MLB Player News

Lowe was promoted to Triple-A Durham on Wednesday.

A 13th-round pick in 2016, Lowe had certainly been productive in the lower levels of the minors in 2016 and 2017, but this year has unquestionably been his coming out party. He earned the promotion to the highest level of the minors after going 13-for-28 (.464) with a pair of home runs, nine walks and three strikeouts over his last eight games for Double-A Montgomery. He has logged a 190 wRC+ at High-A, a 191 wRC+ at Double-A and 23 home runs over 101 games across the two levels. His batting averages on balls in play at those two levels were high, but not so high that we should write off the production. He also has a 63:60 K:BB this season, and had more walks (35) than strikeouts (30) at Double-A. Another promising element of Lowe's production is his spray chart -- he hit exactly the same amount (34.2 percent) of balls to the pull side as to the opposite field at Double-A, which suggests MLB teams won't be able to neutralize him via the shift. The big knocks on Lowe are his age (23), position (first base) and lack of pedigree. If he carries over this dominance against Triple-A pitching, we will likely find out how his tools play at the highest level sometime next summer.

Cron is not starting Wednesday against the Orioles.

Cron has been splitting time with Ji-Man Choi as the Rays' designated hitter, with the pair now alternating starts for eight straight games. Choi will get the call Wednesday.

Kirilloff is hitting .368/.394/.540 with three home runs and two steals in 40 games (175 plate appearances) since his promotion to High-A Fort Myers.

His .419 BABIP at High-A is unsustainable, but even if we regress his batting average 50 or 60 points, he's still off to a very impressive start in the Florida State League. The main thing any Kirilloff detractor would point to is his 4.0 percent walk rate, but it's hard to expect a player who's sporting a 165 wRC+ while striking out just 15.4 percent of the time to be more patient. He has a chance to enter this offseason as a top-20 prospect for dynasty leagues and should open his age-21 season at Double-A.

Abreu went 1-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Tuesday's extra-innings loss to the Yankees.

Abreu recorded a sacrifice fly in the third inning and later hit a game-tying two-run homer -- his 20th of the year -- in the 10th inning off Zach Britton. This marks five consecutive years that Abreu has hit at least 20 home runs, but he's got some work to do still to reach the 100-RBI threshold as he has for four straight seasons.

O'Hearn is on the bench for the second straight day Tuesday against the Cubs, Maria Torres of The Kansas City Star reports.

O'Hearn started four straight after getting called up on deadline day, but he's gone just 2-for-16 and has now sat for three of the last four. Hunter Dozier will be the Royals' designated hitter Tuesday, with Drew Butera playing first base.

O'Hearn is not in the lineup Monday against the Cubs, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

O'Hearn has started five of six games since earning a promotion at the end of July, going 2-for-16 (.125) with a homer and three walks over that stretch. He'll head to the bench for Monday's series opener with a lefty in Cole Hamels toeing the rubber for the opposition, while Jorge Bonifacio takes over as DH in his stead.

Olson went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and two runs scored in the 6-0 win over the Tigers on Sunday.

Olson was held without a long ball since his multi-homer effort July 22. He's up to 22 home runs on the year as he's still chasing last year's total of 24 despite having more than double the at-bats in 2018.

Gurriel is out of the lineup Sunday against the Dodgers, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Gurriel was well overdue for a day off after starting the Astros' past 19 games and submitting a .231/.241/.256 batting line over that span. He'll be replaced at first base Sunday by Tyler White, who will bat fifth.

O'Hearn will start at first base and bat eighth Sunday against the Twins.

Prior to sitting out Saturday, O'Hearn had started four consecutive contests, going 2-for-13 with a home run and three walks in his first MLB at-bats. The 25-year-old looks like he'll have the opportunity to play on a near-everyday basis, with he and Lucas Duda likely splitting time between first base and designated hitter.

Cron is out of the lineup Sunday against the White Sox, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Cron has gone just 8-for-42 (.190 average) at the plate since the All-Star break, though three of his hits during that stretch have been home runs. The slump shouldn't result in Cron surrendering his role as the Rays' primary designated hitter, though he may begin ceding starts to Ji-Man Choi -- who enters the lineup Sunday -- more frequently if he fails to right the ship.