MLB Player News

Donaldson (thumb) is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Indians.

The Blue Jays will be getting Troy Tulowitzki back in the lineup Saturday, but they'll still be missing their best player as Donaldson remains out with a thumb injury. He suffered the jammed thumb in Wednesday's contest and although he's not expected to miss significant time, he will sit out for a second consecutive game. Per Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com, Donaldson is expected to return to the lineup Sunday.

Machado went 1-for-5 with a two-run homer in Friday's 15-8 loss to the Astros.

The All-Star blasted his 28th homer of the season in the opening frame, an inning that saw the Orioles tally four round-trippers overall. Machado has homers in back-to-back contests and has hit safely in eight of his last nine games. The recent success has helped get his August slash line to .306/.320/.625 over 72 at-bats.

Bregman went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs in a 15-8 victory over the Orioles on Friday.

The rookie exploded for the best game of his major league career to date and has now hit safely in 12 of his last 13 contests. Bregman also has multihit efforts in three of his last four games, hitting .444 (8-for-18) with two homers and six RBI over that span.

Donaldson (thumb) is out of the lineup Friday against the Indians, Sportsnet's Barry Davis reports.

X-rays were negative after Donaldson jammed his thumb Wednesday and the expectation is that the reigning AL MVP will not miss much time. Darwin Barney will fill in for Donaldson at third base with Michael Saunders batting second against right-hander Trevor Bauer.

Duffy (Achilles) is back in the lineup Friday against the Rangers, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Rays were adamant that Duffy's setback was minor and it appears that was indeed the case, as the 25-year-old's set to return after just a one-game absence. Duffy has hit safely in all five games he's played with Tampa Bay since coming over from San Francisco, although not one of his seven hits with the Rays has gone for extra bases.

Escobar has not played the last three games as Jorge Polanco has started at shortstop.

With Trevor Plouffe back from the DL, it looks like the Twins will keep Polanco at shortstop to evaluate him for 2017. Escobar will move to a utility role again as a result.

Ramirez went 2-for-4 with two RBI on Thursday in a win over the White Sox.

Ramirez has been red hot at the plate, as he just saw his 18-game hitting streak snapped a few games ago. The 23-year-old is hitting over .400 in August with three home runs and 11 driven in. He's on track to set career highs in batting average, home runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Machado went 2-for-5 with three RBI during Thursday's victory over the Astros.

Machado hit his 27th home run of the year and is on pace to match the 35 dingers he hit a season ago. After a tough July in which he batted .204, the MVP-candidate bounced back nicely in August and is hitting .304 with five home runs.

Bregman went 1-for-4 with a solo shot on Thursday against Baltimore.

This was Bregman's second home run in his last three games after failing to hit one out in his first 19 contests. The 22-year-old started his major league career at a turtle's pace, but he was known for his power in the minors, so don't be surprised if the home runs keep coming.

Plouffe went 3-for-5 with a walk, three RBI and scored a run in Wednesday's win over the Braves.

Since returning from the DL with a rib injury, Plouffe is 8-for-25 (.320) with a pair of extra-base hits and five RBI over seven games. Overall on the year, Plouffe's batting average of .259 is up from his career mark of .246, but his power numbers are down a tick. He'll need to hit with more pop to become relevant in standard leagues, but until then, he makes for a decent option in deep mixers and AL-only formats.