MLB Player News

De La Cruz went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Sunday's 9-0 win over the Dodgers.

De La Cruz had no trouble setting the table from the leadoff spot, and he also showed some power with his second-inning blast. Sunday's effort was already his third career four-hit game. The 21-year-old had gone 16 games without a multi-hit effort. He's now at a .277/.322/.473 slash line with seven homers, 20 RBI, 37 runs scored and 17 stolen bases through 46 contests.

Marcano said Sunday that he will likely require surgery to address ligament damage in his right knee, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Marcano injured his knee Monday in San Diego and was placed on the 60-day injured list a day later, officially ruling him out until late September. The Pirates' decision to quickly move Marcano to the 60-day IL already implied that a return before the end of the 2023 season was unlikely, and knee surgery would make that outcome official. If Marcano's season is in fact over, he'll finish with a .233/.276/.356 slash line to go with three home runs and five stolen bases across 220 plate appearances.

The Cardinals acquired Saggese, right-hander Tekoah Roby and left-hander John King from the Rangers on Sunday in exchange for left-hander Jordan Montgomery and right-hander Chris Stratton, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Of the three minor-league players heading back to St. Louis, Saggese projects to have the most long-term real-life and fantasy value. The 21-year-old has dabbled at shortstop, second base and third base during his time at Double-A Frisco this season, but he'll probably be a better fit defensively at one of the latter two positions once he reaches the big leagues. Saggese lacks any standout tools but has been a well above league-average hitter at each stop in the minors since being selected by Texas in the fifth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft. Over 417 plate appearances with Frisco this season, Saggese slashed .320/.385/.522 with an 8.5 percent walk rate, a 22.5 percent strikeout rate, 15 home runs and eight steals (in 10 attempts).

Chang is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants.

Pablo Reyes will step in at shortstop after Chang manned the position for each of the last 11 games while slashing .194/.242/.355. Both Chang and Reyes are expected to see more limited opportunities at shortstop in the near future, as Trevor Story (elbow) appears on track to return from the 60-day injured list at some point during the upcoming week.

Wendle is not in the lineup for Sunday's game versus Detroit, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Wendle is 0-for-12 over his past five games and will take a seat Sunday with southpaw Tarik Skubal on the mound for the Tigers. Jon Berti will start at shortstop and bat cleanup.

Williams is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Phillies, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Williams will take a seat for the series finale after he started at shortstop in each of the past three games while going 1-for-9 with an RBI. Though Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero will draw starts at the two middle-infield spots Sunday and appear to be the Pirates' preferred options at the positions for the time being, neither player has produced well enough yet to run away with an everyday role. As such, look for Williams to stay involved and occasionally poach starts from one of the two players while he's up with the big club.

Smith started at shortstop and went 1-for-2 with a walk in Saturday's 4-0 loss to San Diego.

The seldom-used Smith made his third start in the last six games. He replaced Ezequiel Duran, who is the primary fill-in at shortstop for the injured Corey Seager (thumb). With Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reporting that Seager could starting swinging a bat Monday or Tuesday, Smith's path to plate appearances could dry up this week.

Neto (back) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

Neto will be relegated to the bench for the seventh time in eight games while he continues to manage a stiff back. Luis Rengifo will once again serve as the Angels' leadoff man in the rookie's stead, while Andrew Velazquez fills in for Neto at shortstop.

Lindor went 2-for-4 with a walk and a two-run home run in Saturday's 11-6 loss to the Nationals.

His fifth-inning shot off Patrick Corbin came too late for the Mets on Saturday, but it did snap a 15-game homer drought for Lindor. The shortstop has reached 20 home runs for the sixth straight full season, a streak interrupted only by the pandemic campaign, but his .231/.318/.451 slash line still falls well short of his production from his Cleveland heyday.

Anderson went 3-for-5 with a solo home run in Saturday's 7-2 win over the Guardians.

He hadn't gone yard in over a calendar year, but Anderson ended the drought by driving a Logan Allen fastball deep to left field in the first inning. The shortstop appears to be on the trade block with the deadline approaching, so he's picked the right time to catch fire at the plate -- since the All-Star break, Anderson's slashing .351/.413/.439, a far cry from his .245/.286/.293 line on the season.