MLB Player News

Cruz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Reds, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

Cruz is one of multiple lefty-hitting Pirates regulars who will bow out of the lineup with southpaw Mike Minor on the hill for the Reds. Kevin Newman will slide over from second base to replace Cruz at shortstop.

Tovar (hip/groin) will head to Arizona on Sunday to begin a rehab assignment, Danielle Allentuck of The Denver Gazette reports.

The talented shortstop has not played since June 29 due to a hip/groin injury. According to Allentuck, Tovar will complete his rehab assignment and will then be moved up to Triple-A Albuquerque for the final games of the season. The 21-year-old hit .318/.386/.545 with 13 home runs and 17 steals in 66 games at Double-A.

Barrero is not in Sunday's lineup against the Pirates, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

Barrero had started 15 consecutive games since being recalled Aug. 3. However, he's hit just .193 with a near 51 percent strikeout rate in that span. Matt Reynolds will take over at shortstop and hit sixth in Barrero's place.

Adames went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's loss to the Cubs.

Adames knocked in Christian Yelich on an eighth-inning homer. It was the second home run of the week for the shortstop and his 24th of the season. Adames has been very streaky this month, with two three-game hit streaks, a five-game hit streak and now a two-game hit streak. Despite stringing together multiple hitting streaks, Adames has a .233 August batting average partially thanks to 18 strikeouts this month. He is slashing .222/.287/.451 on the season.

DeJong went 1-for-5 with a grand slam in Saturday's 16-7 win over the Diamondbacks.

The Cardinals responded to Arizona's three-run rally in the eighth inning with an eight-run ninth, with DeJong accounting for half of that burst. His grand slam snapped an 0-for-20 skid at the plate, and it helped him avoid a sixth straight hitless game. The shortstop had hit well since his call-up from Triple-A Memphis, but the recent skid has dropped him back to a .176/.256/.359 slash line for the year. He's added six homers, 24 RBI, 15 runs scored and three stolen bases in 43 contests.

Grissom went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 5-4 extra-innings win over the Astros.

Grissom responded to just the second hitless game of his career Friday with his sixth multi-hit effort Saturday. He knocked a game-tying solo shot in the fifth inning. The 21-year-old infielder has slashed .385/.442/.667 through 43 plate appearances, adding three homers, eight RBI, 12 runs scored and two stolen bases through 11 games. Grissom will look to hold down a starting role at the keystone at least until Ozzie Albies (foot) returns, which isn't expected to be until mid-September at the earliest. If Grissom stays hot, manager Brian Snitker may have no choice but to find a spot for his bat in the lineup.

Crawford went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an RBI double in a 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Rockies on Saturday.

Crawford tied the game with a solo shot off Colorado reliever Dinelson Lamet in the seventh inning and did so again with a two-out double in the ninth against closer Daniel Bard. The long ball is Crawford's seventh of the year, and he's slashing .226/.310/.358 with 36 runs and 39 RBI in 84 games.

Lindor went 3-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base in Friday's 7-2 win over the Phillies.

The switch hitting shortstop continues to rake, piling up three multi-hit performances over the last four games. Lindor's been on fire since the All-Star break, slashing a blistering .366/.435/.564 over his last 27 games with 17 RBI and 23 runs, in addition to five of his 21 homers and three of his 13 steals on the season.

Swanson went 3-for-5 with a two-run double and two runs scored in Friday's victory over the Astros.

Swanson scored on Austin Riley's three-run homer in the third inning. Swanson also doubled home Ronald Acuna and Michael Harris in the sixth inning before coming around to score on a Matt Olson sac fly two batters later. Swanson has 11 hits in his last seven games, including three multi-hit efforts. He's slashing .289/.325/.408 for the month and has a .295 batting average on the season.

Cruz went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts Friday against the Reds.

Cruz managed a hit for the second consecutive game, but that's hardly enough to mask the fact that he's struck out multiple times in each of his last five starts. He's now striking out a 37.6 percent clip across 194 plate appearances. As a result, Cruz is hitting only .198, which offsets his nine home runs and six stolen bases.