MLB Player News

Berti went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI in Saturday's victory over San Francisco.

Berti spoiled a strong start by Giants hurler Kevin Gausman with a seventh-inning homer that tied the game at 1-1. He tacked on another RBI with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to help break the game open. After playing a limited role early in the season, Berti has now started five straight games, and he has collected one hit in each of his past four. He has yet to steal a base this season, so his fantasy production has been disappointing overall.

Crawford was scratched from the lineup ahead of Saturday's game against the Marlins due to right quadriceps tightness, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Crawford dealt with side tightness earlier in the week, but it's an entirely separate issue which will sideline him Saturday. It's not yet clear how much time he's expected to miss. Mauricio Dubon will move to shortstop in his absence, with Austin Slater entering the lineup in center.

Rojas is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against San Francisco, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Rojas finds himself on the bench for just the third time this season. He's gotten off to a solid start at the plate, hitting .281/.378/.391 through 64 plate appearances. Jazz Chisholm slides to shortstop in his absence, opening up second base for Jose Devers to make his MLB debut.

Baez isn't starting Saturday's game against the Brewers.

Baez racked up three hits in Friday's series opener against Milwaukee, but he'll retreat to the bench for the first time this season during Saturday's contest. Nico Hoerner will step in as the starting shortstop, batting eighth.

Ahmed used Friday's day off from the starting lineup to work on his swing mechanics, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

Ahmed focused on his lower half, which he believes led to a chain reaction of issues throughout the rest of the swing. He also acknowledged the knee injury that dogged him throughout spring training and landed him on the injured list to start the season played more of a role than he was willing to admit. "I've developed compensations," he said, "that I couldn't necessarily feel and have to go about undoing those compensations now and get back to being the type of hitter I know I can be." The shortstop entered Friday's game as a pinch hitter for his replacement, Josh Rojas, and grounded out. That dropped Ahmed's average to .073.

Story went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a double Friday in a victory over Philadelphia.

Though Story is hitting a respectable .286/.320/.443 on the campaign, he entered Friday without a home run over his 66 at-bats. The start shortstop ended the power drought with a solo shot to left field in the fourth inning to put the Rockies on the board. Story has been among the league's top power-hitting shortstops since his first season in 2016, so there figures to be plenty more long balls off his bat as the season progresses.

Edman went 0-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run in Friday's 5-4 victory over the Reds.

Edman didn't get a hit in the contest, but he still helped fantasy managers who roster him with his fourth stolen base of the campaign. After swiping only two bags in six tries in 2020, Edman has looked more like the stolen-base threat he was in his 2019 rookie campaign, when he was successful on 15 of 16 theft attempts. The 25-year-old has accounted for two homers, four RBI and nine runs scored this season.

Baez went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, two runs and a strikeout in Friday's 15-2 win over the Brewers.

The Cubs put up at least 15 runs for the second time in the last three games Friday, and Baez reached base three times in the blowout win. The 28-year-old hit his sixth home run of the year with a solo shot in the second inning to give the Cubs an 8-0 lead. Baez is now slashing .233/.273/.507 with 17 RBI, 12 runs and 35 strikeouts this season.

Crawford (ribs) is starting Friday's game against the Marlins, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Crawford wasn't in Thursday's lineup after he exited Wednesday's contest due to rib cage tightness. However, he appeared as a pinch hitter Thursday and struck out in his lone at-bat. Crawford is starting at shortstop and batting seventh against Miami on Friday.

Ahmed will sit Friday against Atlanta.

Ahmed sits for just the second time since returning from a knee injury April 10. He's struggled significantly at the plate, hitting .075/.119/.075, though a .100 BABIP likely accounts for some of his problems. Josh Rojas will take over at shortstop in his absence.