MLB Player News

Julien, who is starting at second base and hitting second Friday against the White Sox, got a vote of confidence with the news that Jorge Polanco (hamstring) will get reps at third base during his rehab assignment, Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Given that Julien is arguably the game's hottest hitter, with a .593 batting average and three home runs in his last eight games, the Twins probably would have found a spot for him even if Jorge Polanco wasn't adding third base to his repertoire. This is still a nice sign that the Twins may feel they have found their second baseman of the present and future in Julien, although they haven't yet committed to giving him an everyday role. While he generally hits second against righties, Julien hasn't started against a lefty since June 19.

Ibanez is not in the starting lineup Friday versus the Padres.

Ibanez will take a seat after he started all four games of a series with Kansas City, going 4-for-12 with an RBI and a run scored over those contests. Nick Maton will draw the start at second base and bat seventh in the series opener with San Diego.

Arroyo will sit Friday versus the Mets, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Arroyo will get a breather after he went 1-for-7 with a run and two strikeouts while starting two games during a series with Oakland. Justin Turner will start at second base and bat second in the series opener with New York.

Westburg isn't in the Orioles' lineup Thursday against the Rays, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

After going 4-for-10 with an RBI and a run scored during Baltimore's last series against the Dodgers, Westburg will get a breather for Thursday's series opener in Tampa Bay. Gunnar Henderson will slide to third base, allowing Jorge Mateo to start at shortstop.

Frazier isn't in the Orioles' lineup Thursday against the Rays, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

After an 0-for-8 stretch at the plate over his last three games, Frazier will start off in the dugout for the second straight game Thursday. Ramon Urias will start at second base and bat seventh.

Kemp went 2-for-3 with a run in a win over the Red Sox on Wednesday.

Kemp's offensive renaissance continued out of the leadoff spot Wednesday, with the veteran's multi-hit effort serving as his fifth in the last 13 games and extending his hit streak to seven contests. Kemp's recipe for success over what is now a month-plus surge at the plate has been fairly straightforward -- he's made contact at an elite clip (6.1 percent strikeout rate) while seeing his BABIP rise from the abysmal .163 figure he carried from Opening Day through June 14 to a stellar .329 since that point.

Rengifo went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run and a pair of walks against the Yankees in Wednesday's 7-3 victory.

Rengifo boosted the Angels' lead to four runs with his 418-foot two-run shot off Carlos Rodon in the second inning. It was just his second hit since the All-Star break, with the other also leaving the park. Rengifo came off the bench in the first two games of the series versus New York, and he'll likely compete for starts in the infield moving forward.

Altuve (oblique) took batting practice on the field prior to the Astros' game Tuesday against the Rockies, MLB.com reports.

Altuve began running the bases Sunday, so he's steadily ramping up his activity. Though there's been no official timeline given, it's expected that he'll begin a rehab assignment shortly with the target being a return in late July.

Julien went 2-for-2 with a solo home run and two walks in Wednesday's 6-3 win over the Mariners.

Julien has gotten on base 10 times in his last 14 plate appearances, going 8-for-11 with two homers and three walks in that span as he continues to torment Seattle's pitching. The second baseman's blast was his ninth homer in 48 contests this season and his fifth long ball in July. With six multi-hit efforts in his last seven games, Julien is up to a .318/.394/.574 slash line overall.

Remillard is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Mets.

Remillard will cede his spot in the lineup to Elvis Andrus, who draws the starting nod at second base. The White Sox still appear to be favoring Remillard as their preferred option at the keystone, though his production is beginning to trend down while his still-elevated .429 BABIP starts to normalize. Over his last five games, Remillard has gone 3-for-20 while striking out nine times and drawing no walks.