MLB Player News

McLain isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Angels.

McLain will step out of the starting nine Saturday after going 0-for-4 to begin the series Friday. His absence will move Sal Stewart to second base while Nathaniel Lowe starts at first, batting sixth.

Winn (leg) expressed optimism Friday about returning to the lineup for Saturday's game against the Red Sox, Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Winn was forced to exit Friday's contest with a bruised left leg after being hit by a pitch, but he escaped serious injury and doesn't expect to miss any starts. If the Cardinals elect to hold Winn out for a bit as a precaution, Thomas Saggese is likely to fill in at shortstop.

De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk in Friday's loss to the Angels.

The Reds couldn't muster a lot of offense, though De La Cruz managed to launch his fourth homer of the season in the bottom of the eighth when Cincinnati was already down by nine runs. De La Cruz has been seeing the ball well to start the season and has hit safely in all but three of his 14 games, batting .236 with a .796 OPS, four homers, seven RBI, 10 runs scored, three steals and a 7:18 BB:K across 62 plate appearances.

Pena went 2-for-5 with a double, a solo home run and a second run scored for Single-A St. Lucie on Friday.

The long ball was the first of the season for Pena as he begins his first stateside campaign after spending last year in the Dominican Summer League. Still only 18 years old, Pena has hit safely in his first six games for St. Lucie, batting .400 (10-for-25) with three doubles, Friday's homer, five steals in five attempts and a 2:3 BB:K. He'll rocket up prospects lists quickly if he keeps dominating pitchers two or three years older than him.

Adames went 2-for-5 with a solo home run, a double, an additional RBI and a strikeout in Friday's win over the Orioles.

Adames snapped his eight-game homerless drought with a shot to right-center field in the top of the third inning, and he'd later add another RBI with a double in the top of the fourth. The veteran shortstop extended his multi-hit streak to four games, and all but one of those hits have gone for extra bases. He's hitting .471 with a 1.500 OPS over that four-game stretch, which is a marked improvement over the .184 average and .560 OPS he posted in the first 10 games of the campaign.

Abrams went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a run scored in Friday's 7-3 win over the Brewers.

Abrams doubled home Curtis Mead to give the Nationals a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Abrams has recorded at least one hit in 10 of 12 games he's played this season and has been particularly hot at the plate since the calendar flipped to April. In eight games this month, Abrams is 10-for-28 with four home runs, 12 RBI, seven runs scored and four stolen bases. On the season, he's slashing .311/.415/.600 across 53 trips to the plate.

Winn was diagnosed with a lower-leg contusion after getting hit by a pitch in Friday's game versus Boston, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Winn ran for himself and played an inning of defense after getting hit by a pitch in the third inning but was eventually pulled in the fifth. The Cardinals are officially labeling his injury as a contusion, however, which suggests he escaped the incident without suffering any structural damage. If the team decides to sit him down for a day or two as a precaution, Thomas Saggese and Jose Fermin would be candidates to see time at shortstop.

Winn was removed from Friday's game against the Red Sox after getting hit on the knee by a pitch, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Winn drew a walk in his first plate appearance before taking an 84-mph sweeper off his knee in the third inning. He was initially able to remain in the game but was eventually pulled when St. Louis took the field in the fifth. The Cardinals will likely send him in for X-rays to determine whether he suffered a fracture.

Bogaerts went 2-for-6 with a grand slam, an additional run scored and two stolen bases in a 7-3 extra-innings win over the Rockies on Thursday.

Bogaerts had already put together a good fantasy line thanks to his two thefts when he came up to the plate with the bases loaded in a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 12th inning. The veteran shortstop then launched a grand slam to left field to send San Diego home with the victory. Bogaerts started very slowly this season, posting a .308 OPS over his first eight games, but he's since turned things around, going 9-for-22 with two homers, five RBI and the pair of steals across his past five contests.

Sanoja went 3-for-4 with two RBI in Thursday's 8-1 win over the Reds.

With Jakob Marsee getting the start at designated hitter, Sanoja was in center field Thursday and hit eighth against right-handed starter Rhett Lowder. Sanoja singled in each of his first three at-bats and drove home runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Sanoja is now slashing .406/.424/.500 with three doubles, seven RBI, one run scored, one stolen base and a 1:4 BB:K across 33 trips to the plate this season, but his upside is capped given that he's started in just two of seven games against right-handed pitchers.