Mesa is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians.
The left-handed hitter will hit the bench for the second time in the series, with both of his absences coming against lefty starters. Jonny DeLuca will get the call in right field in place of Mesa, who has produced a .265/.339/.592 slash line with five home runs, three stolen bases, eight runs and nine RBI through 17 games in July.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: Two RBI in win
Rotowire
Mesa went 2-for-3 with two RBI in Wednesday's 4-2 win against the Blue Jays.
Mesa opened the scoring for the Rays in the second inning with an RBI single that plated Chandler Simpson and then provided a much-needed insurance run with a sixth-inning knock off Jeff Hoffman that drove home Junior Caminero. Mesa's bat has come alive in July after a rough June, and he's homered in three of his last four games while recording five RBI. With the recent surge, the 24-year-old has boosted his season slash line to .231/.319/.481 with eight home runs and 17 RBI over 120 plate appearances across 38 games.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: Absent from lineup
Rotowire
Mesa is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game in Toronto.
Mesa had homered in three straight contests -- including in Monday's series opener -- but he'll grab a seat Tuesday. Jonny DeLuca will handle right field for the Rays.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: Homers in third-straight game
Rotowire
Mesa went 1-for-4 with a solo home run during the Rays' 7-1 win over the Blue Jays on Monday.
Mesa got the Rays' offense in gear with a solo homer off Dylan Cease in the first inning. Mesa has gone yard in three consecutive games, and five of his eight home runs this season have come over his last nine appearances. He has a .779 OPS with three steals and 15 RBI over 116 plate appearances this season.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: Out of Wednesday's lineup
Rotowire
Mesa is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Yankees.
Mesa has now started just one of three games in the series after being in the lineup for nine of the previous 10 contests. Jonny DeLuca will patrol right field and hit fifth for the Rays.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: Taking seat Monday
Rotowire
Mesa is not in the lineup for Monday's contest versus the Yankees.
Mesa started the previous five and nine of the last 10 games for the Rays, but he will exit the lineup for Monday's series opener against the Bronx Bombers. Jonny DeLuca will cover right field and bat fifth.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: In Friday's lineup for Simpson
Rotowire
Mesa will start in left field and bat sixth against the Astros on Friday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Chandler Simpson was initially slated to start but was scratched from Friday's lineup due to sore right index and middle fingers, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Mesa will now start in left field while Cedric Mullins and Jonny DeLuca man center and right, respectively.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: Claiming fourth straight start
Rotowire
Mesa will start in right field and bat cleanup Sunday against the Diamondbacks.
Though he appeared to be at risk of seeing a steep reduction in playing time after Jonny DeLuca returned from the injured list June 19, Mesa seems to be holding steady as a strong-side platoon player in the Tampa Bay outfield. Mesa will be included in the starting nine for a fourth straight matchup versus a right-hander (Merrill Kelly) after going 3-for-10 with a home run, a double, a walk, three RBI and two runs in the previous three contests.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: Idle against lefty
Rotowire
Mesa is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Nationals.
The left-handed hitter will hit the bench for the second time in the series, as the Nationals send southpaw Andrew Alvarez to the hill Sunday. Mesa could struggle to find consistent playing time versus righties as well, after the Rays brought Jonny DeLuca back from the injured list Friday. Despite logging just nine of his 55 plate appearances against same-handed pitching since his May 24 call-up from Triple-A Durham, Mesa is slashing a meager .174/.296/.304 with two home runs, sevens runs and five RBI.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: On bench against southpaw
Rotowire
Mesa is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Red Sox, Ryan Bass of Rays.tv reports.
With southpaw Connelly Early on the bump for the Red Sox, the left-handed-hitting Mesa will retreat to the bench. While the Rays faced right-handed starters in each of the last seven games, Mesa was included in the lineup for six of those contests and went 3-for-22 (.136 average) with a 3:8 BB:K, two runs and one RBI during that time.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: On bench Wednesday
Rotowire
Mesa is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Mesa will head to the bench after he went 2-for-8 with a home run and a walk over the first two games of the series in Baltimore. While Ryan Vilade will get the nod in right field Wednesday against Orioles righty Trey Gibson, the left-handed-hitting Mesa is the better bet to see the bulk of the starts versus righties while he's up with the big club.
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Rays' Victor Mesa: Getting start versus righty
Rotowire
Mesa will start in right field and bat seventh in Monday's game versus the Orioles.
With Jonny DeLuca (hamstring) likely sidelined until after the All-star break, Mesa could get some run in right field against right-handed pitching. The 24-year-old has slashed .329/.420/.543 with two home runs and one stolen base over 18 contests at Triple-A Durham this season.
