MLB Player News

Reds manager David Bell said Wednesday that he expects Senzel (knee) to play both center field and shortstop when he likely begins a minor-league rehab assignment next week, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The Reds' decision not to make shortstop a priority this offseason has come back to haunt the team; converted third baseman Eugenio Suarez was a flop at the position defensively before shifting back to the hot corner in early May, and Kyle Farmer (.650 OPS on the season) has been largely unproductive since taking over as the everyday shortstop. Senzel has played only one career game at shortstop during his time in the minors, but his athleticism should at least make him a superior defender at the position compared to Suarez. In addition to making sure Senzel's knee responds well to work in the outfield during his rehab assignment, the Reds will see if he can hold his own at shortstop, the position that would probably represent his clearest path to an everyday role once he's eventually activated. Before the knee injury surfaced, Senzel had been seeing most of his work at second and third base after Tyler Naquin locked down the center-field job following his hot start to the season at the dish.

Davis isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Reds, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Davis drew starts in each of the last four games, but he went just 1-for-10 with a run, two walks and five strikeouts across his last three appearances. Jonathan Villar will take his place at third base and bat sixth.

Walls is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The promotions of prospects Wander Franco and Vidal Brujan have most negatively affected Joey Wendle and Walls, the latter of whom will sit for the second time in four games. Walls' excellent glove at shortstop should continue to lock him into at least a part-time job, but he'll need to show improvement at the dish in order to see his role grow. Over his last five starts, Walls has gone 1-for-15 with five strikeouts, dropping his batting average to .216.

Moncada went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a double in Tuesday's 9-5 win over the Twins.

Moncada had his first three-hit game since April 24 and delivered his third homer over his last four games with a towering two-run shot to center to put the White Sox up 4-1 in the third. The lack of power from the bat of Moncada has been a disappointment all season long, but he's finally starting to show signs of life with his recent surge at the dish. The 26-year-old has a hit in 10 of 12 games so far this month and is slashing .279/.402/.425 with eight homers, 44 RBI, 42 runs scored, two steals and a 57:90 BB:K over 358 plate appearances on the season.

Donaldson went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and two runs scored in Tuesday's 9-5 loss to the White Sox.

Donaldson led off the sixth with a solo blast to left to bring the Twins within a run. He subsequently led off the eighth with a single and came around to score on a two-run shot from Jorge Polanco to give the Twins their first lead of the game at 5-4. The 35-year-old swatted his second round tripper over his last five games and generated his second multi-hit effort over that span too. Donaldson doesn't have as much pop in his bat as he used to but is still having a productive year, slashing .251/.354/.490 with 15 homers, 39 RBI, 42 runs scored and a 42:59 BB:K over 297 plate appearances.

Arenado went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Tuesday against the Cubs.

Arenado took Trevor Williams yard in the fourth inning to record his 18th home run of the season. It was his second long ball in his last 14 games, during which time he's also logged five RBI and seven runs scored. For the season, Arenado is hitting .258/.310/.490 with 57 RBI and 44 runs scored across 384 plate appearances.

Muncy was removed from Tuesday's game against the Giants with a right shoulder contusion, Eric Stephen of SBNation.com reports.

Muncy was hit by a pitch and went 1-for-3 with an RBI before being removed from the contest. The 30-year-old should be considered day-to-day with the bruised shoulder, and he's also expected to land on the paternity list within the next few days with his wife set to give birth to the couple's child.

Bregman (quad) said Tuesday that he will run the bases a few more times at high intensity before beginning a minor-league rehab assignment, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

Bregman increased the speed of his base running Tuesday, and so long as he's able to do the same during the next day or two, it sounds like he could begin a rehab assignment as soon as this weekend. The star third baseman is expected to need somewhere between 15 and 30 at-bats in the minors before being activated. With that in mind, Bregman has an outside chance of being reinstated by the end of July, though an early-August return figures to be more likely at this point.

Newman is out of the lineup Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.

Newman is 3-for-17 with two RBI and two runs in the first four games after the All-Star break. Wilmer Difo will take over at shortstop for the Buccos.

LeMahieu was scratched from Tuesday's lineup against the Phillies due to a stomach virus, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports.

LeMahieu took a rapid COVID test and produced a negative result. It's unclear how severe his symptoms are and whether he'll be available to start Wednesday's game. Rob Brantly enters the lineup to play first base and bat sixth Tuesday.