MLB Player News

Owings went 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and an RBI in the Diamondbacks' 8-3 win over the Rockies on Sunday.

After moving to the bench for the first two games of the series, Owings entered the lineup Sunday in place of a resting David Peralta and kept the Diamondbacks offense humming. With a .770 OPS to go with two stolen bases over his last 12 games, Owings' production has been on the upswing of late, but it may be too late for him to recapture a full-time role in the outfield after the Diamondbacks acquired Jon Jay from the Royals on Wednesday to give the team a much-needed on-base threat atop the order.

Ahmed went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, a run and an RBI in the Diamondbacks' 8-3 win over the Rockies on Sunday.

After sitting out Friday's victory, Ahmed came up big in the final two games of the series in Colorado, going 4-for-8 with a home run, four RBI and three runs. The RBI and run totals exceeded Ahmed's production from the previous eight games combined, so it will be difficult to rely on him outside of very deep mixed leagues and NL-only formats as he returns to a more neutral offensive environment in Arizona for the Diamondbacks' seven-game slate this week.

Crawford went 4-for-4 with a two-run home run and a double in the Giants' 2-0 victory over the Nationals on Sunday.

Crawford continued his ridiculous hot streak of recent weeks with this four-hit performance bringing his slash line up to a shiny .338/.385/.536 through 222 at-bats. Those numbers make him one of the best offensive shortstops in baseball to start the season, and even if Crawford's average ends up evening out back toward his career mark of .257 as the year progresses, he certainly has the look of a player primed for a career-best campaign at the plate.

Swanson will start at shortstop and bat second Sunday against the Dodgers, David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

With a 10-for-31 (.323 average) showing at the dish so far this month, Swanson earned a promotion up in the lineup and will serve as the Braves' No. 2 hitter for the fourth straight contest. Swanson's move up in the order has come at the expense of third baseman Johan Camargo, who will hit in the bottom third of the lineup for the third consecutive contest.

Crawford will draw his fourth consecutive start at third base and bat seventh Sunday against the Brewers, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

When Crawford was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list Wednesday, the assumption was that he would pick up most of his starts at shortstop, where his solid defense would have its greatest impact. Instead, the Phillies have opted to keep the struggling Scott Kingery at shortstop while having Crawford replace Maikel Franco as the team's primary third baseman. While Franco's .704 OPS this season is far greater than what Crawford (.569) or Kingery (.593) has provided, it appears the Phillies value the latter two players' defense and baserunning skills more than what Franco has to offer at the plate. It thus looks like Crawford will retain an everyday role in the infield, albeit at a different position than expected.

Baez is starting at second base and leading off in Sunday's game against the Pirates.

Baez got a day off Saturday, though he did make a defensive appearance at second base. The 25-year-old will hop back in there Sunday and is leading off for just the second time this season. Baez enters the game with a .254/.284/.531 slash line and a team-high 14 home runs.

Arcia is not in the lineup Sunday against the Phillies.

Arcia will sit for the second time since being recalled from the minors May 30. The young shortstop has hit .292 since his promotion but will give way to Eric Sogard in the series finale.

Story went 3-for-4 with two two-run home runs Saturday against the Diamondbacks.

Story blasted home runs in each of his first two at-bats, both of which came off Matt Koch. He now has 14 for the season, three of which have come in his last two games. He continues to take advantage of Coors Field as he has 12 home runs there and is slugging .784 in 97 at-bats.

Ahmed went 3-for-5 with a home run, two doubles, three RBI and two runs scored Saturday against the Rockies.

Ahmed produced throughout the game, starting with his ninth home run of the season in the second inning against Chad Bettis and capping his night off with a two-RBI double in the eighth inning. Despite just a .221 batting average, Ahmed continues to flash surprising power as he has already tied his career-best home run total in a single season through just 199 at-bats.

General manager Michael Girsch said DeJong went in for an evaluation Friday and received good news, as his fractured left hand has seen "significant healing," though he hasn't been cleared for baseball activities at this point in time, Jim Hayes of Fox Sports Midwest reports.

DeJong has been out since the middle of May after being hit by pitch against the Phillies. He was cleared to start "everyday activities" last week but he still appears to be a little ways off from resuming any sort of hitting or fielding drills. With that, it's unlikely that he will be back in action for the Cardinals prior to the last week in June, though a more specific timetable should come into focus once he's able to start baseball activities.