MLB Player News

Wendle is on the bench Monday against the Cubs.

The infielder takes a seat with lefty Wade Miley on the bump for Chicago. Wendle doubled Sunday and is 10-for-27 with four two-baggers in his last eight games.

McLain has hit .292/.514/.625 with two homers, three steals and an 11:11 BB:K across his last seven games for Double-A Chattanooga.

He'd been slumping pretty badly before this stretch, posting a meager .617 OPS with zero homers over his prior 16 contests. It's been a hot-and-cold season for McLain, but with 17 homers, 27 steals and an .808 OPS in 103 games, he's been able to raise his prospect profile significantly. The caveat, of course, is that he's hitting .229 with a 28.1 percent strikeout rate. It's hard to see him succeeding in the majors without making significant adjustments to cut down on the whiffs.

Baez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs scored in Sunday's loss to the White Sox.

Baez was scratched from Saturday's lineup due to right knee soreness, though he did record a single as a pinch hitter. He kept it rolling Sunday with his 14th home run of the season, and the veteran is now batting .379 this month with three home runs and 11 RBI. Baez's overall numbers don't look as good, but at least he's showing some positive signs heading into 2023, which could be a bounceback campaign.

Soto went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored in Sunday's 5-1 win over the Mariners.

Soto entered Saturday's game off the bench and went 0-for-1 before drawing the start at shortstop Sunday. He was aboard on a single in the third inning for his first big-league hit, then scored on a Luis Rengifo homer. In the seventh, Soto went yard himself to pad the Angels' lead. The 22-year-old isn't a particularly notable prospect, but he slashed .281/.379/.362 across 119 games with Double-A Rocket City this year. He should have a chance to compete with Michael Stefanic and Rengifo for playing time in the middle infield over the last couple of weeks of the season.

Crawford is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Dodgers, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

After a string of five consecutive starts, the lefty-hitting Crawford will head to the bench for the series finale while southpaw Andrew Heaney toes the rubber for the Dodgers. Thairo Estrada will move over from his usual spot at the keystone to replace Crawford at shortstop.

Edman is not in the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Reds, Daniel Guerrero of MLB.com reports.

Edman started the past seven contests and will step out of the lineup Sunday after he posted a .345/.367/.379 slash line with two RBI and four stolen bases during that span. Paul DeJong will take over at shortstop in the series finale against Cincinnati.

Allen went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run in a win over the Astros on Saturday.

Allen led off the fifth inning with a single before swiping second and then coming home on Seth Brown's go-ahead three-run home run. The steal was only the rookie's second in four attempts this season, but he's shown some modest signs of life at the plate of late by hitting safely in six of his last seven games.

Franco is not in Sunday's lineup against the Rangers, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

Franco is hitting .278 with two doubles, two strikeouts and one walk in 10 games since getting activated earlier this month. Taylor Walls is starting at shortstop and hitting ninth.

Story (heel) is not in Sunday's lineup against the Royals.

Story has been sidelined all week with left heel soreness, but he hit and ran the bases Sunday. Yu Chang gets the start at the keystone, hitting eighth. Boston has an off day Monday before a two-game series in Cincinnati.

Baez (knee) is starting at designated hitter and batting third Sunday against the White Sox.

Baez entered Saturday's game as a pinch hitter after tweaking his knee during a play at the plate in Friday's game. He is swinging a hot bat, slashing .370/.404/.593 with two home runs and one steal in 15 games this month.