MLB Player News

McLain (oblique) remains on track to be activated from the 10-day injured list Tuesday, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

McLain resumed taking batting practice earlier this week and is nearing the end of his recovery from a right oblique strain that has kept him on the shelf since late August. The 24-year-old infielder had delivered an impressive .290/.357/.507 slash line with 16 homers and 14 steals across his first 89 major-league games prior to suffering the injury.

Lindor went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases in Thursday's loss to the Phillies.

The shortstop's bat has slowed down in September -- Lindor's slashing .257/.325/.392 through 83 plate appearances -- but he's remained busy on the basepaths with four steals in his last four games, giving him 30 in a season for the first time in his career. Lindor still has an outside shot at a 30-30 campaign, but he would need four homers in the Mets' final nine contests to pull it off.

Jorge hit .283 with zero home runs, 10 steals and a 16.3 percent strikeout rate in 49 games for Single-A Fresno.

Jorge put up video game numbers (178 wRC+) in the Arizona Complex League, but given that he was two years older (turns 21 in March) than most legitimate prospects in that league, we should focus on his production in the California League, where he was still a little older than the typical high-end prospect. There's no doubting Jorge's athleticism and projectable 6-foot-3, 170-pound frame, but he struggled to lift the ball consistently (51.6 percent groundball rate), which led to a .056 ISO.

Swanson went 2-for-5 with a home run and three total RBI in Thursday's loss to the Pirates.

Swanson singled home a run in the seventh inning, then plated two more on a home run in the ninth, his 22nd of the season. The shortstop had 25 long balls last year and a career-best 27 a year before that, so he'll need a strong final nine games of 2023 to reach either of those figures. Swanson has still been a solid contributor for the Cubs as they fight for a playoff spot.

Rojas isn't in the Dodgers' lineup Thursday against the Giants, Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA reports.

Rojas will get a breather Thursday after failing to record a hit in each of his last two games. Enrique Hernandez will fill in at shortstop and bat ninth.

The Giants recalled Luciano from Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday.

Luciano seems positioned to serve as the Giants' primary shortstop over the final 10 games of the 2023 regular season after the team placed Brandon Crawford (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list Thursday and released Paul DeJong. Luciano is a high-ranking prospect and can use this time as an audition to be the Opening Day starter at short in 2024, though he hasn't been much of a counting stats compiler in either the minors or majors this year.

The Giants selected Fitzgerald's contract from Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday.

Fitzgerald will get his first taste of the majors, and he might see a few starts at shortstop as Brandon Crawford (hamstring) heads to the IL and Paul DeJong was handed his release. A fourth-round draft pick of the Giants in 2019, the 26-year-old Fitzgerald had broken out to the tune of a .292/.365/.511 batting line with 22 homers and 32 stolen bases through 121 games this season between Double-A and Triple-A.

Crawford was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a right hamstring strain, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Crawford suffered the injury Wednesday in what could wind up being his final game in a Giants uniform. The 36-year-old impending free agent is eligible to be activated Oct. 1, but that is the last day of the regular season and it's unclear whether he'd be healthy anyway. Marco Luciano and Tyler Fitzgerald have both been brought up from Triple-A Sacramento to cover at shortstop down the stretch. Paul DeJong was given his release.

Abrams went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored in Wednesday's 13-3 win over the White Sox. He also drew two walks.

Abrams doubled to lead off the first inning before coming around to score Washington's first of 13 runs on the day. He added another double in the following inning to score Ildemaro Vargas and Jacob Young, giving the shortstop his fifth multi-hit game this month. Abrams has now hit safely in three straight and has drawn 11 walks already this month after recording just two free passes in August.

Bogaerts went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and a stolen base in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Rockies.

After struggling for much of the year, Bogaerts is putting together a massive finish to his first season with the Padres. The shortstop has reeled off six straight multi-hit performances, and through 17 games in September he's batting .471 (32-for-68) with nine doubles, a triple, four homers, five steals, eight RBI and 19 runs. Bogaerts needs just one more home run and two more stolen bases to record his first career 20-20 campaign.