Josh

Rojas

It appears to be nothing more than a routine night off for Loftin, who has functioned as the club’s primary third baseman while Maikel Garcia (hamstring) is shelved. Josh Rojas will start in his place at the hot corner and will bat seventh against Marlins’ right-hander Sandy Alcantara on Thursday.

Rojas entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and drove in a run with a base hit. He then went yard for a two-run blast off Logan Allen in the eighth. Despite starting the day on the bench with a left-handed starter on the mound for Cleveland, both of Rojas’ hits came off of southpaws. The 32-year-old infielder doesn’t bring much upside, but should continue to play in a strong-side platoon at third base.

Loftin has been functioning as the club’s primary third baseman with Maikel Garcia (hamstring) shelved, but he’ll get a breather in this one. Josh Rojas will start in his place at the hot corner and will bat eighth for the Royals against Spencer Arrighetti and the Blue Jays on Thursday evening in Toronto.

He’ll presumably fill in for the duration of Michael Massey’s 7-day IL stint. Rojas remains merely a depth option for the Royals and has no fantasy value.

There simply isn’t a spot for Rojas with Maikel Garcia back from the injured list. The 32-year-old is merely organizational infield depth at this stage of his career. He hit .224 (17-for-76) with one homer and one steal in 30 games for Kansas City.

Garcia, out since June 23 with a hand injury, went 4-for-10 with a double and three walks in three games for Double-A Northwest Arkansas from Thursday through Saturday. His return will likely push Nick Loftin back into a utility role and result in Josh Rojas losing his spot.

It looks to be nothing more than a routine day off for the versatile 27-year-old. Josh Rojas will man the hot corner in his absence and will bat eighth against Twins’ right-hander Bailey Ober.

The Braves wanted to add an outfielder who could start against lefties, and Thomas fits nicely there, as long as they don’t get overexcited and start using him versus righties, too. Thomas has an .800 OPS against lefties and a .660 OPS against righties this year. For his career, he’s at .850 against lefties and .669 versus righties. The Braves didn’t have to part with any top prospects, so it’s a solid pickup. With Thomas in the mix, the Braves might move on from Eli White. Isaac Collins and Josh Rojas should get more time in Kansas City with Thomas out of the mix.

Rojas takes the place of Maikel Garcia on the active roster with Garcia’s hand injury requiring a stint on the injured list. Rojas will just be a depth option for Kansas City with the ability to play second and third base against right-handed pitchers.

Rojas went 1-for-5 with a pair of RBI in two games for the Royals after being called up last week from the minors. The well-traveled 31-year-old infielder will remain stashed as organizational depth at Triple-A.