MLB Player News

Rojas (hand) will not start Saturday's game against San Francisco.

Rojas left Friday's game after getting hit in the hand by a pitch. He escaped with nothing worse than a bruise but has no reason to risk anything Saturday with the Dodgers locked into the second seed in the National League. Chris Taylor will get the start at shortstop in his absence. Skipper Dave Roberts noted before Saturday's game that the swelling in Rojas' hand has gone down, and the team has put a CT scan on hold for now, per Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register.

Volpe will be on the bench Saturday against the Royals, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.

The off day means Volpe will have at most one more game to improve on his disappointing .207/.283/.383 slash line (84 wRC+). The rookie's 21 homers and 24 steals helped prop up his fantasy value, and his defense at shortstop kept him useful enough to the Yankees even when he wasn't hitting, but the team will be looking for him to take a step forward at the plate in his second major-league season. Oswald Peraza starts at shortstop Saturday.

Turner will sit for the first half of Saturday's doubleheader against the Mets.

The Phillies will be the fourth seed in the National League regardless of what happens over the weekend, so it's unlikely that they ask many of their star players to play twice in one day. Turner owns a 1.002 OPS with 16 homers since the start of August, entering the playoffs on a high note despite a rough start to his time in Philadelphia. Edmundo Sosa will take over at shortstop in his absence.

Bichette went 4-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI in Friday's 11-4 win over the Rays.

The 25-year-old shortstop has had a tough season overall, but Bichette has caught fire during the Jays' playoff push. He's reeled off six multi-hit performances in the last 10 games, slashing .364/.391/.523 with two homers, two steals, seven RBI and 11 runs, and his surge has helped reduce Toronto's magic number for a wild-card spot down to one.

Baez is not in the lineup Saturday against the Guardians.

If Baez does not appear in the game Saturday, he will finish September with a .642 OPS and one home run. Andy Ibanez will start at second base, with Zach McKinstry sliding over to shortstop.

Story went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a steal in Friday's victory over the Orioles.

Story opened the scoring Friday night with a 413-foot shot off John Means in the fifth inning. The Boston shortstop later swiped his 10th base of the season, notching double-digit steals for the sixth consecutive year. Despite the nice start to the weekend, Story has had a tough year, slashing .200/.250/.320 in 41 games.

Witt went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 12-5 win over the Yankees.

Witt's 30th home run was a two-run shot in the seventh that closed the scoring for the Royals. He's now one stolen base from a milestone, as he'd become only the fourth player in major-league history with a 30-50 season, joining Eric Davis (1987), Barry Bonds (1990) and Ronald Acuna (2023). The second-year star is slashing .275/.317/.493 with 30 homers, 96 RBI, 96 runs and 49 steals over 633 at-bats.

Crawford went 1-for-3 with a grand slam, a walk and a second run scored in Friday's 8-0 win over the Rangers.

One night after Crawford's game-winning two-run double, the shortstop put an exclamation point on the Mariners' fourth inning rally with a grand slam. He's put together a solid September, batting .257 (28-for-109) with seven homers, 21 RBI, seven doubles and 18 runs scored over 27 contests. He's now at a .266/.381/.440 slash line with 19 long balls, 65 RBI, 94 runs scored and two stolen bases over 143 contests this season.

Peguero went 2-for-4 with a steal in Friday's loss against the Marlins.

Peguero secured his sixth stolen base of the season when he swiped second in the fourth inning. The rookie infielder has managed 27 steals in 2023, including 21 during two minor-leagues stops prior to his promotion. Peguero's performance this season has been mediocre outside of the speed as he is slashing .230/.271/.364 over his first 56 big-league games.

Rojas was diagnosed with a left hand contusion following his exit from Friday's game against the Dodgers, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

It sounds like a fracture has been ruled out after Rojas got plunked by a 94.7 mph fastball in the top of the seventh inning. Los Angeles might be careful nonetheless with the veteran shortstop over the final two games of the regular season, as the team looks ahead to the playoffs. Amed Rosario took over at short Friday, and Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez would also be options at the position.