Valbuena (toe) is not in the lineup Monday against the Indians. Valbuena has been bothered by soreness in his big toe recently, and he'll be held out Monday and should be considered day-to-day. Marwin Gonzalez will take Valbuena's spot at third base.

Valbuena has been bothered recently by some soreness in his big toe, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports. Valbuena didn't seem too bothered by the injury at Fenway Park this weekend, going 4-for-12 with three walks, though he still hasn't gone deep since June 23. He might get a day or two off this week, but it doesn't sound as if he's in any immediate danger of missing extended time.

Valbuena is out of the lineup Tuesday against the Royals. With the Astros facing left-handed Danny Duffy, it will be Marwin Gonzalez starting at third base. Valbuena sometimes stays in the lineup against southpaws, but he only has a .165/.242/.353 slash line against them this season, albeit with five home runs in 85 at-bats.

Valbuena hit two home runs Tuesday against the Angels as part of a 3-for-5 game with three runs scored and three RBI. Valbuena now has six home runs in his past 10 games played and continues to have one of the best power seasons for a sub-.200 hitter since Mark McGwire hit 29 home runs (.187/.316/.492) for the 2001 Cardinals. Valbuena sits at .195/.269/.456 after his latest outburst. McGwire is the only hitter ever to hit more than 20 home runs, bat under .200 and slug over .450. Valbuena will join that club if things keep up in one of the weirdest seasons in recent memory.

Valbuena is out of the lineup Monday against the Astros. With lefty Hector Santiago on the hill, manager A.J. Hinch will counter with a right-handed heavy lineup, meaning Valbuena will find himself on the bench. Marwin Gonzalez will cover third base in place of Valbuena.

Valbuena smashed his 17th homer and drew a walk in four trips to the plate Saturday in Seattle. The 29-year-old is having one of the oddest seasons you'll ever see, as his ISO (.245) is a ridiculous 60 points higher than his horrendous .185 batting average. Indeed, Valbuena is tied for fifth in the American League in homers, and those long balls represent almost 40 percent of his hits. His BABIP is .165, one of the lowest marks in the majors, so it's bound to come up to some degree, but his flyball-heavy approach means there's not a big batting-average normalization coming for the career .224 hitter.

Valbuena homered twice against Rockies lefty Chris Rusin in the Astros' win over Colorado on Tuesday afternoon. Entering play Tuesday, Valbuena had hit just two of his 14 homers this season against lefties. With four homers over his last five games, Valbunea has provided cheap power for owners that have stuck with him after a 15-game slump in late May and early June where he hit .094/.169/.226 and lowered his season batting average from .211 to .180.

Valbuena went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, a walk and two runs scored during Sunday's 13-0 thrashing of the Mariners. Valbuena's home run off Mariners reliever Danny Farquhar was his 14th of the season. The 29-year-old third baseman is only hitting .185/.256/.412, however, with a paltry .106 average against southpaws this season.

Valbuena went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run on Friday against Felix Hernandez and the Mariners. Valbuena and teammate Jason Castro both took King Felix deep as part of an eight-run first inning on Friday. The Venezuelan's 13th homer of the season was a welcome sight after he had failed to record a hit in his previous six games.

Valbuena is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the White Sox, Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports. With lefty Jose Quintana due up for Chicago, Valbuena will head to the bench in favor of Marwin Gonzalez at third base. Valbuena is just 7-for-59 against left-handed pitching so far this season (.119/.159/.237) and may see fewer opportunities against southpaws moving forward.