MLB Player News

Santana (hamstring) began a rehab assignment Friday with the Florida Complex League Rays, Ian Cundall of Baseball America reports.

High-A Bowling Green placed Santana on the 7-day injured list June 6 with a hamstring strain. Known for his slick defense at shortstop, the switch-hitting Santana slashed .309/.379/.393 with a career-high three home runs and career-best 10.3 percent strikeout rate while notching 21 steals in 47 games prior to the injury.

Pierce had left shoulder surgery recently and is likely done for the season, Ian Cundall of Baseball America reports.

Pierce was a league average hitter (100 wRC+) in 34 games for Single-A Charleston prior to the serious shoulder injury. He slashed .252/.336/.390 with four home runs, six steals and a 28.6 percent strikeout rate in 34 games and is expected to have a normal offseason.

Witt (back) will start at shortstop and bat second in Monday's game against the Giants.

The All-Star shortstop was held out of the starting nine for Sunday's 19-2 loss to the Padres due to general back tightness, though manager Matt Quatraro emphasized that Witt was merely kept on the bench as a precaution. Witt's back has apparently responded well to the day of rest, and he should be available for the entirety of the Royals' seven-game week, barring an aggravation of the injury.

Kreidler will start at shortstop and bat ninth in Monday's game in Cleveland.

The Twins will include Kreidler in the starting nine for the third game in a row, and he looks poised to operate as the team's everyday shortstop for the time being after Tristan Gray was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on Monday. Kreidler maintains a respectable .738 OPS over 151 plate appearances on the season, but he's slashing just .162/.205/.189 with zero home runs or stolen bases, four runs and one RBI while striking out at a 28.2 percent clip over 12 games thus far in July.

The Twins optioned Gray to Triple-A St. Paul on Monday.

Gray had started just one of the last four games and four of the past 11 contests. He'll head to St. Paul, while Ryan Kreidler assumes the bulk of the starts at shortstop for the Twins. Gray's demotion frees up a spot on the active roster for the return of Byron Buxton (hip) from the injured list.

Montgomery went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Sunday against the Blue Jays.

Montgomery took Trey Yesavage yard in the sixth inning to tally his 24th home run of the season. He had been in the midst of a short power drought, as he entered Sunday's contest having only one extra-base hit across his last 31 at-bats. Even with that slow stretch, Montgomery has an impressive .253 ISO and remains an elite source of power.

Celesten was promoted to Double-A Arkansas on Sunday, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports.

Celesten will move up a level in the Mariners' minor-league system after he posted a .314 average with 13 home runs, 52 RBI, 64 runs scored and 18 stolen bases over 309 at-bats in 80 contests with High-A Everett so far this year. The 20-year-old is considered to be one of Seattle's top overall prospects, and he'll look to maintain his impressive level of production with Arkansas.

McGonigle went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Angels.

McGonigle went deep on Ryan Johnson's third pitch of the game, but that was the Tigers' lone run until Riley Greene's homer in the ninth inning. In July, McGonigle has gone 14-for-51 (.275) with three homers and five RBI over 13 games. The rookie infielder has batted .282 with an .815 OPS, nine homers, 35 RBI, 61 runs scored and 11 stolen bases over 96 games this season.

Neto went 1-for-4 with a walk, one RBI, one stolen base and one run scored in Sunday's 3-2 win over the Tigers.

Between June 14 and July 10, Neto went 24 games without a steal, getting caught on two attempts in that stretch. He's since picked up the pace on the basepaths, logging two steals on three tries over his last five games. The shortstop is batting .235 with a .772 OPS, 19 home runs, 13 steals, 46 RBI and 69 runs scored over 97 contests this season.

Seager (back) is scheduled to hit soft toss in the batting cage Sunday in addition to fielding groundballs, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.

Seager continues to do light baseball activities as he works his way back from lower-back inflammation, which sent him to the injured list at the start of July after spending time on the IL with the same injury earlier in the campaign. The veteran shortstop is without an official timeline for his return but doesn't seem likely to be back in the immediate future. According to Landry, the Rangers expect Seager to be back "eventually" this season.