MLB Player News

Polanco went 4-for-5 with a solo home run, three doubles and two total runs scored in Monday's 5-2 win over Cleveland.

The infielder has collected nine hits in his last four games, and all but one of them have gone for extra bases. Polanco's recent surge has lifted his slash line to .283/.340/.519 across 547 plate appearances. He's added 27 homers, 83 RBI, 84 runs scored, 10 stolen bases and 32 doubles in 128 contests.

Estrada went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI in Monday's victory over the Rockies.

The 25-year-old went deep off of Kyle Freeland in back-to-back innings with a solo shot in the fourth and then a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Estrada has operated mostly as a bench bat this season and had struggled to a .108 batting average while posting zero multi-hit performances in 14 games and 37 at-bats since the beginning of August prior to Monday. On the bright side, he has now hit three home runs in his last five games after having only three homers on the season before this recent hot streak.

Semien went 2-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI in Monday's 8-0 win over the Yankees.

The Jays only managed seven hits on the afternoon but four of them left the yard, with Semien leading the barrage. The 30-year-old is locked in right now, going deep five times during Toronto's current five-game winning streak with 10 RBI, and Semien's 37 homers on the season have established a new franchise record for most home runs in a season by a middle infielder.

Clement (undisclosed) began a rehab assignment at Double-A Akron on Saturday and has appeared in two games, going 1-for-7 with a double and three strikeouts between those contests.

Cleveland didn't provide an explanation behind Clement's placement on the injured list Aug. 26, but the transaction was presumably the result of COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Now that he's playing in rehab games, Clement looks to be on the cusp of rejoining Cleveland's active roster. He'll serve as a utility infielder once he's formally reinstated.

Gimenez is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Twins.

After going 4-for-11 with a double and three stolen bases while starting in all three of Cleveland's games during its weekend series with the Red Sox, Gimenez will get a breather as the team kicks off a seven-game week. Owen Miller checks in at the keystone for Gimenez, who is hitting .245 with zero home runs, five runs, four RBI and six steals in 20 games since his Aug. 7 call-up from Triple-A Columbus.

Estrada will start at second base and bat sixth Monday in Colorado.

Estrada will stick in the lineup for the fifth time in six games, despite recording only two hits in 19 at-bats across the previous four contests. Considering that top second baseman Tommy La Stella was sidelined for most of that stretch while battling a side injury, Estrada looks like he'll be limited to a short-side platoon role moving forward. The lefty-hitting La Stella returned to action in Sunday's 6-4 win over the Dodgers, but he'll be on the bench Monday with a southpaw (Kyle Freeland) on the hill for Colorado.

Arraez is out of the lineup for Monday's game in Cleveland.

With southpaw Logan Allen on the mound for Cleveland, the lefty-hitting Arraez will duck out of the lineup, ending a stretch of three consecutive starts. Willians Astudillo will replace Arraez at third base.

Manager David Ross said Hoerner (oblique) took batting practice and participated in infield drills Monday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Hoerner was placed on the injured list July 29 with the right oblique strain and appeared on track to rejoin the Cubs by the end of August, only to have his recovery timeline pushed back when he suffered a setback during his minor-league rehab assignment. Due to the length of his absence, Hoerner will more than likely need to restart a rehab assignment and play in at least a handful of games before being activated. Once reinstated, Hoerner will likely take over as the Cubs' everyday shortstop.

Jones will start at second base and bat seventh Monday against the Royals.

Since both he and Kelvin Gutierrez were called up from Triple-A Norfolk on Aug. 23, Jones appears to have won out in the battle for an everyday spot in the Baltimore lineup. Though both will crack the lineup in Monday's series opener while Ramon Urias (upper leg) hits the bench, Jones had started nine times in Baltimore's last 11 games, while Gutierrez picked up only seven starts. Jones is slashing .176/.222/.265 since his promotion.

Castro is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Pirates.

Castro will remain on the bench for the second straight contest, after having previously made four consecutive starts heading into Sunday. Now that Niko Goodrum is back from the injured list and ready to assume an everyday role at shortstop, Castro looks poised to settle into a utility role that will afford him only a handful of starts per week.