MLB Player News

An MRI on Friday revealed a Grade 2 strain in Herrera's left hamstring, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Herrera told reporters Friday that he is expected to miss 2-to-6 weeks due to the strain. He was warned by medical staff that attempting to play through the strain could result to a season-ending injury, so the decision was made to shut him down and place him on the 10-day injured list. The Cardinals should have a better sense of when Herrera can return once he resumes baseball activities, but the severity of the injury could keep the 25-year-old sidelined through the All-Star break. With Herrera sidelined, Yohel Pozo will serve as the primary backup catcher behind Pedro Pages, while Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman, Thomas Saggese and Willson Contreras are candidates to see increased work at designated hitter.

The Cardinals placed Herrera on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain Friday.

It's a tough blow for the St. Louis lineup, as Herrera had cemented himself as the team's top power bat in the heart of the order. Herrera is slashing .320/.392/.533 with eight home runs, 36 RBI, 22 runs scored, one stolen base and a 16:32 BB:K across 171 plate appearances. This will be his second trip to the injured list this season after missing time with a knee injury earlier in the year. Pedro Pages and Yohel Pozo will handle catching duties for the Cardinals, while Nolan Gorman and prospect Thomas Saggese, who was promoted in a corresponding move Friday, should fill the hole left by Herrera.

Flores went 1-for-1 with a two-RBI double during Thursday's 2-1 win over the Guardians.

Flores pinch hit in the seventh inning and delivered what proved to be the game-winning hit. The 33-year-old has been left out of the starting lineup in two of the club's last three games following Rafael Devers' arrival. However, Devers is expected to eventually see time at first base, which would lead to Flores getting more opportunities at designated hitter. Over 16 outings in June, Flores is slashing .269/.371/.385 with seven RBI, seven runs scored, three doubles and one home run across 62 plate appearances.

Grichuk started in right field and went 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI in Thursday's 9-5 win over the Blue Jays.

Grichuk got a rare start against a right-hander while filling in for the injured Corbin Carroll (hand). Regardless of Carroll's status for Friday's game against Colorado, Grichuk will likely start against Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber. Grichuk's having a rough June, going 2-for-20 with three walks and one RBI over nine games.

Schwarber went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Thursday's 2-1 win over Miami.

Schwarber cracked homer No. 23 for the season and his fourth of the month of June so far. The veteran slugger has seen his average dip a bit -- he's now hitting .241 this year after batting .262 as of May 17 -- but that hasn't impeded his power production very much. Over his last 136 plate appearances (31 games), Schwarber is slashing .211/.338/.474 with eight long balls, six doubles and 20 RBI to go with 20 runs scored.

McCutchen went 4-for-8 with a double, a solo homer and a second run scored in Thursday's doubleheader split with Detroit.

McCutchen extended Pittsburgh's lead to 4-0 in the nightcap with his eighth homer of the year and third in seven games, a 382-foot blast off Keider Montero in the third inning. McCutchen now has at least one hit in 10 of his last 11 games, going 16-for-44 (.364) with seven extra-base hits in that span. Overall, the veteran outfielder is slashing .271/.355/.432 with 28 RBI and 24 runs scored through 263 plate appearances this season.

Smith went 1-for-2 with two walks, a two-run home run and a sacrifice fly in Thursday's 9-5 win over the Blue Jays.

Smith clobbered his sixth home run of the season in the fifth inning off Kevin Gausman before extending the Diamondbacks' lead in in the sixth on a sac fly. Smith's .274 batting average this year would be a career best, but he has struggled at the plate in June with a .194/.381/.387 slash line, one steal, two home runs, five RBI and a 31.0 percent strikeout rate in 42 plate appearances this month.

Brooks is not in Thursday's lineup against the Dodgers.

Brooks sat against a lefty Tuesday but will now sit with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound Thursday. Jose Iglesias will enter the lineup as the designated hitter and bat seventh.

Herrera is not in the lineup for the second game Thursday's doubleheader against the White Sox.

Herrera started the previous 34 games but will take a seat for the second half of Thursday's twin bill. He went 2-for-4 with a run in the Cardinals' 5-4 win over the White Sox in the first game of the doubleheader.

Ohtani is scheduled to make his next start as a pitcher Sunday against the Nationals in Los Angeles.

Ohtani will begin his time as a two-way player with the Dodgers with a two-start pitching week, but just like when he made his mound debut in Monday's win over the Padres, the right-hander is expected to serve as an opener this Sunday. After tossing one inning and 28 pitches Monday, Ohtani could push up to the 2-to-3-inning range and toss around 40 pitches against the Nationals, though the Dodgers haven't provided official word on what his workload might look like. According to Matthew Moreno of DodgerBlue.com, manager Dave Roberts did note that Ben Casparius would "most likely" pitch behind Ohtani again, after Casparius previously earned the win Monday while covering 3.2 innings out of the bullpen. The Dodgers' goal is for Ohtani to gradually get stretched out enough to handle a typical starter's workload without needing to be followed by a bulk reliever, though it will probably take him at least a couple more outings for him to get there.