MLB Player News

Valencia went 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored in Thursday's win over the Angels.

Valencia's homer in the fourth inning was the third solo shot against Angels starter Ricky Nolasco. He was in right field again Thursday after sitting Wednesday in favor of Max Muncy. Manager Bob Melvin indicated that Valencia will remain in a part-time role even with the departure of Josh Reddick, as the team looks to get younger players at-bats with an eye toward the future.

McMahon, 21, is batting .353 with two home runs and 11 RBI in his last 10 games for Double-A Hartford.

After struggling for virtually the entire season, McMahon has finally started hitting the ball. Perhaps most importantly, he has more walks (7) than strikeouts (5) over these last 10 contests, indicating that he is seeing the ball much better of late. His average has risen to .243 on the year.

Plouffe (ribs) is expected to come off the DL on Monday, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

He will DH in Thursday's rehab game with Triple-A Rochester and then get another game at third base and one at first base before heading back to the Twin Cities in advance of next week's series against the Astros that starts Monday. Miguel Sano is a candidate to be optioned to Triple-A as a corresponding move, as the Twins are unhappy with his work ethic with regards to his defense and conditioning. In this scenario, Plouffe would take over as the everyday third baseman. Either way, the veteran should find his way into the lineup more often than not when he is healthy.

Asche is out of the lineup Thursday against the Giants, the Philly Voice's Ryan Lawrence reports.

The Phillies will try the combination of Jimmy Paredes and Tyler Goeddel in the outfield corners Thursday. Even though Asche has been in the lineup pretty frequently this season, it would seem that Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera are the only outfielders who can be assured five or six starts each week going forward, as they have the best chance of profiling as contributors on the next winning Phillies team.

Donaldson went 2-for-4 with a pair of solo homers in Wednesday's win over Houston.

While Donaldson's going to have a tough time matching last year's 123 RBI, he's actually outdoing himself anyway -- he's a strong bet for a second straight 40-homer campaign and has lifted his OPS by nearly 60 points from last season, pushing the 1.000 mark. Last season was no mirage -- at 30 years old, he's one of the game's top hitters, and he's actually only getting better.

Arenado went 2-for-3 with his 27th homer, a walk, three RBI and three runs against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

He was lifted for a pinch hitter late with the game well in hand, or Arenado could have added even more to that sparkling line. He's now tied injured teammate Trevor Story for the National League lead in homers with 27, and his 82 RBI are good enough to lead the senior circuit. Considering how much contact Arenado makes and how thunderous it tends to be, it's stunning that he's been such a low-BABIP hitter (.272 this year, .287 in his career) despite playing in Coors Field for half his games. At some point in future seasons, more hits are going to start falling in for Arenado, and he's going to start contending for Triple Crown.

LeMahieu went 3-for-4 with a homer, a walk, two RBI and two runs against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Fantasy owners who ignored the veteran second baseman in drafts this season have to be regretting it, as he's now hitting a spicy .324 with an .865 OPS -- both career highs. The homer (his seventh of the season) also established a new career mark for LeMahieu, although fantasy owners who were counting on him to steal bases have been rewarded with only nine. Still, that's quite forgivable, considering the guy has a legitimate shot at scoring 100 runs this year.

Valencia is out of the lineup against the Angels on Wednesday.

Valencia will be out of the lineup for the fourth time in the past six games. Max Muncy will get the start in right field for the A's on Wednesday, with Yonder Alonso at first and Ryon Healy at third.

Duffy (Achilles) is aiming to be activated from the DL by the end of next week, the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin reports.

He has resumed his rehab assignment with High-A Charlotte after coming over to Tampa Bay in the Matt Moore trade, but will not be ready join his new team until late next week. Duffy, who will be asked to play some shortstop with the Rays, said he will embrace the position change. It would make sense for the Rays to play him all over the field, kind of like they did with Ben Zobrist back in the day, which should add some positional eligibility to his profile in the coming weeks.

Bregman is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Blue Jays, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports.

Bregman, who wasted no time assaulting opposing pitchers upon arriving at Double-A and Triple-A, has found the feat harder to duplicate against big league pitching. He is 1-for-32 to start his career, so it's understandable that the Astros will give him a day to clear his head. Marwin Gonzalez will man third base and hit second Wednesday.