MLB Player News

Longoria was scratched from Monday's lineup against the Diamondbacks for an undisclosed reason, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

It's unclear what's keeping Longoria out of the lineup, but Pablo Sandoval will step in at third base in his absence. The 34-year-old went 1-for-13 with a solo home run and three strikeouts over the first three games of the series against Arizona.

The Cubs added Vargas to their active roster ahead of Monday's game against the Cardinals, Maddie Lee of NBC Sports Chicago reports.

Chicago claimed Vargas off waivers from the Twins on Saturday, but he was unavailable for the past two days while the Cubs waited for him to clear COVID-19 intake testing. The utility man will provide depth around the diamond for the Cubs, but he likely won't have a path to steady at-bats at any position.

Anderson is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Braves, Andre Fernandez of Sirius XM Radio reports.

He'll be taking a seat for the first time in 2020, ending a streak of 35 straight starts to begin the season. Despite the steady at-bats, Anderson's .740 OPS is 70 points below his mark from 2019, with the downturn mostly the result of a massive uptick in his strikeout rate. Anderson has struck out in 32.1 percent of his plate appearances this season, nearly 10 percentage points above his career rate (22.2 percent).

McMahon isn't in Sunday's lineup against the Dodgers.

McMahon will get a day off for the team's series finale against the Dodgers with southpaw Julio Urias starting for the opposition. Josh Fuentes will take over at first base.

Suarez went 3-for-4 with three home runs and five RBI in Saturday's 6-2 win over the Pirates.

The only Cincinnati run Suarez didn't account for was the team's first one, as Tucker Barnhart led off the third inning with a solo shot before Suarez began his fireworks display. The three blasts were a new career high in a single game for the 29-year-old, while the five RBI tied his personal best. His early-season slump is a distant memory -- nine of his 12 homers on the year have come in the last 15 games, a stretch during which Suarez is slashing .314/.368/.902 with 20 RBI.

Kieboom was recalled by the Nationals on Saturday and is expected to serve as the team's primary third baseman going forward, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Kieboom was primarily a shortstop in the minors, but he's blocked at that position by Trea Turner for the foreseeable future. He hasn't shown the offensive numbers necessary for the hot corner through his first 107 career big-league plate appearances, hitting just .169/.299/.236. The Nationals currently sit second-to-last in the National League, however, so they have little reason not to give the 23-year-old the opportunity to prove that he's part of the team's future.

Vargas was claimed by the Cubs Saturday, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Vargas was designated for assignment by the Twins Wednesday and the Cubs grabbed the infielder, who is slashing .190/.222/.262 this season across 18 games for Minnesota and Arizona. Chicago has both Jason Kipnis and Nico Hoerner at Vargas' natural spot of second base, so the 29-year-old is likely nothing more than infield depth at this point. Chicago released Jharel Cotton in a corresponding move.

McMahon will sit for the third consecutive game Saturday against the Dodgers, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

McMahon can't really complain about his loss of playing time, as he's striking out in a career-worst 35.6 percent of plate appearances this season while posting a .211/.311/.412 slash line. Garrett Hampson starts his third straight game at second base in McMahon's absence.

Machado went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Friday's win over Oakland.

Coming off consecutive NL Player of the Week awards, Machado had been relatively quiet over his previous three contests, going 2-for-12 without an extra-base hit. He got back on track Friday, crushing a 435-foot shot to center field in the seventh inning. The veteran has 12 homers, 33 RBI and a .301/.369/.596 slash line on the season.

Hayes is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Reds.

Hayes made his big-league debut at the start of the month and appears set to feature frequently but not every day, as he'll now sit for the second time in six games. He's looked good at the plate so far, going 5-for-14 with a homer. Erik Gonzalez slides to third base in his absence, with Kevin Newman starting at shortstop.