MLB Player News

The Orioles reinstated Alexander (hand) from the injured list Friday.

Out since mid-July with a fractured left hand, Alexander began a rehab assignment Tuesday and went 2-for-7 with a double, an RBI and a run scored at Triple-A Norfolk. He figures to reclaim a regular starting job in Baltimore's infield now that he's fully healthy, and he'll replace Luis Vazquez on the team's active roster.

Donovan (concussion) traveled with the Mariners to Toronto as his team begins a road trip, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

Donovan reported improvement with his concussion symptoms earlier this week, and him being cleared to travel with the club is a good sign. However, manager Dan Wilson said that the 29-year-old won't be ready to return when eligible Saturday, per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. He's been limited to 39 games this season due to injuries, but he's been fairly productive when on the field with a .277/.371/.409 slash line.

Keith is absent from the lineup for Friday's matchup against the Dodgers.

With the Dodgers sending southpaw Tarik Skubal to the mound, Keith will sit out against his former teammate. Detroit will send Hao-Yu Lee to man the hot corner and bat second.

Smith (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Smith is slated to play back-to-back full games before being evaluated for a potential return. The utility player landed on the 10-day injured list last week with left hamstring inflammation, but he avoided a strain and is tracking toward a minimum stay on the IL.

Loftin is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game in Toronto.

Loftin had made eight consecutive starts, but he will retreat to the bench for Thursday's series finale. Josh Rojas will occupy the hot corner for the Royals in the rubber match.

The Royals recalled Rojas from Triple-A Omaha on Thursday.

Rojas has posted just a .556 OPS across 80 plate appearances in the majors this season, but he'll get the call to rejoin the big club to make up for the loss of Michael Massey (concussion). Rojas will likely serve primarily as bench depth while Tyler Tolbert receives the majority of starts at second base going forward.

Follow-up imagining on Mead's fractured left wrist came back clean Monday, and the infielder has been cleared to begin mobility exercises and progress toward strength work, MLB.com reports.

Mead has been able to transition out of the cast he was wearing to protect his injured hand and is now donning a splint. Though he's not yet ready to take part in full baseball activities, ditching the cast at least represents a step forward in the recovery process. The 25-year-old would still appear to have a chance at making it back from the injured list around mid-to-late September.

Lee went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 7-4 loss to the Athletics.

Lee has homered four times over his last 10 games, going 10-for-37 (.271) at the dish in that span. The infielder has just one multi-hit effort, but the uptick in power is a positive after he slugged .385 in his first 25 games coming out of the All-Star break. He's batting .247 with a .736 OPS, 21 homers, 70 RBI, 59 runs scored, 21 doubles, three triples and seven stolen bases through 128 contests this year.

White went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in Wednesday's 7-4 win over the Twins.

White has gone 8-for-21 (.381) over his last five games, adding four RBI and three runs in that span. The infielder is seeing regular playing time of late as he continues to split time between first and third base. He's batting .269 with a .631 OPS, two home runs, eight RBI, 15 runs scored, four doubles and no stolen bases through the first 35 games of his big-league career.

Vargas went 2-for-3 with two walks, one RBI, one stolen base and two runs scored in Wednesday's 10-4 win over the Rangers.

Vargas has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games, and five of those performances have included multiple hits. He's also shown great plate discipline in that span with a 16:8 BB:K. The infielder has enjoyed a breakout year, batting .251 with an .861 OPS, 29 home runs, 13 steals, 76 RBI, 91 runs scored, 30 doubles and one triple across 131 contests. He hit leadoff Wednesday, and while the experiment went well, it's unclear if that will be a change that sticks the next time the White Sox face a southpaw.