MLB Player News

Loperfido is out of the lineup for Monday's contest in Toronto, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Loperfido was in the lineup for six straight games upon being recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land on June 21, but he's now began three consecutive contests on the bench. After picking up three hits in the first of those starts, Loperfido has gone just 2-for-16 at the dish since. Chas McCormick and Trey Cabbage will patrol the corner outfield spots for the Astros on Monday.

Adell went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in a loss to the Tigers on Sunday.

The Angels were down 7-1 heading into the ninth frame before mounting a rally that fell just short. Adell brought the team to within one run with his two-out, two-run blast in the inning. The long ball snapped a 15-game homerless drought for the outfielder, and he had struggled mightily during that stretch, slashing .111/.180/.156. Despite the recent cold stretch, Adell has hung onto a near-everyday role, as he's started in right field in six of the Angels' past seven games.

McFarland (1-1) took the loss against the Diamondbacks on Sunday, allowing three earned runs on a hit, a hit batsman and a walk over one-third of an inning.

McFarland's outing was about as messy as his final line implies, with the left-hander immediately working himself into trouble upon entering in the seventh inning with the game knotted at 1-1. McFarland hit Randal Grichuk to open the frame and subsequently yielded a double to Corbin Carroll and intentionally walked Ketel Marte before exiting. Austin Adams would allow all three inherited runners to score, saddling McFarland with the first runs on his ledger since June 6. Despite the stumble, McFarland was impressive throughout most of June, putting together nine consecutive scoreless appearances (6.1 innings) with three holds prior to Sunday.

Altuve is out of the lineup for Monday's game in Toronto, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Altuve was ejected following the seventh inning of Sunday's 10-5 win over the Mets in 11 innings for arguing with the umpire that he fouled a ball off his foot, and he'll now receive some additional rest in what will be just his third day out of the lineup all season. Mauricio Dubon will cover second base Monday while Altuve sits in the series opener.

Butler went 1-for-2 with a stolen base in a loss to the Diamondbacks on Sunday.

Butler snapped a brief 0-for-6 skid that had encompassed his last three games, and the steal was the first of the rookie's current big-league stint. Despite Sunday's modest success, Butler hasn't been much better at the plate than he was during his initial tenure with the Athletics from Opening Day through May 13 -- he's carrying a .179 average, .422 OPS and 34.5 percent strikeout rate across the 29 plate appearances he's logged since returning June 18.

Ruiz (wrist) has progressed to swinging off a tee, MLB.com reports.

Ruiz's recovery has seemingly picked up some steam after a quiet first few weeks following his placement on the IL. The speedy outfielder's progression to working with a bat was preceded by a strengthening program, and Ruiz seems to be setback-free thus far since he began ramping up his activity level.

Brubaker (elbow) had his rehab assignment transferred from the Florida Complex League to Double-A Somerset on Sunday. He pitched three shutout innings for Somerset, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three batters.

This was Brubaker's third outing of his rehab assignment -- he previously pitched one game for Single-A Tampa and one game for the FCL Yankees. The right-hander looked good Sunday, throwing 30 of 47 pitches for strikes and yielding just one hit (a double). Brubaker appears to be building up his workload to take on a starting role, and he'll likely need a few more rehab outings before he's ready to be activated off the injured list. Once that happens, he may be optioned to Triple-A if there isn't a spot open in the big club's rotation.

Judge went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in an 8-1 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday.

Judge helped New York get off to a fast start with a 423-foot, two-run shot to center field in the first inning. He added a single later in the contest to notch his third straight multi-hit game, and the slugger has gone 7-for-12 with five RBI during that stretch. Judge had a monstrous June overall, slashing .409/.514/.864 with 11 home runs, 37 RBI, 25 runs and three stolen bases over 25 games.

Kiermaier is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Astros.

Kiermaier had started both of the Blue Jays' final two games of the weekend series with the Yankees and six of the last eight contests overall, but he looks set to fill more of a fourth-outfielder role moving forward. His recent uptick in playing time was due in part to Daulton Varsho missing out on three straight starts due to a back injury, but Varsho returned to action Thursday.

Kirk will start at catcher and bat eighth in Monday's game against the Astros.

Kirk should be in store for at least two starts in the four-game series with the Astros while top backstop Danny Jansen likely misses the maximum three games after being placed on the paternity list Monday. Even though Jansen remains atop the depth chart, Kirk had been making a case for more playing time by going 4-for-12 with two doubles, two RBI and a run over his last three starts.