MLB Player News

Torres is not in the lineup Thursday against the Blue Jays, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

Torres will head to the bench for what appears to be a routine day off following a string of 11 straight starts during which he hit just .209 with a .643 OPS and 33.3 percent strikeout rate. In his place, Thairo Estrada is starting at shortstop and hitting eighth in Thursday's series finale.

Polanco went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Wednesday's 9-7 loss to the Indians.

Polanco has scaled back his activity on the basepaths this season, but even fantasy managers that drafted him with the expectation that he would deliver double-digit steals can't quibble with his production. After his fourth multi-hit effort in his last six games, Polanco's season average is up to .339, placing him fourth among all qualified hitters heading into Thursday's action. His home run was his 10th of the season, putting him well on pace to smash his previous career-best total of 13, which he achieved in 2017.

Biggio is not in the lineup Thursday against the Yankees.

Biggio will take a seat on the bench for Thursday's series finale after starting the past five games and going 3-for-14 (.214) with a pair of stolen bases and a 6:5 BB:K during that stretch. Eric Sogard is starting at the keystone and batting leadoff in this one.

Lopez will start at second base and bat seventh Thursday against the Red Sox, Joel Goldberg of FOX Sports Kansas City reports.

After serving as the Royals' leadoff or No. 2 hitter in each of his first 18 games in the big leagues, Lopez will slot into the lower third of the order for the second straight day. There was some thought that the lefty-hitting Lopez's drop in the order Wednesday might have been due to southpaw Chris Sale starting for Boston, but the rookie again finds himself as the No. 7 hitter with right-hander Ryan Weber on the bump. It's difficult to quibble with manager Ned Yost's decision to move Lopez down, given that the 24-year-old has reached base at a .116 clip over his past 10 starts.

Arroyo will start at third base and bat sixth Thursday against the Tigers, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Though he's mostly served as a lightly used reserve infielder during his multiple stints with the Rays this season, Arroyo seems to have gained the trust of skipper Kevin Cash over the past week. The 24-year-old will draw a seventh consecutive start Thursday after supplying a .952 OPS over the previous six contests. Until Joey Wendle (wrist) returns from the 10-day injured list, Arroyo looks like he could have a path to at least semi-regular action.

Semien went 3-for-4 with three RBI from a pair of run-scoring singles, a walk and two runs in a loss to the Angels on Wednesday. He was also caught stealing on his only attempt.

Semien made plenty of noise from the top of the order, generating his first three-hit effort since April 14 in the process. The veteran shortstop also compiled his first RBI of June and snapped out of a brief 1-for-17 funk that had encompassed his last four games. Factoring in Wednesday's production, Semien is slashing a solid .260/.351/.402 across 282 plate appearances, with his average just a point shy of a career best and his on-base percentage representing a new high-water mark.

Lowe is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Tigers, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

He'll sit for the second time in the series with Detroit deploying another lefty starting pitcher (Daniel Norris). Daniel Robertson will pick up a start at second base in Lowe's stead.

Drury went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's win over the Yankees.

The utility player got the start at third base in this one, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slotting in at designated hitter, and responded with his sixth homer of the year. Drury has five multi-hit performances in his last 10 games, slashing .342/.381/.553 over that stretch, but his playing time will likely remain spotty as the rebuilding Jays put an emphasis on developing the group of top prospects they currently have on the big-league roster.

Chavis was named the AL Rookie of the Month for May, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reports.

Chavis posted a slash line of .248/.331/.457 during the month with seven home runs, 19 RBI, 11 walks and 14 runs. More accurately, Chavis was the best rookie of the first three weeks of May, as he cooled off dramatically over the final eight games while hitting just .194 with no extra-base hits. Manager Alex Cora said opposing pitchers are attacking Chavis up in the zone. "There are certain teams that have special fastballs and we faced the last three weekends two of those teams, and you can see where they're going," Cora said of the Yankees and Astros. "Not everybody throws 97 with hop so it's just one of those that they're going to a spot and sometimes you want to get on top of that pitch and you don't. Sometimes it's better off just being disciplined up in the zone and right now he's not." Chavis will get the opportunity to break out of his slump and work on laying off pitches up in the zone, considering he'll continue to serve as the primary first baseman with Mitch Moreland (back) and Steve Pearce (back) sidelined.

Kemp went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and scored twice overall in Tuesday's victory over Seattle.

Kemp cleared the right-field fence in the third inning to plate Houston's first run and later came around to score on a Jake Marisnick double. The blast was Kemp's third of the year and first since April 27. However, even factoring in Tuesday's production, his season slash line still sits at a paltry .229/.312/.396.