MLB Player News

Crawford is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Pirates.

Scott Kingery will take over at shortstop against lefty Steven Brault as Crawford sits following five consecutive starts. The 23-year-old Crawford was showing some encouraging signs at the plate last week, but he's fallen cold again, collecting just two hits in his last 12 at-bats. He's struck out 15 times in 51 total at-bats, and if he doesn't pick it up a little bit, Crawford could find himself being the odd man out of the infield rotation more frequently.

Baez finished a triple short of the cycle in Friday's blowout win over the Rockies, going 4-for-6 with a double, a home run and four RBI.

Like a lot of hitters, Baez enjoyed hitting at Coors Field. The young infielder could continue to post great numbers all weekend in the thin air, as he's scorching hot at the plate. Over his past four games, Baez is 10-for-20 with two home runs and 10 RBI. Lock him into your lineup and enjoy the ride.

The X-rays on Arcia's right ankle injury came back negative Friday, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Arcia appeared to roll his right ankle returning to first base after an eighth-inning single and was helped off the field. The severity of the injury remains unclear at this point, but the young shortstop at least seems unlikely to play Saturday. Eric Sogard would be the favorite to step in at shortstop if Arcia is held out of the lineup.

Arcia exited Friday's game against the Marlins with a right ankle injury, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Arcia rounded first base in the eighth inning after a single and sustained the injury returning to the base as the Marlins attempted to catch him off the bag. The severity of the injury is unclear at this point, but the 23-year-old was helped off the field while putting no weight on his right leg.

Crawford is not in the lineup Friday against the Angels, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Crawford will head to the bench to avoid a lefty-on-lefty matchup with Angels' starter Andrew Heaney. Kelby Tomlinson will replace him at shortstop for the evening.

Owings (head) is not in the lineup for Friday's game against San Diego, Jody Jackson of Fox Sports Arizona reports.

Owings remains on the bench after suffering a head contusion during Thursday's game against San Francisco. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports that he did pass the concussion protocol, so he will be available off the bench if needed and should be good to start future contests.

Camargo is not in the lineup Friday against the Mets.

Camargo has been back from the disabled list for three games but has yet to start a game. He's made two pinch-hit appearances, so he seems to be ready to play, but Ryan Flaherty is hitting well (.352/.453/.481 through 16 games) so the Braves are in no rush to get Camargo back into the lineup. Camargo is much younger than Flaherty, but he was never a particularly promising prospect, so the Braves won't be desperate to get him as much playing time as possible.

Crawford is hitting .360/.407/.680 over his past eight games after starting the season with one hit in his first seven contests.

Crawford was supposed to have a solid but unspectacular bat, with most of his value coming from his glove and his on-base ability. His career numbers through his first 140 major-league plate appearances sit at .212/.319/.331. It's a slightly disappointing line but it's not terribly far from what he's expected to do. A player like Crawford, who's always had a good feel for hitting and an excellent approach, could easily add something more to his game as he matures, though, and this hot stretch could be the start of that. It's a very small sample, but the 23-year-old has been working to shorten his swing, according to The Athletic Philadelphia, so it's possible that this hot streak is just the beginning of a new and improved Crawford.

Swanson went 1-for-4 with an RBI double and a strikeout in Thursday's win over the Mets.

The double came when the game was already out of hand, but Swanson still put a solid swing on the ball, which is something he's done more often than not in 2018. Though his numbers will regress when his .434 BABIP returns to the mean, the 24-year-old seems to have made major strides against right-handed pitching, as he owns a .361 average in 61 at-bats against righties, which is light years better than his .224 clip in 393 at-bats from the year before. With the success of Atlanta's offense in mind, ride Swanson for as long as he continues to mash.

Owings was diagnosed with a head contusion after Thursday's win over the Giants, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.

Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters after the game that the early signs suggest Owings avoided a concussion. Owings suffered the injury colliding with A.J. Pollock in the outfield and taking a knee to the forehead. If he's held out of the lineup Friday, Jarrod Dyson would likely take his place in right field.