MLB Player News

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday that he's hopeful that O'Hearn (quadriceps) will begin a minor-league rehab assignment "early-ish" during the upcoming week, Danny Demilio of PittsburghBaseballNow.com reports.

On the shelf since Aug. 1 due to a left quad strain, O'Hearn resumed taking part in light baseball activities just over two weeks after sustaining the injury and recently moved his rehab program to Pittsburgh. O'Hearn appears to have steered clear of any setbacks while ramping up and is now ready to move on to the final phase of his recovery by getting in some competitive at-bats in minor-league games. The 31-year-old is believed to be targeting a return from the injured list during next weekend's series in Chicago versus the Cubs, but the Pirates will wait and see how he fares on his rehab assignment before deciding when he'll be activated.

Ortiz is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the Dodgers.

Ortiz continues to see time in the heart of the batting order against right-handed pitching, but he will head to the bench against another lefty (Justin Wrobleski), as he did Friday against Blake Snell in the series opener. Andres Chaparro will step in for Ortiz at first base. Through his first 31 games in the majors, the 24-year-old Ortiz is slashing .202/.240/.384 with five homers and 11 RBI.

Rumfield went 3-for-4 with a double, one RBI and two runs scored in Sunday's 10-8 loss to the Cardinals.

Rumfield has continued to take care of business lately, going 17-for-38 (.447) with six extra-base hits and seven RBI during his 11-game hitting streak. The first baseman also has a studly 12:4 BB:K in that span. For the season, the rookie has reaped the rewards of hitting in Colorado, batting .299 with an .849 OPS over 139 contests, with those numbers bumping up to .307 and .890, respectively, when at home. He's added 15 home runs, 67 RBI, 61 runs scored, 28 doubles and three triples overall.

Burleson went 3-for-5 with a double, one RBI and one run scored in Sunday's 10-8 win over the Rockies.

Burleson's bat had gone a little cold to start September -- he went 2-for-21 over his first five games of the month before breaking out of the funk Sunday. For the season, the first baseman is hitting .283 with an .809 OPS, 21 home runs, 103 RBI, 79 runs scored, 34 doubles, one triple and four stolen bases. He ranks second in the majors in RBI and is tied for first in doubles.

Bauers went 1-for-2 with a home run, three walks, two RBI and three runs scored in Sunday's 12-8 loss to the Reds.

Bauers reached base in four of five plate appearances, highlighted by a two-run blast in the fourth inning. It was a much-needed effort for the 30-year-old, who received a breather Saturday after going just 1-for-12 in his first four September contests. On the season, he's slashing .270/.396/.493 with 24 homers, 78 RBI, 82 runs scored and 10 steals across 518 plate appearances.

Stewart went 1-for-4 with a walk, one RBI and two stolen bases in Sunday's 12-8 win over the Brewers.

Stewart drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the second inning before adding a single and stealing second and third base in the fourth. The National League Rookie of the Year frontrunner has hit safely in eight of his past nine games, tallying three home runs, seven RBI, five runs scored and three stolen bases in that span. On the season, he's slashing .268/.338/.483 with 31 homers, 107 RBI, 80 runs scored and 15 steals across 621 plate appearances.

Vargas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.

Vargas will remain on the bench for a third game in a row and looks to have lost hold of an everyday role following Ketel Marte's return from the injured list. Vargas had made 18 starts in a stretch of 19 games from Aug. 14 through Wednesday but slashed just .176/.184/.297 during that span.

Young is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants.

The left-handed-hitting Young will take a seat for the series finale while the Giants send a southpaw (Cesar Perdomo) to the bump. Mark Vientos will spell Young at first base and will bat fifth.

Tawa is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.

Tawa's absence will end a run of 36 consecutive starts, during which he had a .244/.306/.382 slash line with five homers, six steals, 15 RBI and 19 runs. Ildemaro Vargas will step in at first base for the series finale at Houston.

Stowers went 2-for-4 with a walk and a solo home run in Saturday's 6-5 loss to the Cubs.

Returning to the lineup after sitting out Friday's game as a precaution due to some hamstring tightness, Stowers took Trent Thornton deep in the seventh inning for the Marlins' final run of the night. Stowers has hit safely in his last five contests while going 8-for-20 with four extra-base hits, and over 11 games since returning in late August from a full strain of his left hamstring, he's produced a .324/.419/.649 slash line with three doubles, three homers, five runs and eight RBI.