MLB Player News

Mendick (back) is expected to begin a rehab assignment in the near future, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Mendick will begin a rehab assignment in the next day or two according to manager Pedro Grifol. The 30-year-old has been out since May 2 with lower-back tightness, but he appears to be on track to return to the major-league roster in the near future.

Rojas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Athletics.

The lefty-hitting Rojas will duck out of the starting nine for the series finale while southpaw Alex Wood takes the hill for Oakland. Luis Urias will fill in for Rojas at third base.

Smith is out of the starting lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Rockies.

The lefty-hitting Smith went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in Saturday's 8-3 loss. He will begin Sunday's contest on the bench as the Rockies send out southpaw Ty Blach. Ezequiel Duran will fill in for Smith at third base.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Arenado will be out of the lineup for Sunday's game in Milwaukee, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Arenado isn't dealing with an injury, as Marmol characterized the third baseman's absence from the lineup as an off day. The 33-year-old had started each of the Cardinals' first 39 games of the season and is maintaining a .703 OPS, the lowest mark of his career. He didn't appear to be turning a corner at the plate over the first three games of the series in Milwaukee, as he went just 1-for-12 with three strikeouts.

Lipscomb is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox.

Lipscomb had started each of the Nationals' last seven games, but he recorded just three hits in 20 at-bats with five walks against four strikeouts over that stretch. Since his April 24 promotion from Triple-A Rochester, Lipscomb is getting on base at a .370 clip over 15 games, but he isn't hitting for much power (.283 slugging percentage). He still looks to be the Nationals' primary third baseman for now, but Lipscomb could be at risk of losing out on some playing time if Washington wants to open up regular work for Joey Gallo (shoulder) when he likely returns from the 10-day injured list during the upcoming week.

Cabrera is out of the lineup for Sunday's series finale against Tampa Bay.

Cabrera went 0-for-2 in Saturday's 7-2 loss to the Rays and is slashing just .200/.246/.262 over his last 20 games. He finds himself on the bench for the second time in three games and could be losing hold of his regular role at third base. Jon Berti will fill in for Cabrera once again Sunday.

Morel (knee) will start at third base and bat cleanup Sunday against the Pirates.

Morel exited in the fifth inning of Saturday's 10-9 loss to Pittsburgh with right knee soreness after he appeared to get hurt on a stolen base attempt in the top of the third. The injury looks to be a minor one, however, given that the 24-year-old is back in the lineup a day later. Morel has gone 8-for-34 with four home runs, 11 RBI and two stolen bases in May.

Miranda is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.

Willi Castro will get the nod at third base Sunday, but Miranda had manned the hot corner each of the past five games while going 5-for-18 with two doubles and a walk. Until Byron Buxton (knee) returns from the injured list, Castro should see most of his starts in the outfield, creating an opening for Miranda to carve out at least semi-regular playing time at third base.

Bregman went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored Saturday against the Tigers.

Bregman delivered an RBI single in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to three games. While that's not particularly notable, he's collected a hit in three straight starts only two other times this season, with the most recent stretch ending April 15. The end result is that Bregman has just a .201 batting average across 154 plate appearances on the campaign, though he has improved his production of late by tallying six RBI across his last 13 contests.

Westburg went 4-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a stolen base in Saturday's 5-4 extra-innings win over the Diamondbacks.

His last hit was the biggest, as Westburg's single in the 11th inning brought home Colton Cowser as the phantom runner for the winning run. Westburg has hit safely in five straight games and 10 of the last 12, and on the season he's slashing .301/.345/.522 with six homers, five steals, 20 runs and 26 RBI in 36 contests.