MLB Player News

Smith went 0-for-3 with two walks as the leadoff hitter in Saturday's 6-4 loss to the Nationals.

Smith batted leadoff for the first time since being added to the major-league roster at the end of May. He missed some time due to injury and has played just 10 games with 33 plate appearances since then, so his .485 on-base percentage comes from a small sample size. As a member of Triple-A Round Rock, Smith reached base at .370 clip over 208 plate appearances.

Adames went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI single and two runs scored in Sunday's victory over the Blue Jays.

Adames sent Jonathan Davis home on a single in the second inning, then came around to score later in the inning on a Rowdy Tellez homer. Adames later reached home on a Luis Urias sac fly. The shortstop has a hit in back-to-back games and in eight of his last 10 games. Adames improved his batting average to .216 after the three-hit performance.

Allen went 1-for-4 with two RBI in Sunday's victory over the Royals.

Allen picked up both of his RBI on a late single, sending Chad Pinder and Cristian Pache to the plate. The shortstop has played in four games since June 21 and has a hit in three of them while only striking out once during that span. Allen may be earning himself some more playing time as he is slashing .273/.429/.636 this month.

Rojas went 1-for-4 with a solo home run during Sunday's 3-2 win over the Mets.

Rojas went hitless with a strikeout during his return to the field Saturday, but he hit a game-tying homer in the third inning during Sunday's series finale against the Mets. The 33-year-old has recorded hits in six of the last seven games and has hit .333 with a homer, three runs, three RBI and two stolen bases during that time.

Marcano (illness) started at second base and went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run Sunday in his first rehab game for Single-A Bradenton.

According to Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com, Marcano, who is regaining conditioning after testing positive for COVID-19 on June 17, will shift his rehab to Double-A Altoona for his next game action. He could be activated from the IL as soon as Wednesday, with Josh VanMeter (finger) also a potential candidate to be activated from the 10-day injured list around that time. Once both Marcano and VanMeter are reinstated, the two may have to battle for playing time at the keystone.

Story went 2-for-6 with a stolen base and two RBI in a 8-3 win Sunday in Cleveland.

Story singled and stole his 10th base in the second and added a two-run single in the sixth. The stolen base gives him double-digit steals and homers for the fifth consecutive season. While his .227/.304/.414 is not what Boston had in mind when they signed him to a $140 million contract in the offseason, his counting stats are fairly good and he's on pace to hit over 20 homers, drive in over 100 runs and steal more than 20 bases.

Crawford was ejected in the second inning of Sunday's game against the Angels for his involvement in a benches-clearing brawl, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports. He went 0-for-1 before exiting the contest.

Crawford was one of eight players or managers from the two teams who was sent to the locker room for the rest of the game after play resumed following an 18-minute delay. Footage from the brawl courtesy of Bally Sports West appeared to show Crawford throwing a punch, so he could be subject to a suspension once MLB reviews the incident and doles out punishment.

Double-A Chattanooga placed McLain on its 7-day injured list Sunday due to an unspecified injury.

The Reds haven't provided an explanation behind McLain's placement on the IL, but he hadn't played in either of Chattanooga's past two games after apparently getting hurt Thursday against Tennessee. For the season, the 22-year-old infielder is hitting .233 with 12 home runs and a 16-for-17 success rate on stolen-base attempts across 261 plate appearances at Double-A.

Velazquez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Velazquez will sit for the second time in the series while Luis Rengifo and Matt Duffy serve as the Angels' starting middle infielders Sunday. Since the start of June, Velazquez has slashed an anemic .105/.136/.228 while striking out at a whopping 44.1 percent clip, so his hold on an everyday role could be tenuous.

Smith will start at third base and bat leadoff in Sunday's game against the Nationals.

Smith's path to everyday playing time at the hot corner looks clear after fellow rookie Ezequiel Duran was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday, and the 24-year-old could get a chance to hit out of the prominent spot in the lineup moving forward. According to Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News, manager Chris Woodward said Smith "has a lot of qualities of a leadoff guy," perhaps hinting that Smith could continue to slot atop the lineup for additional contests beyond Sunday. Smith, who has produced an .881 OPS to go with two stolen bases through his first 28 MLB plate appearances, at least looks like an interesting speculative pickup in 12-team or deeper mixed leagues where he might be available.