MLB Player News

Moncada batted cleanup for the first time in his career Friday and went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI double in a 9-3 loss to the Indians.

Manager Rick Renteria is experimenting with Moncada, having him hit out of several spots in the batting order. He's also batted second, fifth and sixth since being called up from Triple-A Charlotte. More important than where Moncada hits in the lineup is the lineup as a whole. The players around him in the order will have more impact on his production, and there just isn't much to fear about the White Sox, who twice this week have broken up no-hitters in the fifth inning. Over the last five games, Chicago has scored 12 runs and hit .201.

Ramirez went 4-for-5 with a home run, four runs scored and three RBI in Friday's 9-3 win over the White Sox.

It's his 18th homer of the year but first since the All-Star break, breaking him out of a .212 (11-for-52) funk since his appearance in the Midsummer Classic. Despite the slump, Ramirez is still well on pace for career highs in just about every offensive category this season except steals.

Moustakas went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer Friday against the Red Sox.

Moustakas smashed his 30th homer of the season to break open a close game, helping to lead the Royals to a road win. The 28-year-old continues to mash, as he's provided fantasy owners with a .568 slugging percentage, a number he's never come close to approaching during his career. He'll continue to be one of the very best fantasy options at the hot corner.

Escobar is not in Friday's lineup against the A's, LaVelle E. Neal of the Star Tribune reports.

Escobar receives a day off after starting the past five games, going 4-for-18 with one home run and three RBI during that span. In his place, Ehire Adrianza draws the start at shortstop while batting eighth in the order.

Bregman (hamstring) is in the lineup for Friday's series opener in Detroit, Julia Morales of AT&T Sportsnet reports.

Bregman was held out of Wednesday's game after leaving the contest against Philadelphia on Tuesday with right hamstring tightness. The third baseman used Thursday's off day to recover, and slides back into his typical position manning the hot corner while batting eighth for Friday's outing.

Devers will start at third base and bat eighth for Friday's game against Kansas City, Evan Drellich of WEEI.com reports.

Devers may concede most of the playing time to Eduardo Nunez at third base, but manager John Farrell will likely keep the top prospect in the lineup whenever he can. During two games with the major-league club, Devers is 2-for-8 from the plate, with one home run, two runs and a pair of walks.

Devers was not optioned back to the minors as a corresponding move to the Eduardo Nunez trade, Tim Britton of The Providence Journal reports.

The expectation was that the highly-touted prospect would head back to Triple-A Pawtucket to develop further now that another third baseman is in Boston, but the Red Sox opted to send Deven Marrero back to the PawSox instead. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said that Nunez will play regularly upon his arrival to the team, and given the Red Sox roster construction, it seems like he'd be a logical choice to man third base moving forward. This would likely force Devers to hit the bench more often than not, although there is an opportunity for the 20-year-old to act as the designated hitter given Mitch Moreland's struggles at the dish as well as the team's newfound willingness to deploy Hanley Ramirez at first base. Nonetheless, it's unlikely that Devers would still be in the majors if he were just going to ride the pine on a daily basis, although his stock for this season seems to have taken a hit following this acquisition regardless.

Lewis is hitting .308 with three home runs and eight stolen bases in 24 games for Minnesota's Rookie-level Gulf Coast League team.

While it's just 24 games, the 2017 No. 1 overall draft pick is off to a promising start to his career. Lewis has also show good place discipline with a 11:10 K:BB.

Longoria went 2-for-5 with a solo home run during Thursday's loss to the Yankees.

The veteran entered the contest with a .346/.345/.538 slash line in July and only built on those numbers Thursday. Longoria is up to 16 homers, 62 RBI and 54 runs for the year, and with Tampa Bay making moves to improve around him, a strong finish to the season is well within reach.

Robinson started in center field and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in Wednesday's 22-10 loss to the Marlins.

After Joey Gallo had slumped out of the All-Star break while still battling a sore hamstring, Texas manager Jeff Banister had made a concerted effort to find starts against right-handed pitching for Robinson, a 25-year-old utility man who had parlayed a strong showing at Triple-A Round Rock into a July 7 promotion. Robinson rewarded Banister's faith with home runs in two of his first four starts following the call up, but Gallo's improved health and performance has since rendered Robinson an afterthought. Robinson's entry into the lineup Wednesday marked his first appearance in more than a week, and the hitless showing certainly won't help his cause to pick up more at-bats.