MLB Player News

Plouffe is out of the lineup Saturday against the Rangers.

Miguel Sano, who is starting at third base and hitting third Saturday, played primarily at the hot corner during his rehab assignment, so it stands to reason that he'll spend a good chunk of time there over the rest of the season. The Twins' optimal lineup may be Sano at DH and Plouffe at third, but whenever they want to give someone else the nod at DH, Plouffe could wind up on the bench.

Plouffe went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer Friday against the Rangers.

Plouffe's seventh homer of the year off Martin Perez erased a 2-0 Twins' deficit in the seventh inning of a game they'd go on to lose in extra innings. He's left the yard four times since June 7 to raise his slugging percentage to.399 on the year.

LeMahieu (knee) remains out of the lineup Friday against the Dodgers, Eric Stephen of SB Nation reports.

Make it five straight absences for LeMahieu, who continues to nurse a left knee contusion he suffered last weekend. However, LeMahieu's ability to pinch hit Tuesday would seem to suggest he's safe from the DL for the time being. Daniel Descalso continues to fill in at second base with Cristhian Adames (starting for Trevor Story) in the two-hole.

Escobar is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Rangers, Brandon Warne of Cold Omaha reports.

Eduardo Nunez will take over at short against lefty Martin Perez, pushing Escobar to the bench as he did Tuesday when the Twins faced a lefty. Escobar got the nod Thursday against lefty Carlos Rodon but went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. The switch-hitting Escobar has fared better against left-handed pitching overall than against righties to this point, but it looks like he will continue sit occasionally against opposing lefty starters.

Peterson is out of the lineup for Friday's game against Miami.

Peterson, who's made 11 consecutive starts, will get the night off as Chase d'Arnaud makes a start at second base. Peterson currently has an 11-game hit streak going and is slashing .348/.375/.522 during that time.

Machado went 2-for-4 with an RBI single in Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Mariners.

The 23-year-old superstar plated Adam Jones in the eighth with two out to notch at least one RBI for his fourth straight game. Machado also extended his hitting streak to 10 games and made it four straight contests with multi-hit efforts, a feat he's accomplished in nine of his last 10 as well. Machado is putting together an MVP-caliber season and closes out June with a jaw-dropping .370/.396/.600 line over 100 at-bats that includes eight doubles, five homers, 21 RBI and 20 runs.

Bregman was called up to Triple-A Fresno on Thursday.

The 22-year-old has been phenomenal at Double-A Corpus Christi, hitting .297/.415/.559 with 14 home runs and 46 RBI in 62 games of action this season. Bregman recently played in the Texas League All-Star Game on Tuesday, and will earn his first chance to compete at the highest level in the minors. The 22-year-old could be a second-half addition to the surging Astros, but the team will like to see how he acclimates himself to pitching at the next level before calling him up to the majors.

Donaldson went 2-for-4 with a home run in Wednesday's game against the Rockies.

Donaldson's 18th homer of the season was a solo shot with two outs in the third inning off rookie Tyler Anderson. According to Statcast, his blast was projected to travel 391 feet and left his bat at 99 mph. The reigning MVP has been teeing of this month, going 34-for-91 (.374) with five home runs, 23 RBI and 25 runs over 91 at-bats.

Asche went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI Wednesday at the Diamondbacks.

Asche capped off a four-run eighth inning with a sacrifice fly that gave the Phillies a temporary lead in a game they'd eventually win in extra innings. He's now collected an extra-base hit in six of his last eight games to raise his slugging percentage to .482.

Machado went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs and three RBI Wednesday at the Padres.

Machado drove in his first run on a single, which was part of a four-run fourth inning, and he later belted a ground-rule double to plate two more runs to extend the Orioles lead to 9-3, helping them to an easy victory. He's been absolutely on fire lately, as he's gone 23-for-40 over his last nine starts to raise his slash line to .332/.390/.611.