MLB Player News

Moncada went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Astros.

Moncada stayed hot on the White Sox's current road trip. He's 17-for-41 (.415) with three home runs, a triple and eight RBI in the first nine games of the 10-game trip. Manager Rick Renteria told Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune that Moncada is getting a better handle on off-speed pitches while teammate and fellow Cuban Jose Abreu cited Moncada's use of lighter bats as a reason why the rookie's hitting has suddenly taken off.

Moustakas went 3-for-4 with a double, his 37th homer and a pair of runs scored against the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

After seeing his 2016 cut short by injury, Moustakas has largely been making up for lost time this year, but he'd actually gone 15 games (plus another two spent entirely on the bench) without going yard before breaking that skid Wednesday. In fact, he's homered just thrice over the course of a slump that's consumed his last 33 contests; still, that can be chalked up to bad luck more than a bad approach, so fantasy owners shouldn't be considering benching the powerful third baseman.

Duffy (heel) will join the Rays' instructional league team Thursday and is scheduled to play his first game Monday in Bradenton, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Duffy will thus take his first step toward eventually stepping on a major-league field next spring after missing all of the 2017 campaign. Following his instructional league tenure, he's scheduled to also put in time in winter ball, with both stints intended to thoroughly prepare him to participate in spring training without restrictions.

Machado, who is out of the Wednesday's lineup against the Red Sox, is dealing with an illness, Jon Meoli of The Baltimore Sun reports.

He is 3-for-29 (.103) over his last eight games, and it is unclear exactly when the illness popped up. It sounds like he is just day-to-day. Ryan Flaherty will start at the hot corner and hit ninth.

Bregman is not in the lineup Wednesday against the White Sox.

Bregman will receive a rare night off Wednesday and give way to Marwin Gonzalez at third base. Bregman, who's hit .279 with an .809 OPS over 144 games this season, figures to rejoin the lineup for Thursday's series finale against the White Sox.

Devers is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Devers has started 13 straight games, over which he's posted a solid .314/.352/.392 line. However, he's been a liability on defense and committed in error in each of Boston's last five contests. He'll get the night off while Deven Marrero fills in at third base.

Machado is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Red Sox.

Over the last 10 games Machado has slashed a bleak .162/.220/.243. He'll get a rare day off as Ryan Flaherty draws a start at the hot corner. Machado should be back in the lineup for Thursday's series opener against the Rays.

Chapman went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Tuesday's 9-8 win over the Tigers.

The 24-year-old's round tripper was his first since Sept. 10 and helped snap a 1-for-21 slump over the previous six games. Chapman has seven extra-base hits (three doubles, a triple and three homers) overall in September, which has partly made up for an unsightly .217 average over that span.

Moncada went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Tuesday's loss to the Astros.

Moncada raised his season batting average from .227 to .241 with Tuesday's three-hit performance and is now hitting an impressive .302 during the month of September. The toolsy second baseman is still striking out in nearly a third of his plate appearances, but he's been making enough solid contact recently to make his strikeout rate more palatable. The 22-year-old now has 10 hits in his last five starts and is on pace to turn in a very encouraging final month of the regular season.

Ramirez (hamstring) is in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Angels.

Ramirez sat out the Indians' last two games to give his sore hamstring a rest, but he will be back in action Tuesday following a team off day. As he has done regularly of late when in the lineup, Ramirez will man the keystone and hit third in the Indians' batting order. He will look to pick up where he left off, having tallied eight hits over the last four games he started.