MLB Player News

The Royals selected Massey's contract from Triple-A Omaha on Thursday.

Massey will be one of the initial eight minor leaguers that joins the Royals on Thursday after 10 players on the 26-man active roster weren't eligible to make the trip to Toronto for the four-game series with the Blue Jays due to their vaccination statuses. A 2019 fourth-round pick, Massey arrives in the big leagues for the first time after producing an excellent .317/.373/.535 slash line between stops at Omaha and Double-A Northwest Arkansas. The 24-year-old's only defensive experience in the minors comes at second base and third base, so he'll likely serve as the primary backup at those positions to Nicky Lopez and Emmanuel Rivera, respectively, during his stay in the majors.

The Royals placed Merrifield (toe) on the restricted list Thursday.

Merrifield saw his streak of 553 consecutive games played come to an end Monday, when he wasn't available for Game 1 of the Royals' doubleheader with the Tigers due to swelling and a bone bruise to a ligament in his right big toe. He proceeded to miss the remaining three games of the series with Detroit and wasn't expected to be available before the All-Star break, but the Royals likely chose to forgo placing him on the injured list knowing that he would land on the restricted list Thursday. Since he's unvaccinated and therefore ineligible to cross the Canadian border, Merrifield won't accompany the Royals to Toronto even though he wasn't on track to play anyway. He'll be reinstated from the restricted list coming out of the All-Star break, at which point he could revert to the IL if he needs more time to recover from the toe injury.

Miller is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Tigers.

Miller had started the past three games and should have a regular spot in the lineup versus left-handed pitching moving forward. However, his opportunities to play against right-handed pitchers like Detroit's Elvin Rodriguez could become more sporadic now that the lefty-hitting Josh Naylor is healthy again after a recent multi-game absence due to a back injury.

Frazier went 4-for-7 with a home run, two RBI and a stolen base across both games of Wednesday's doubleheader sweep of the Nationals.

After taking Josiah Gray deep for a solo shot in the fourth inning of the matinee, Frazier added a second-inning steal and a sixth-inning sacrifice fly in the nightcap. The utility player is on a roll at the plate, collecting multiple hits in three of his last five games and batting .280 (14-for-50) over his last 15 contests. However, on the season Frazier still carries a sluggish .229/.291/.304 slash line with three homers, three stolen bases, 23 RBI and 34 runs through 87 games.

Semien went 0-for-3 with a walk, a run and two stolen bases in a 5-2 win against Oakland on Wednesday.

Though he didn't collect any hits, Semien made a positive impact on the basepaths with a pair of thefts. He has a team-leading and career-high 16 steals on the campaign, but this was the first time he's picked up more than one in a game. Semien is one of only six major-leaguers with at least 10 homers and at least 15 steals so far this season.

Altuve went 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Wednesday's 7-1 loss to the Angels.

Altuve had posted steals in each of the last two games, giving him eight in nine attempts this year. The second baseman saw his 10-game hitting streak come to an end with the hitless performance Wednesday. He's still slashing .277/.371/.528 with 17 home runs, 33 RBI and 47 runs scored through 71 contests.

Rengifo went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 7-1 win over the Astros.

Rengifo continues to show consistency at the plate -- he's hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games, though this was his first three-hit effort in that span. The infielder plated a pair with a single in the sixth inning and later scored on a Jonathan Villar single. Rengifo's surge at the dish has lifted his season slash line to .253/.294/.389 with five home runs, 15 RBI, 18 runs scored and three stolen bases through 55 contests.

Stefanic is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Astros, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Stefanic started the past six games and jumped up to the leadoff spot Tuesday, but he'll receive a day off after going 0-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. He's off to a strong start through eight big-league games with an .808 OPS.

Gimenez isn't starting Wednesday's game against the White Sox.

Gimenez started in the last three games and went 1-for-10 with two runs, a stolen base, a walk and four strikeouts. Owen Miller is taking over at second base and batting seventh Wednesday.

Arraez is not in the starting lineup for Wednesday's series finale against the Brewers.

The lefty-hitting Arraez will head to the bench against Brewers southpaw Aaron Ashby after going 1-for-4 with a double, a walk and a run scored in Tuesday's loss. The 25-year-old has produced at least one hit in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .400 with seven doubles, nine runs and two RBI over that stretch. Jose Miranda will start at first base and bat fifth in the series finale with Milwaukee.