MLB Player News

Donaldson went 0-for-3 with a bases-loaded walk, recording his 79th RBI of the year, in Sunday's win over the Astros.

Despite hitting safely in 11 of his last 12 starts, the third baseman has seen his average dip more than five points through the first half of the current month. History would indicate that he'll get back to his dominant ways soon. Last season, August was by far Donaldson's best month of the campaign -- he hit .324/.408/.724 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI and 29 runs -- and it propelled him to the AL MVP award. Over the past three seasons, Donaldson has hit a combined .307 in August, his highest average for any month.

Longoria went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored and four RBI in Sunday's 12-3 romp over the Yankees.

He's the career leader in hits (74) and RBI (47) among visiting players in the new Yankee Stadium and only Jose Bautista has hit more home runs there as a visitor than Longoria's 15. The Rays' third baseman padded those totals in impressive fashion this weekend, going 7-for-11 with a homer and six RBI over the three games. Fortunately for the Rays' third baseman and anyone with fantasy shares in him, he hasn't seen the last of Yankee Stadium this year -- Tampa Bay returns for a four-game set there in mid-September.

Rendon went 1-for-3 with a homer and four RBI Sunday against the Braves.

After not leaving the yard during the entire month of April, he's now come on to blast 15 homers since that time, and he's now slashing .266/.349/.451 on the year. In his four-year career, the only season that he's hit above .270 was in 2014 when he finished with a .287 batting average.

Suarez hit a three-run homer in Saturday's win over the Brewers and also doubled in five at-bats.

The homer, Suarez's 19th of the season, came in an at-bat where he earlier failed to drop down a suicide-squeeze bunt, fouling it off instead. That the squeeze play was on apparently was a mistake, an inadvertent sign sent in by manager Bryan Price.

Alvarez is out of the lineup Sunday against the Giants, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Since the series is in San Francisco, the Orioles haven't had the DH spot available all weekend, so it's unsurprising that Alvarez has served in a bench role for all three games. Look for him to get back into the lineup as soon as Tuesday against the Red Sox.

Muncy is out of the lineup Sunday against the Mariners.

The Athletics will try to exploit the platoon advantage against Mariners southpaw starter Wade LeBlanc, as three of the team's lefty bats (Muncy, Stephen Vogt and Yonder Alonso) will be left on the bench. Tyler Ladendorf replaces Muncy at the keystone.

Plouffe is out of the lineup Sunday against the Royals, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Plouffe returned from the DL last Monday following a rib injury, but he hasn't immediately been handed back an everyday role at third base. He'll sit for the fourth time in eight games, paving the way for Jorge Polanco to log another start at the hot corner. Look for manager Paul Molitor to juggle three players (Plouffe, Polanco and Eduardo Escobar) for two lineup spots (third base and shortstop) over the next several days, with the hottest hitters likely seeing the most at-bats.

Peterson is out of the lineup Sunday against the Nationals.

Peterson will have a maintenance day as Gordon Beckham starts at second and bats sixth. The club has Monday off, so look for Peterson to return to his spot in the lineup Tuesday against the Twins.

Moncada is likely to be playing third base in the Arizona Fall Leauge, Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe reports.

The organization recognizes the athletic ability in Moncada, who made his first start at the hot corner Friday night for Double-A Portland. His initial exposure to baseball in the States has been spent getting him comfortable while playing a position he knows well, before transitioning him to third base, a position of uncertainty at the major league level. Having him start the 2017 season as Boston's Opening Day third baseman might be a reach, but he's close to major-league ready and should see MLB at some point next season.

Reynolds was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday, ESPN's Adam Rubin reports.

With the activation of Jose Reyes to play shortstop while Asdrubal Cabrera is on the DL, Reynolds was no longer needed to provide infield depth at the big league level. Reynolds posted a .211/.231/.382 slash line with two home runs and a 36.3-percent strikeout rate in 80 plate appearances with the Mets this season.