MLB Player News

Smith is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Padres.

Smith will retreat to the bench for the third game in a row, with his latter two absences coming while the Padres have sent right-handed starting pitchers to the hill. The 31-year-old has held down a strong-side platoon role for much of the season, but he's been squeezed for playing time in the wake of Mike Yastrzemski's return from the injured list. The lesser role comes while Smith has provided a poor .468 OPS over 13 games since the start of July, though he could still see at least semi-regular starts until Ronald Acuna (hamstring) completes his rehab assignment.

The Cardinals scratched Pages from the lineup ahead of Wednesday's game against the Angels due to a stomach virus, Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Jimmy Crooks will draw the start at catcher and bat ninth in place of Pages, who can be considered day-to-day. Since tying a season high with three hits in a 9-6 win over the Twins on June 13, Pages has gone just 3-for-26 (.115 average) with a 39.3 percent strikeout rate.

Crooks will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Angels.

The young backstop had been slated to sit for the second day in a row, but he'll end up receiving a turn behind the plate in the series finale after Pedro Pages (illness) was scratched just minutes before first pitch. Crooks is hitting .176 with three home runs, nine RBI and four runs in 28 games since St. Louis called him up from Triple-A Memphis on May 29.

Marchan will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Dodgers.

He'll draw his first start since July 10 while top backstop J.T. Realmuto receives a rare day off in the series finale. Marchan is valued for his defense but has been an easy out at the plate this season, posting a lowly .322 OPS across 89 plate appearances.

Realmuto is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Dodgers.

The Phillies are off Thursday, so Realmuto will take a seat Wednesday and effectively get two days of rest before likely returning to the starting nine in Friday's series opener versus the Yankees. Realmuto has put together a seven-game hitting streak, during which he's driven in five runs and scored four times.

Rincones is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Dodgers.

The Phillies will keep the left-handed-hitting Rincones on the bench for a second straight game while the Dodgers send another southpaw (Eric Lauer) to the bump. Bryan De La Cruz will replace Rincones in right field Wednesday for what will be De La Cruz's Phillies debut.

Crawford is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Dodgers.

The left-handed-hitting Crawford will remain on the bench for the second night in a row while the Dodgers send another southpaw (Eric Lauer) to the bump. Derek Hill will replace Crawford in center field and will bat sixth.

Marsh is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Dodgers.

The Phillies have given Marsh more opportunities to play against left-handed pitching this season, but he'll take a seat for the series finale while the Dodgers send southpaw Eric Lauer to the bump. Philadelphia will roll out an all-right-handed-hitting outfield of Edmundo Sosa, Derek Hill and Bryan De La Cruz from left to right Wednesday.

Kepler is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Athletics.

The left-handed-hitting Kepler will head to the bench for the second time in the series while the Athletics send another southpaw (Gage Jump) to the bump for the finale. Ryan Waldschmidt will replace Kepler in left field and will bat ninth.

Mead is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's contest in Colorado.

Mead picked up three hits in Monday's win over the Rockies but then went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Tuesday. Jorbit Vivas will cover third base while Mead rests in the series finale.