MLB Player News

Wendle isn't starting Friday against the Athletics, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Shintaro Fujinami will open the game for Oakland, but southpaw Hogan Harris will serve as their primary pitcher Friday which will force Wendle to the bench. Jon Berti will take over as Miami's shortstop and bat seventh.

Barrero is not in the starting lineup Friday versus the Brewers.

Barrero will take a seat after he went 2-for-8 with a homer, four RBI and two runs scored over a three-game series with the Red Sox. Stuart Fairchild will slide over to center field while Will Benson enters the lineup in left field and bats eighth in the series opener with Milwaukee.

The Pirates acquired Williams from the Rays on Friday in exchange for Robert Stephenson, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

The 24-year-old has slashed .237/.314/.417 with five homers and three steals for Double-A Montgomery this season and has just a .714 OPS at the level for his career. Williams was the 37th overall pick in 2020, but scouting reports that suggested he would be a glove-first shortstop have so far proven accurate.

Turner went 1-for-4 with a run scored and a steal in Thursday's loss against the Mets.

Turner is now 8-for-8 on stolen base attempts this season. He's continued to struggle at the plate, however, going 5-for-38 (.132) over his last nine games. It's been a tough first year in Philly for the All-Star shortstop. Turner's now slashing just .236/.279/.369 with five homers, 28 runs scored and 15 RBI.

Abrams went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Wednesday's win over the Dodgers.

The 22-year-old continues to struggle with his consistency. Abrams hasn't had a multi-hit performance since May 15, batting .174 (8-for-46) over his last 13 games with a 2:13 BB:K, and on the season he's slashing .236/.288/.404 with six homers and six steals in 52 contests. He remains a key part of the Nationals' rebuild, but his sketchy plate discipline is still holding him back.

Tovar went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks.

The homer was Tovar's first since May 16, though it was his fifth extra-base hit in his last five games. After a slow start to the season, the rookie shortstop had a solid May, batting .266 with a .767 OPS over 27 games. Tovar is now slashing .241/.286/.396 with four home runs, 26 runs scored, 23 RBI and two stolen bases through 199 plate appearances.

Tovar is hitting second Wednesday against the Diamondbacks.

Tovar has mostly batted at or near the bottom of the Rockies' lineup this season, but he'll get a boost to the No. 2 spot amid the most promising offensive stretch of his young career. The 21-year-old shortstop has slashed .368/.415/.526 over his last 41 plate appearances dating back to May 20.

Wendle is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Padres.

With the Marlins facing a left-handed starting pitcher (Blake Snell) for the third straight game, the lefty-hitting Wendle will once again be on the bench. Jon Berti will fill in for Wendle at shortstop.

Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday that Cruz (fibula) is expected to transition out of his walking boot next week, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.

When that happens, he'll be cleared for strength and range-of-motion exercises for his surgically-repaired left leg. Cruz is expected to be on the shelf until sometime in August.

Crawford is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Pirates, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Crawford will head to the bench after he started each of the Giants' last three games, going 4-for-8 with two doubles and two walks over that stretch. Even with the recent hot run at the plate, Crawford is still maintaining a lowly .639 OPS for the season, and it's unclear if the Giants remain committed to him as a regular in the middle infield. Rookie Casey Schmitt appears to be locked in as an everyday option at one of the two middle-infield spots, leaving Crawford and Brett Wisely to vie for most of the opportunities at the other position.