MLB Player News

Burleson had to be removed from Thursday's game against the Pirates after the seventh inning due to nagging soreness in his right wrist, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Burleson had to miss a game last week due to his wrist, and it flared up on him again Thursday. The Cardinals are expected to promote both Jimmy Crooks and Cesar Prieto from Triple-A Memphis on Friday, and Burleson going on the 10-day injured list is one of the possible corresponding transactions.

The Pirates placed Kiner-Falefa on outright waivers Friday, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Kiner-Falefa will remain with the Pirates if he goes unclaimed on waivers. The utility player is in the second year of a two-year, $15 million contract he signed with the Blue Jays in 2023. Kiner-Falefa has been Pittsburgh's everyday third baseman since Ke'Bryan Hayes was traded to the Reds near the deadline. He's still eligible to play for Pittsburgh while on waivers.

The Cardinals will select Prieto's contract from Triple-A Memphis on Friday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Prieto will be making his MLB debut when he gets into a game. A previous report had indicated the 26-year-old second baseman would join the team Thursday against the Pirates, but he'll be called up in time for a three-game weekend road series against the Reds instead. Prieto has slashed .296/.358/.453 with 10 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 450 plate appearances with Memphis this season

The Cardinals will call up Crooks from Triple-A Memphis prior to Friday's game against the Reds, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Crooks is ready for an opportunity at the major-league level after slashing .274/.337/.441 with 14 home runs this season with Memphis. The 24-year-old has been red hot in August, producing a .337/.404/.518 line with three long balls. It's not clear what the corresponding move will be to get Crooks on the active roster, but Yohel Pozo was shaken up by a foul tip off the mask Thursday. If Pozo needs to miss time, Crooks could share catching duties with Pedro Pages.

Chourio (hamstring) has gone just 1-for-19 with an 8:2 K:BB in five rehab games with Triple-A Nashville.

The results at the plate for Chourio on his rehab assignment have not been there, but the good news is he played through the top of the 10th inning of Nashville's extra-inning loss to Charlotte on Wednesday. That could be the final step he needed to take before being reinstated from the 10-day injured list, as he was off Thursday and is expected to rejoin the Brewers for their weekend series in Toronto. Chourio has been shelved since late July with a strained right hamstring.

Brown is slated to start Saturday's game against the Cubs.

Colorado is getting German Marquez (biceps) back from the injured list Friday, but Brown will stick around in the rotation with Antonio Senzatela having been moved to the bullpen earlier this week. After bypassing Triple-A, Brown took the loss in his MLB debut Sunday, surrendering four earned runs on five hits and three walks across 3.2 innings. The rookie won't make for an appealing streaming option while taking on the Cubs at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

The Marlins activated Norby (wrist) from the 10-day injured list Friday, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of ElExtraBase.com reports.

As expected, Norby will rejoin the active roster ahead of Friday's series opener against the Mets. The third baseman had been sidelined since July 13 due to a fractured hamate bone in his left wrist that required surgery. He slashed .241/.289/.364 in 273 plate appearances this season before the injury. Maximo Acosta was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in a corresponding move.

The Marlins optioned Acosta to Triple-A Jacksonville on Friday.

He's being sent down to clear a roster spot for Connor Norby (wrist). Acosta went just 4-for-24 during his nine games with the big club, though three of those hits were home runs.

Helsley thinks his struggles since joining the Mets are a result of tipping pitches, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports. "I think I know how to fix it," the right-hander said Thursday. "So it's just being able to enforce that and that being my mental norm versus what I was doing to get my body to accept that and reinforce that."

The former Cardinals closer has a brutal 10.38 ERA, 2.31 WHIP and 11:7 K:BB in 8.2 innings with the Mets, and he's been tagged with multiple earned runs in four of his last six appearances. "It definitely stinks," Helsley said. "I've never gone through anything like this in my career." He's still looking for his first hold for New York after being acquired at the trade deadline to be the top set-up man for Edwin Diaz, instead taking three losses and getting charged with four blown saves.

Pirates manager Don Kelly said that Burrows won't make a start during this weekend's series versus the Red Sox but should be available in relief, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Burrows tossed four shutout innings in his most recent start Saturday to lower his ERA to 4.23, but Kelly said the right-hander's turn through the rotation this week will be skipped in an effort to manage his workload. After being limited to 54.2 innings in 2024 following April 2023 Tommy John surgery, Burrows has already doubled that total in 2025 between his stops with Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis. The Pirates haven't yet discussed shutting him down for the season, but the team's workload management plan could result in him missing another start or two in September. Burrows could also be deployed as a tandem starter with fellow rookie Bubba Chandler, who has covered four innings in each of his first two MLB relief appearances while piggybacking Graham Ashcraft and Carmen Mlodzinski.