MLB Player News

Walls is not in the lineup for Monday's tilt against the Royals.

The Rays will go with Ben Williamson at shortstop in the series opener. Walls had started each of the previous six contests.

Witt (knee) remains out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Rays.

Witt hasn't played since exiting last Thursday's contest against the Cardinals due to a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his right knee. The Royals have seemed optimistic to this point that Witt could avoid a stint on the injured list, but the time to make a decision one way or another is likely coming soon. Maikel Garcia will shift over to shortstop again Monday, while Nick Loftin will grab the start at third base.

High-A Greensboro placed Sanford on its 7-day injured list June 10 due to an unspecified injury.

Though the nature of Sanford's injury isn't known, he was removed from his most recent appearance June 6 against Asheville after being hit by a pitch, per Anthony Murphy of Baseball America. One of the top lower-level prospects in the Pittsburgh farm system, Sanford has produced a .287/.425/.539 slash line with 10 home runs and 21 stolen bases across 223 plate appearances with Greensboro on the season.

Allen (hamstring) resumed taking batting practice and shagging flyballs over the weekend, MLB.com reports.

Allen appears poised to head out on a rehab assignment in the near future, perhaps as soon as later this week. The 27-year-old has been on the shelf since June 8 due to a Grade 1 left hamstring strain and should serve as a utility infielder for Houston once he's activated.

Lindor (calf) is expected to play a simulated game Monday, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

The star shortstop played a full nine innings in the field Sunday in a rehab game with Triple-A Syracuse, going 0-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and a run. He'll pick up some more at-bats Monday, then is likely to get a day off before potentially being activated from the injured list Wednesday. Even if Lindor needs a little more time beyond Wednesday to recover, he's tracking toward a return to the big-league lineup this week. Through his first 105 plate appearances this season prior to straining his left calf April 22, Lindor had a .226/.314/.335 slash line with two home runs, two steals, five RBI and 14 runs.

Dubon went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored in Sunday's loss to the Brewers.

Getting the start in left field and hitting leadoff, Dubon accounted for nearly half of Atlanta's hits in a 9-4 loss. The veteran utility player has regularly hit atop the order against left-handed pitching while Ronald Acuna (hamstring) has been on the shelf in June, and over 16 games this month Dubon sports a .305/.349/.542 slash line with two doubles, four homers, one steal, eight runs and 13 RBI.

Abrams went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and an additional run scored in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Rays.

After doubling and coming around to score in the fourth inning, Abrams took Nick Martinez deep in his next plate appearance for his 17th homer of the season. The shortstop extended his home-run streak to three consecutive games. While Abrams is batting just .261 in June, he is slashing .286/.367/.534 with 15 doubles, two triples, 17 homers, 57 RBI, 51 runs scored and 12 stolen bases across 76 games this season.

Neto went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 9-7 win over the Athletics.

The Angels faced a 7-4 deficit after seven innings, but Neto's blast in the ninth gave them the lead. During the team's seven-game road trip, he went 7-for-29 (.241) with four homers and seven RBI. The shortstop continues to struggle to hit for average, but he's on a career-best pace in power. He's batting .225 with a .784 OPS, 17 homers, 39 RBI, 54 runs scored, 15 doubles, two triples and 11 stolen bases over 76 contests this season.

Gray is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Since Brooks Lee made the full-time shift over to third base in late May, Gray has occupied the strong side of a platoon at shortstop. However, his grip on that role may be loosening, as he'll cede the position to Ryan Kreidler for a second straight game while the Twins face off against right-hander Jose Cabrera. Gray has been stuck in an extended funk at the plate, going 3-for-24 with a 1:9 BB:K over his last eight games to bring his season-long slash line down to .241/.283/.361.

Tovar is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates.

Tovar will be handed the afternoon off, ending a streak of six starts during which he went 5-for-22 (.227) with three runs and an RBI. With Tovar on the bench, Willi Castro will shift over to shortstop, opening up the keystone for Edouard Julien.