MLB Player News

Royals manager Matt Quatraro said that Witt (knee) hit in the batting cage, fielded grounders and ran the bases pregame prior to Monday's contest against the Rays, Brian Murphy of MLB.com reports.

Quatraro referred to Witt's workout as "very encouraging," adding that he's hopeful the star shortstop will be available to play "in the next couple of days." Witt is missing a third straight start Monday against the Rays, but optimism remains that he will be able to avoid a stint on the 10-day injured list.

Reds manager Terry Francona confirmed that De La Cruz (hamstring) will be reinstated from the 10-day injured list prior to Tuesday's game against the Brewers, Charlie Goldsmith of Fox 19 Now Cincinnati reports.

After playing three rehab games at Triple-A Louisville over the weekend while going 2-for-8 with a home run and a walk, De La Cruz will get a chance to rest in Monday's opener versus Milwaukee before checking back into the lineup for the second game of the series. Once activated, De La Cruz should settle back into an everyday role at shortstop, pushing Matt McLain back to second base in the process. De La Cruz will wind up missing just over three weeks due to a right hamstring strain, which he sustained while running the bases in a May 31 game against Atlanta.

Pratt is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Reds.

Milwaukee will hand the 21-year-old his first day off since he was promoted from Triple-A Nashville last Tuesday. Joey Ortiz will step in at shortstop in place of Pratt, who went 7-for-19 (.368 average) with a 2:4 BB:K, three stolen bases, two runs and two RBI over his first six big-league starts.

Walls is not in the lineup for Monday's tilt against the Royals.

The Rays will go with Ben Williamson at shortstop in the series opener. Walls had started each of the previous six contests.

Witt (knee) remains out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Rays.

Witt hasn't played since exiting last Thursday's contest against the Cardinals due to a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his right knee. The Royals have seemed optimistic to this point that Witt could avoid a stint on the injured list, but the time to make a decision one way or another is likely coming soon. Maikel Garcia will shift over to shortstop again Monday, while Nick Loftin will grab the start at third base.

High-A Greensboro placed Sanford on its 7-day injured list June 10 due to an unspecified injury.

Though the nature of Sanford's injury isn't known, he was removed from his most recent appearance June 6 against Asheville after being hit by a pitch, per Anthony Murphy of Baseball America. One of the top lower-level prospects in the Pittsburgh farm system, Sanford has produced a .287/.425/.539 slash line with 10 home runs and 21 stolen bases across 223 plate appearances with Greensboro on the season.

Allen (hamstring) resumed taking batting practice and shagging flyballs over the weekend, MLB.com reports.

Allen appears poised to head out on a rehab assignment in the near future, perhaps as soon as later this week. The 27-year-old has been on the shelf since June 8 due to a Grade 1 left hamstring strain and should serve as a utility infielder for Houston once he's activated.

Lindor (calf) is expected to play a simulated game Monday, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

The star shortstop played a full nine innings in the field Sunday in a rehab game with Triple-A Syracuse, going 0-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and a run. He'll pick up some more at-bats Monday, then is likely to get a day off before potentially being activated from the injured list Wednesday. Even if Lindor needs a little more time beyond Wednesday to recover, he's tracking toward a return to the big-league lineup this week. Through his first 105 plate appearances this season prior to straining his left calf April 22, Lindor had a .226/.314/.335 slash line with two home runs, two steals, five RBI and 14 runs.

Dubon went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored in Sunday's loss to the Brewers.

Getting the start in left field and hitting leadoff, Dubon accounted for nearly half of Atlanta's hits in a 9-4 loss. The veteran utility player has regularly hit atop the order against left-handed pitching while Ronald Acuna (hamstring) has been on the shelf in June, and over 16 games this month Dubon sports a .305/.349/.542 slash line with two doubles, four homers, one steal, eight runs and 13 RBI.

Abrams went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and an additional run scored in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Rays.

After doubling and coming around to score in the fourth inning, Abrams took Nick Martinez deep in his next plate appearance for his 17th homer of the season. The shortstop extended his home-run streak to three consecutive games. While Abrams is batting just .261 in June, he is slashing .286/.367/.534 with 15 doubles, two triples, 17 homers, 57 RBI, 51 runs scored and 12 stolen bases across 76 games this season.