MLB Player News

Jung (thumb) is hoping to take dry swings before the end of this week, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

Jung has been taking one-handed swings in the batting cage and fielded some grounders Monday. He's at least a couple weeks away from game action and is expected to need some rehab at-bats, so Jung isn't going to have much runway for regular-season contests. He's been out since early August with a left thumb fracture.

Paredes is absent from the lineup for Monday's tilt versus the Red Sox, Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Paredes had started each of the Rays' last 17 games but will get a breather for this one. Osleivis Basabe will be at the hot corner in his place Monday.

Garcia went 1-for-5 with a stolen base in Sunday's 7-3 loss to the Red Sox.

After starting August hot, Garcia tailed off in the second half of the month. He's gone 11-for-50 (.220) across his last 14 games, though he's hit safely in four straight contests. The infielder reached the 20-steal mark Sunday -- solid work for the rookie, though he's not running quite as much as he did in the minors. He's added a .280/.326/.375 slash line with four home runs, 47 RBI, 45 runs scored, 18 doubles and three triples through 101 contests.

Gelof went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs in a win over the Angels on Sunday.

Gelof played some small ball Sunday and teed up a couple of teammates for RBI with his pair of singles. The rookie recently went through a brief 1-for-18 funk over a five-game span, but he's bounced back with a pair of two-hit tallies in his last three contests and carries an impressive .266/.330/.532 slash line across his first 191 big-league plate appearances.

Walls went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base Sunday against the Guardians.

As expected, Walls has taken over the starting shortstop job in Tampa Bay, as he's started consecutive games at the position since being activated from the injured list Friday. He's gone 3-for-8 in that span and most importantly showed a willingness to be active on the basepaths Sunday. Walls will likely be limited to the bottom third of the order but should still be a solid source of stolen bases and runs scored down the stretch.

Escobar went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in Sunday's loss to Oakland.

Escobar's sixth home run of the year was a two-run shot to put the Angels on the board in the fourth inning. He snapped a 19-game homerless drought, during which he posted a .528 OPS with just two RBI. He's now slashing .239/.283/.378 with 16 extra-base knocks through 248 plate appearances.

Lewis went 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBI, two runs scored and one steal in Sunday's 6-5 loss against the Rangers.

Lewis provided most of the offense for Minnesota, first tying the game in the fifth on a three-run shot, then tying the game again in the eighth with an RBI single. He followed up the single with his fourth stolen base of the season but was left stranded on the basepaths. Lewis is now slashing .307/.354/.521 in 43 games this season and has accrued six homers, 18 RBI, 13 runs and three steals in 68 at-bats over 16 games since returning from an oblique injury in the middle of August.

Chapman (finger) said Sunday that he's hopeful to resuming swinging a bat and making throws with a baseball this week while the Blue Jays are in Oakland for a three-game series with the Athletics, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.

Though Chapman noted that the swelling in his sprained right middle finger has gone down considerably since he landed on the 10-day injured list last Monday, he's still not able to make a fist with his hand. Chapman believes he'll regain more flexibility with the finger in the coming days, in which case he would be able to resume baseball activities. He still may have an outside shot at coming off the IL before next weekend's series with the Royals, though at this stage, Chapman's absence seems likelier to stretch into the following week.

Moustakas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Athletics, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Moustakas will join fellow left-handed hitters Nolan Schanuel and Trey Cabbage on the bench while the Athletics bring southpaw Kyle Muller to the hill for the series finale. Eduardo Escobar will replace Moustakas at third base and bat fifth.

Lipcius went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 10-0 win over the White Sox.

Lipcius connected in the first inning against Chicago starter Mike Clevinger, giving him his first home run at the MLB level in his second game after hitting 11 long balls for Triple-A Toledo this season across 97 games. The 25-year-old looks mostly like a depth option for the Tigers at this point, though they could give him more playing time down the stretch as they turn their focus to 2024.