistic Machado (illness) will return to the lineup Tuesday against Boston, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Machado missed his first game of the season Monday due to illness. He figures to be reevaluated prior to Tuesday's matchup, and a decision on his status is likely to follow.

Candelario batted fourth in all three games of Detroit's weekend series against Cleveland, with Victor Martinez behind him in the lineup.

Manager Ron Gardenhire previously indicated that he didn't have plans to move Martinez down from the cleanup spot, but it looks like Candelario is forcing the issue a bit, as the 24-year-old has an .857 OPS and 10 home runs this season. Martinez, meanwhile, has a .656 OPS with just four home runs. It remains to be seen whether this order sticks, as Candelario has batted in each of the top five lineup spots this season and could continue to move around as Gardenhire tries to find the right combinations. However, the young third baseman has clearly established himself as someone who deserves to be in the middle of the Tigers' order with a chance to drive in runs.

Machado's absence from Monday's lineup is due to illness, Jon Meoli of The Baltimore Sun reports.

The illness explains why Machado will miss his first game of the season. The severity and the potential length of his absence are not yet clear.

Valencia (illness) is back in the lineup Monday against the Red Sox.

Valencia had sat out Sunday with an illness, but the issue was apparently a minor one as he won't be missing any more time. The veteran third baseman is hitting a solid .286/.348/.484 through 40 games this season.

Machado is not in the lineup Monday against the Red Sox, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Machado will get just his first day off of the season. He's had a phenomenal year at the plate so far, hitting .312/.380/.591 with 18 homers through 64 games. All three slash stats would be career highs, and he's on pace for a career-best 46 homers as well. He's also posting career bests in walk rate (10.4 percent) and strikeout rate (14.3 percent). Jace Peterson will start at shortstop in his place.

Lewis left Sunday's game at Low-A Cedar Rapids in the first inning after taking an awkward step while running to first base, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

The move was called precautionary and he'll be examined on Monday. Lewis, the 2017 No. 1 overall draft pick, is hitting .288 with five home runs and a .757 OPS.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Sunday that Donaldson (calf) has been taking batting practice and fielding grounders, but relayed the third baseman won't be activated from the 10-day disabled list until he completes a series of baserunning tests, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

Since Donaldson hasn't been shut down from baseball activities and is simply waiting for the soreness in his left calf to subside enough for him to run comfortably, the Blue Jays are continuing to view him as day-to-day. Toronto likely won't have a firm target date for Donaldson's return from the DL until he's able to do the baserunning drills, but once that happens, his activation could quickly follow. Donaldson has been sidelined for around two weeks with the injury, so he won't necessarily require a minor-league rehab assignment before being activated.

Devers, who batted fifth in the order and recorded his first RBI in 14 games Sunday, was removed for a pinch hitter with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of a 5-2 loss to the White Sox.

Devers is fighting a slump, the first taste of adversity in his young career, but has strung together five straight games with a hit. However, it's not a good sign when a five-hole hitter is being pulled from a key moment in a game for a pinch hitter. One can cite that the left-handed hitting Devers wasn't in an ideal spot against White Sox left-hander Jace Fry, but it was a small sign of the team's wavering confidence in the 21-year-old third baseman, whose batting average sits at .232 entering Monday's game in Baltimore.

Chapman went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and two runs in Oakland's 3-2 victory over Kansas City on Sunday.

Chapman's been swinging a hot bat, as he now has seven hits in his last 13 at-bats, with four runs and a pair of RBI to go along with this eighth-inning blast off Royals reliever Jason Adam. The long ball gives him 10 for the season, and Chapman is now slashing a respectable .245/.339/.435 through 237 at-bats.