MLB Player News

Cron went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs in a win over the Marlins on Sunday.

After seeing his season average take a 37-point dive down to .233 during a miserable June, Cron has bounced back in authoritative fashion during the current month. The 28-year-old is now hitting .373 over 58 July plate appearances, a figure partly fueled by five multi-hit efforts and 10 extra-base hits (seven doubles, three home runs). The trio of round trippers has established a new high-water mark in that category for Cron, who's now just one away from the first 20-homer season of his career.

Mountcastle went 1-for-6 with a solo home run during Double-A Bowie's doubleheader with Erie on Sunday.

Mountcastle has gone deep four times over his last 10 games, raising his season OPS to .884. The 21-year-old third baseman now looks like the Orioles' best organizational asset on the left side of the infield after All-Star shortstop Manny Machado was traded to the Dodgers last week.

Calhoun went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run to help the Angels to a 14-5 victory over the Astros on Sunday.

Calhoun has had a miserable year at the plate for much of 2018, but he's showing signs of life lately, as this seventh-inning long ball off Chris Devenski marked his fourth in his last five games to give him 10 on the season overall. He's still slashing an ugly .190/.247/.331 through 263 at-bats, but hopefully his recent uptick in power is a sign he'll finally start to see those numbers even out back toward his career norms in the second half of the season.

Olson went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Sunday's 6-5 win over San Francisco.

After bashing 24 home runs in just 59 games last season, Olson has finally crossed the 20-homer mark in his 100th game of 2018. In 410 plate appearances, the 24-year-old owns a .237/.329/.457 slash line with 53 runs scored and 49 RBI.

Olson is 2-for-18 with three walks, one RBI and two runs in five games since missing a start due to back tightness, and he's hitting just .191 overall in 58 July plate appearances.

Olson also has just four extra-base hits during the month, including one home run. It's a stark departure from his prodigious June, in which he compiled nine round trippers and 22 RBI. It's possible that the minor back issue that limited him to a non-starting role July 11 against the Astros is still affecting him to a degree, but there have been no official reports attesting to that.

Diaz went 4-for-6 with a triple, two RBI and two runs scored Friday against the Rangers.

Diaz got the Indians on the board in the second inning on an RBI single to right field. He certainly looked sharp in his first big-league game of the 2018 campaign, and he figures to serve as a super-utility player during his current stint with the big club.

Calhoun is out of Friday's starting lineup against the Astros.

Calhoun will get a breather to start the second half of the season as Dallas Keuchel toes the rubber for the opposition. Jabari Blash is slated to take over in right field and bat ninth.

Cron is not in the lineup Friday against the Marlins, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Cron entered the All-Star break with a solid .256/.327/.479 line and a career-high 19 homers. He'll sit Friday, with Ji-Man Choi acting as the Rays' designated hitter.

Diaz will be called up to the majors on Friday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Diaz appeared in 49 games for Cleveland last season, hitting a mediocre .263/.352/.327. He's hit .284/.415/.375 for Triple-A Columbus so far this year, though he has just two homers in 81 games. He'll likely fill a utility role in his time in the big leagues.

Guerrero (knee) was reinstated from the disabled list Tuesday and sent to High-A Dunedin.

Guerrero had been rehabbing at the rookie-league level. He's no longer technically on a rehab assignment, though his time with Dunedin will effectively still be short, as he'd been dominating at Double-A New Hampshire and was expected to head to Triple-A once healthy. Expect to see him promoted back to his former level or Triple-A Buffalo in the near future.