MLB Player News

Diaz (face) is back in the lineup Friday, batting second and starting at shortstop.

Diaz was involved in a scary instance Monday when he fouled a ball off his face, which caused severe swelling around his eye. He ultimately missed three games as a result, but he'll draw back in Friday for the Cardinals' series opener against the Brewers.

Miller was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports.

Brock Holt's return from the disabled list spells the end of Miller's brief stint with the big league club as he'll head back down to Pawtucket on Friday. Miller went 0-for-1 in his lone at-bat while with the Red Sox. Given his average production at Triple-A on the season (.256/.324/.300), Miller figures to be an emergency option for a call-up later in the season if Boston incurs another rash of injuries to the infield.

Crawford went 3-for-4 with a solo homer, two RBI, a walk and a run in Thursday's 12-6 victory over the A's.

The veteran shortstop closed out June with a flourish, tallying multi-hit efforts in three of his last four contests while driving in 10 runs over that span. Although he enjoyed a very productive month, Crawford's homer Thursday actually was his first since way back on May 19. Despite the long-ball drought, a 23 RBI haul in June has brought his season total to 52 in that category, which tops all shortstops in MLB.

Baez went 2-for-5 with a solo homer Thursday at the Mets.

Baez's eighth bomb of the year gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead in a game they'd go on to lose. He's now hit safely in six of his last seven games, and he's slashing .269/.311/.456.

Seager went 2-for-4 with a two-run blast in Thursday's decisive 8-1 victory over the Brewers.

The Dodgers are pushing to get the NL Rookie of the Year candidate in the All-Star Game, and Seager again did his part with his 17th home run, a single, an intentional walk and extending his hitting streak to 13 games. Seager is third in the NL All-Star voting at shortstop behind the Cubs' Addison Russell and the Rockies' Trevor Story.

Anderson went 3-for-4 with his first career walk in Thursday's one-run victory over the Twins.

Anderson singled in each of his first two trips to the plate, giving him 10 multi-hit performances in his first 19 MLB games. The 17th overall pick in 2013 also made a sterling defensive play with one out in the second inning, throwing out Trevor Plouffe from six feet into the outfield grass with a perfect one-hop throw to first. And for good measure, Anderson drew career walk No. 1 in the fourth in his 86th plate appearance overall. The rookie has made a clear statement, with both his bat and glove, that he has no plans of returning to the minors. He's hitting .314/.322/.512 with six doubles, a triple and three home runs since joining the team on June 10.

Diaz (face) is not in the lineup Thursday against the Royals.

Diaz will now miss his third straight game after taking a foul ball off his face in Monday's contest. There's no indication that the situation will require a DL stint, but it's possible the 25-year-old remains sidelined for a couple more games. Greg Garcia will draw another start at shortstop Thursday and figures to continue filling in however long Diaz is out.

With Ozzie Albies being sent back to Double-A to play second base, it seems safe to assume the Braves view Swanson as their shortstop of the future, MLB.com's Mark Bowman reports.

It had been up in the air as to whether Swanson or Albies would have to move off shortstop to man the keystone when the two reached the majors together, and now that question seems to be answered. Instead of promoting Swanson to Triple-A, they opted to demote Albies to Double-A to allow the two to work together in the middle of the infield. This suggests neither player is particularly close to reaching the majors this season. That said, they should spend a good chunk of 2017 turning double plays together at the big league level.

Anderson went 2-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a run in Wednesday's 9-6 victory over the Twins.

He plated Avisail Garcia and Tyler Saladino with a sixth-inning single, which was preceded by a fifth-inning two-bagger. Although he also went down on strikes in his other three at-bats, the effort still represented Anderson's third straight multi-hit outing, and extended his hitting streak to six games. The 23-year-old has certainly put together a solid start to his major league career since being called up on June 10, slashing .293/.293/.500 with six doubles, a triple, three homers, five RBI and a pair of stolen bases over his first 82 major league at-bats. The lack of walks and contact issues could lead to some slumps, but on the whole, the production should be worth a roster spot in most formats.

Seager went 1-for-4 with a double in Wednesday's 7-0 loss to the Brewers.

The Dodgers phenom had the team's sole extra-base hit on a night when Brewers starter Junior Guerra stymied hitters across the lineup. Seager managed to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, and is now hitting .337 (33-for-98) during June while raising his season average 18 points in the process.