MLB Player News

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli clarified that Arraez was pulled from Thursday's lineup in what was intended to be a pre-planned maintenance day, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Though Arraez was listed as the Twins' No. 6 hitter and starting second baseman in the lineup the club initially released, Baldelli said he decided a night earlier that the 23-year-old wouldn't start in the series finale. Ehire Adrianza will instead join the starting nine as a replacement for Arraez, who should re-enter the lineup Friday in Kansas City. Arraez has gone 1-for-19 at the plate over his last six starts.

Espinal was optioned to Toronto's alternate training site Thursday, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.

He will remain on the taxi squad for the final four games of the road trip. Espinal served a role earlier in the season when Bo Bichette was banged up, but he has not played in a game since July 29.

Arroyo was designated for assignment Thursday.

The Indians needed to clear a 40-man roster spot for Delino DeShields, who was activated from the COVID-19 injured list. Arroyo also did not have any minor-league options remaining. He has made just one plate appearance so far this season for the big club and was clearly not in the team's short-term plans. It would not be surprising if a rebuilding club takes a chance on the former top-100 prospect.

Arraez was scratched from the lineup ahead of Thursday's game against the Pirates for unspecified reasons.

The Twins haven't provided an explanation behind Arraez's removal from the starting nine, but Marwin Gonzalez will shift over from third base to cover Arraez's usual post at second base, while Ehire Adrianza gets the nod at the hot corner. Arraez has walked four times while striking out just three times on the season, but a .229 BABIP has saddled him with a .216 average over his 42 plate appearances.

The Yankees optioned Estrada to their alternate training site Thursday.

With all MLB teams having to reduce their active rosters from 30 to 28 men ahead of Thursday's games, Estrada, Miguel Andujar and Nick Nelson were the odd men out for the Yankees. Though he's been with the Yankees since Opening Day, Estrada appeared in just two of the team's 11 games, logging base hits in both of his at-bats.

According to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Lux's absence from the 30-man roster is entirely based on his lack of readiness for game action, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports. "First of all, there is no conspiracy theory of holding Gavin Lux down, for any other reason besides that we don't feel he's ready right now," Roberts stated Wednesday.

Speculation about service-time considerations tends to pop up when top prospects who have proven themselves in the minors are kept out of the big leagues at the start of the season. The skepticism is arguably more intense with Lux due to the fact that he played a key role on the major-league squad late last season and into the playoffs, leading many to assume that he would be anointed the Dodgers' everyday second baseman for the 2020 campaign. However, Lux missed the beginning of summer camp for undisclosed reasons and didn't start any of the team's three exhibition contests, leading to his move to the Dodgers' alternate training site before the start of the regular season. There's little doubt that Lux will return to the big-league squad at some point in 2020, though substantial playing time is not a given with veteran utilitymen Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez both holding their own to start the campaign.

Mendick started at second base and went 3-for-3 with a double in Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Milwaukee.

Mendick posted a career-high three hits as a fill-in at second base. The White Sox placed starting second baseman Nick Madrigal on the 10-day injured list after the rookie injured his shoulder Tuesday while sliding into third base. Mendick is expected to be the primary fill-in while Madrigal mends. That could change when shortstop Tim Anderson (groin) returns, which will free up Leury Garcia to play second base.

Marte went 3-for-5 with an RBI double and two runs scored in Wednesday's 14-7 win over the Astros.

Marte's biggest contributions came in the fourth inning. In his first at-bat of the inning, he hit a leadoff single and scored on a Kole Calhoun inside-the-park homer. Marte then doubled home Stephen Vogt before scoring on a Calhoun single for the eighth of nine Arizona runs in the rally. The 26-year-old Marte has a homer, three RBI, six runs scored and a .319 batting average in 12 games this season.

Andrus went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a double in Wednesday's 6-4 loss to the Athletics.

Andrus doubled in the third inning and managed to steal third for his second stolen base of the season. The shortstop has struggled to a .193/.310/.250 line with two RBI and three runs scored in 10 games.

Chavis went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and two runs scored Wednesday against the Rays.

Chavis took Ryan Yarbrough deep in the sixth inning to stake the Red Sox to a 5-0 lead. It was his second long ball of the season. Chavis has struggled at the dish early on, as he's reached base in just seven of 26 plate appearances while striking out 39 percent of the time.