MLB Player News

Story went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double and four RBI to help pace Colorado to Friday's 10-7 win over the Mariners.

Story's monster season continues, as his third-inning blast off Christian Bergman marked his 19th long ball of the season and brought his OPS to a sterling .906. After hitting just .239 last year, Story has rebounded with a .291 mark through 358 at-bats. He also has a solid .353 on-base percentage, and he's swiped 12 bases in 16 attempts for good measure, so there really isn't anything Story hasn't done in the first half of the season as he looks headed for a career-best campaign.

Turner is not in the lineup against the Mets on Friday.

Manager Dave Martinez elected to load up the Nationals lineup with left-handed hitters against Noah Syndergaard, moving Turner to the bench in favor of Wilmer Difo. Across his last five games, Turner has gone just 1-for-21 with 10 strikeouts, so this will also serve as a little breather to clear his head.

Owings went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base Thursday in the Diamondbacks' 5-1 loss to the Rockies.

With Jake Lamb resting in the series finale, Owings stepped in at the hot corner, marking just his third start at the position all season. Owings' playing time anywhere around the diamond or in the outfield has fallen by the wayside over the past few weeks with Lamb, A.J. Pollock and Steven Souza all returning from extended stays on the disabled list. So long as the Diamondbacks' lineup mainstays remain healthy, Owings is unlikely to earn more than a handful of starts per week.

Cruz, 19, was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Month for June.

After coming over from the Dodgers in a trade deadline deal last season, Cruz has emerged as a top prospect in the Pirates' system. He improved his contact rate significantly this year, as he's currently hitting the ball 14 percent more than last season with Low-A West Virginia. Interestingly, this increased contact rate hasn't sapped his power either, as he has 11 home runs and 17 doubles. This has helped him produce a .296/.355/.497 slash line through 81 games with the Power this season. Cruz's defense is still pretty rough however, as he tallied a whopping 27 errors at shortstop already. Given this, scouts tend to think he'll either end up at third base or a corner outfield spot. Either way, his bat will play at any of those positions, and his arm is strong enough to succeed around the diamond. It's tough to see him making a big leap in the organization this season, but if he can continue mashing at the plate, he could get up to Double-A or Triple-A by the end of the 2019 season.

Story stayed hot Thursday against the Diamondbacks by going 1-for-3 with his 18th home run of the season.

Though Story's streak of multi-hit performances came to an end, he still didn't disappoint as he sent a Randall Delgado offering 407 feet to right field for another long ball. He and the Rockies will close out the first half with a home series against the Mariners that gets underway Friday.

Story went 2-for-4 with a double, run and stolen base Wednesday in the Rockies' 19-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

Story actually generated one of the more modest stat lines on a night the Rockies fell one run shy of matching a franchise-best total, but the shortstop has probably been the most consistently productive hitter in the lineup over the last few weeks. He turned in his sixth consecutive two-hit performance Wednesday and has recorded multiple hits in 10 of his last 13 starts. Dating back to the beginning of June, Story is slashing .357/.388/.615 with six home runs, four steals, 23 RBI and 19 runs in 35 games.

Baez went 1-for-6 with two strikeouts but also hit a solo home run in Wednesday's 13-inning loss to the Giants.

Baez generally struggled in this one, but his 18th home run of the season, which came off of San Francisco reliever Tony Watson in the seventh inning, tied the game at 4-4. Because of Baez's power and overall dynamic offensive profile, he's capable of impacting any game in just a single plate appearance like he did Wednesday.

D'Arnaud went 2-for-7 with a home run and a double in Wednesday's extra-innings win over the Cubs.

D'Arnaud led off the bottom of the first inning with his first home run of the season, then later provided his first double of the year. The 31-year-old hit leadoff in just his second start since joining the major-league club last week, and is 3-for-12 over that span.

Ahmed is not in Wednesday's lineup against Colorado, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

Ahmed will retreat to a spot on the bench following five straight starts. He went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and a double during Tuesday's series opener. In his absence, Ketel Marte will start at shortstop while Daniel Descalso gets the nod at second base.

Ahmed went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and a double in Tuesday's win over the Rockies.

Ahmed got the scoring started in the first inning with his 12th round tripper before adding another extra-base hit later in the tilt. Even coming off of an 0-for-7 showing Sunday, the 28-year-old is now hitting .324 (11-for-34) in July with three doubles, a triple and two home runs to bring his slash line up to .229/.287/.431 on the year.