MLB Player News

Story will rest for Sunday's game against the Cubs, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Both Story and J.D. Martinez are said to be on the bench, though the lineup has not been posted yet for Boston. The Red Sox play an early game Monday against the Rays. Look for Story to be back in the lineup in front of the July 4 crowd at Fenway.

Mateo is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Twins, Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun reports.

A 2-for-18 skid over his last eight games has brought Mateo's season line down to .196/.248/.329. He has 19 stolen bases and will make highlight plays at shortstop on occasion, but his struggles at the dish may finally start affecting his playing time. Richie Martin starts at shortstop in Mateo's absence.

Rojas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Nationals, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Rojas looks to be receiving a routine maintenance day after he went 7-for-23 with a home run, three doubles, a walk, a stolen base, three RBI and three runs while starting in each of the past seven games. Joey Wendle will fill in for Rojas at shortstop.

Pena went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts Saturday against the Angels.

Pena started his second consecutive game after clearing concussion protocol Friday. He has gone only 1-for-10 in that span while striking out five times. Pena has also struck out at a 43.5 percent clip since returning from the injured list June 26, which has limited him just a .174 average with four runs scored across five games.

Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Saturday against the Brewers.

Cruz took Aaron Ashby yard in the fourth inning to tally his third homer of the season. He's striking out at a 32.7 percent clip but has still managed 12 RBI and seven runs scored across 13 games since being recalled. Cruz has also flashed his power regularly, with seven of his 11 hits going for extra bases.

Preciado was recently placed on the injured list with a knee injury, Brett Taylor of Bleacher Nation reports.

Single-A Myrtle Beach added Preciado to the IL on June 15. The nature of the injury is not known, but North Side Bound posted a photograph of the infielder with a brace on his left leg.

Smith batted leadoff and went 2-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and was caught stealing in Saturday's 7-3 win over the Mets.

Smith was back in the leadoff spot against a right-hander after being dropped to ninth against a lefty the day prior. The rookie infielder has a 17.4 BB% and has reached base safely in 11 of 12 starts while sporting a .449 on-base percentage overall.

Swanson went 3-for-5 with one run scored and one stolen base in Saturday's win over the Reds.

This heater Swanson is on may reach legendary status in fantasy circles -- he's been a top-10 roto hitter to date. Swanson hit .330/.390/.563 with seven homers and three steals in the month of June, and he's off to a 7-for-10 start to July, with two doubles, a homer and now a steal. The 28-year-old will be eligible for free agency this winter.

Franco went 2-for-8 with two walks, a solo home run and three total runs scored while starting both games of Saturday's doubleheader against the Blue Jays.

After starting at shortstop in the matinee, Franco served as the designated hitter for the evening game. The homer in Game 1 was Franco's first since April 26. The 21-year-old just returned last weekend from a quad injury that cost him close to a month, and with better health, Franco's numbers should improve in the second half.

Abrams isn't starting Saturday against the Dodgers.

Abrams will get a breather after drawing 11 consecutive starts. During that time, he hit .231 with two doubles, three runs and three RBI. Ha-Seong Kim is taking over at shortstop and batting seventh Saturday.