MLB Player News

Baez finds himself on the bench for the second time in three days Monday against Atlanta.

The Cubs have yet to announce any particular injury for Baez, though Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com notes that the shortstop appeared to tweak his hamstring Sunday against the Brewers. Baez has shown enough power (six homers) to maintain a respectable 108 wRC+ despite a 42.7 percent strikeout rate and .272 on-base percentage, so an injury-related absence may make more sense than a performance-related benching. Nico Hoerner will start in his place Monday.

Story went 2-for-4 with a grand slam and scored twice in a 12-2 win over the Phillies on Sunday.

Story capped off a seven-run fourth inning by pimping a grand slam into the left-field seats for his second home run in three games. The 28-year-old rewarded his patient fantasy managers with a recent power surge after needing 19 games to hit his first long ball of the campaign. Story has been seeing the ball extremely well lately, as he's slashing .417/.429/.792 with two home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored over his last seven games.

Ahmed started both games of Sunday's doubleheader sweep over Atlanta and hit safely in each. The shortstop went 2-for-3 with a double in the opener, then 1-for-3 with a double and two runs scored in the nightcap.

Ahmed was given a day off Friday and got a second day when Saturday's game was postponed, giving him time to work on his mechanics. The break appeared to work for this one day, as he stroked four hard-hit balls on the day. Ahmed's Statcast profile suggests his early season slump is well deserved, but a .162 BABIP supports the notion that he's been unlucky.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Turner was removed late in Sunday's 4-0 loss to the Mets for precautionary reasons after he suffered a bruised left forearm when he was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Initial X-rays on Turner's forearm/elbow returned negative, leaving the Nationals optimistic that he'll be able to avoid a trip to the 10-day injured list. He'll be re-evaluated Monday before the Nationals determine if he's ready to play in the team's two-game set in Florida against the Blue Jays, which begins Tuesday.

Turner was removed in the top of the eighth inning of Sunday's game against the Mets after he was hit in the elbow by a pitch in his previous plate appearance in the sixth inning, Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington reports.

Turner took his base after being hit and played the subsequent two half innings in the field, but he was lifted for a pinch hitter when his next turn through the order came up. According to Weyrich, Turner was seen getting his elbow checked out by a team trainer in the dugout, but the Nationals have yet to provide an update on the severity of his injury. Consider the shortstop day-to-day heading into a two-game set with the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla. that begins Tuesday.

Crawford (quadriceps) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins, Mark W. Sanchez of KNBR 680 San Francisco reports.

For the second game in a row, the Giants will be without both of their normal starters on the left side of the infield with Evan Longoria (hamstring) also sitting out. Mauricio Dubon will fill in at shortstop for Crawford, who is being listed as day-to-day.

Owings had surgery on his thumb in Arizona and has returned to Denver where he is wearing a soft cast, Danielle Allentuck of The Denver Gazette reports.

The surgery was considered successful, though Owings will have to rest for a substantial period of time. Assuming all goes well, he should be able to start taking ground balls in roughly 2-to-3 weeks.

Mateo stole a base as a pinch runner in Saturday's loss to the Dodgers.

Mateo took over on the basepaths for Luis Campusano in the ninth inning after the latter drew a walk. Mateo stole second to get into scoring position, but the Padres' subsequent hitters couldn't bring him home. The steal was Mateo's first this season. He is slashing .227/.346/.318 through 26 plate appearances.

Lindor is starting at shortstop and hitting third in Sunday's game against the Nationals.

Lindor has hit exclusively from the second spot in the order prior to Sunday's game. However, the team shifted their lineup a bit, with Pete Alonso rising from the cleanup spot to second and Lindor shifting down one spot. Despite a potent lineup on paper, the Mets have averaged only 3.3 runs per game this season -- second-worst in the league -- so manager Luis Rojas may be looking to jumpstart the offense.

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.