MLB Player News

Abrams went 2-for-4 with a stolen base in Wednesday's 8-3 loss to the Cubs.

Abrams has multiple hits in nine of 14 games in July, and he's added nine of his 18 steals on the season in that span. The shortstop has thrived atop the order, going 15-for-37 (.405) from that spot since he moved there July 7. Abrams has lifted his slash line to .254/.302/.414 with eight home runs, 36 RBI, 43 runs scored, 17 doubles and four triples over 87 contests overall.

Cubs manager David Ross said Wednesday that he's optimistic Swanson (heel) will be able to return this weekend, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Swanson began taking batting practice Monday and has increased his level of baseball activity in the days since with no apparent issues. The shortstop has been on the shelf since July 8 because of a bruised left heel.

Crawford was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, retroactive to July 17, with left knee inflammation.

Crawford will be sidelined for at least the next eight days with another leg injury. He's slashed just .207/.285/.333 in 64 games (222 plate appearances) this season when healthy.

Perdomo is absent from the lineup Wednesday at Atlanta.

Nick Ahmed will start at shortstop and bat eighth versus right-hander Charlie Morton and the NL East leaders. This looks to be a routine day of rest for Perdomo, who had two hits and two RBI in the Diamondbacks' 16-13 defeat of Atlanta on Tuesday night.

Allen will start at shortstop and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Red Sox.

Allen will pick up a sixth straight start at shortstop coming out of the All-Star break, but he may not have a long leash atop the depth chart. He's getting on base just 20 percent of the time thus far in the second half and has put together a .197/.243/.228 slash line across 139 plate appearances in the majors this season.

Franco is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rangers, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Tampa Bay will withhold two of its top hitters from the lineup for the series finale in Franco and Randy Arozarena, with both players seemingly just receiving maintenance for the day game after a night game. Taylor Walls will fill in at shortstop and bat eighth in place of Franco, who went 0-for-7 with a walk between the first two games of the series.

Duran is not in the starting lineup Wednesday versus the Rays.

Duran will get a breather after he went 1-for-6 with a two-run home run, a walk and three strikeouts between the first two games of the series. Robbie Grossman will draw the start at designated hitter and bat eighth in the series finale with Tampa Bay.

Marcano will start at shortstop and bat seventh Wednesday against the Guardians.

Marcano had started at shortstop in nine of the Pirates' first 12 games of July, but he was the bench for the first two contests of the series in the wake of prospect Liover Peguero's promotion from Triple-A Indianapolis. Though Peguero looks like he'll get a trial as the Bucs' primary shortstop for the time being, he'll take a seat Wednesday in favor of Marcano after going 0-for-6 with five strikeouts in his first two starts. If neither Peguero nor Marcano is able to provide consistent production at the plate over the next several games, one or both could be headed back to Triple-A once Ji Hwan Bae (ankle) eventually makes his return from the 10-day injured list.

Anderson went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI on Tuesday against the Mets.

Anderson has multiple hits in three of his last four starts and has maintained a .258 average across his last 62 at-bats. He has still yet to homer and has a particularly poor .041 ISO on the season, though it's encouraging to see him at least reaching base at a more consistent clip of late. Anderson consistently hits second in the order, so he could be a source of runs in the final months of the season.

Story (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment Friday at Double-A Portland, MLB.com reports.

The initial plan calls for Story to play five innings at shortstop Friday, then serve as the designated hitter Saturday, followed by another five innings at short Sunday. Boston manager Alex Cora said Story is feeling good physically, both at the plate and in the field, and that the assignment is about building him up. The manager also stressed the organization will not rush Story back despite a desperate need for stability at the shortstop position in the majors. The rehab assignment could last up to 20 days.