MLB Player News

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol is weighing the possibility of moving the slumping Contreras down in the batting order, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

Contreras has gotten off to a dreadful start this season, going 5-for-49 with 22 strikeouts, and he's done so while mostly batting second for St. Louis. The 32-year-old is a good bet to eventually get going offensively, but it's possible he'll be moved to a lower profile spot in the batting order while he's scuffling. If Marmol wants to continue alternating his lefty and righty hitters, Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn would appear to be the most likely candidates to be elevated to the No. 2 spot, if Contreras is indeed dropped lower in the lineup.

Tovar is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Brewers.

Tovar will get his first day off of the season after he played all nine innings Wednesday night in the Rockies' 17-2 loss. Kyle Farmer will slide over from second base to cover Tovar's usual post at shortstop.

Bryant is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Brewers.

Colorado will be holding out a few of their lineup regulars for a day game after a night game, as catcher Hunter Goodman and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar will join Bryant on the bench for the series finale. Nick Martini will serve as Colorado's designated hitter in place of Bryant.

Goodman is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Brewers.

Goodman had started at catcher or designated hitter in each of the Rockies' first nine games, but he'll find himself on the bench for the second time in Colorado's three-game series with the Brewers. Jacob Stallings will get another starting nod behind the dish while Goodman's bat has cooled off a bit following a red-hot start to the season. Over his last five games, Goodman has gone 2-for-19 with two walks against five strikeouts.

The Pirates optioned Harrington to Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday.

Called up from Triple-A on April 1 when the Pirates temporarily expanded to a six-man rotation, Harrington was lit up for six earned runs over four innings while taking a loss in his MLB debut against the Rays. He shifted back to the bullpen following that start and piggybacked Carmen Mlodzinski in Monday's win over the Cardinals, earning a four-inning save while allowing three earned runs. The Pirates still envision Harrington filling a starting role in the long term, so he'll head back to Indianapolis and will presumably re-enter the Triple-A club's rotation this weekend. He could be back with the Pirates in short order, however, as Pittsburgh will begin a stretch of 10 games in 10 days Friday and could bring Harrington aboard for a spot start during that stretch to keep ace Paul Skenes on a five-day rest schedule between starts.

Yates (1-0) earned the win over the Nationals on Wednesday, striking out two batters in a perfect inning of work.

Yates was called upon in the sixth inning with Los Angeles down a run. He retired the side in order on 12 pitches, fanning the final two batters he faced. Yates was then put in line for the victory when the Dodgers scored twice in the bottom of the frame. The veteran reliever hasn't notched a hold since his first outing of the campaign, but he's been effective in his first season with the club, holding the opponent scoreless in six of his seven appearances to date. Yates holds a 2.84 ERA and 0.79 WHIP along with a dominant 13:1 K:BB through 6.1 frames.

The Cardinals optioned Roycroft to Triple-A Memphis on Thursday.

St. Louis is off Thursday and will likely wait until shortly before Friday's game against the Phillies to announce a replacement for Roycroft on the 26-man active roster. After winning a bullpen role out of spring training, Roycroft made seven relief appearances and collected two holds through the first two weeks of the season while allowing seven runs (five earned) on six hits and six walks over 5.2 innings.

Pages went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Wednesday in a 6-5 win against Washington.

Pages' long ball came at a crucial point in the contest, as his seventh-inning solo shot tied the game 5-5. It was the second homer in as many days for the second-year outfielder, who did not go deep in any of his first 11 contests of the campaign. Pages is still slashing a meager .171/.306/.341 on the season, but he's gone 4-for-11 with the pair of home runs over his past three games.

Bart went 2-for-5 with an RBI on Wednesday against the Cardinals.

Bart delivered the walk-off hit in the bottom of the 13th inning and concluded Pittsburgh's series against the Cardinals with five hits across 11 at-bats. He also tallied three extra-base hits -- including his first homer of the season-- while driving in four. Bart showed signs of breaking out across 282 plate appearances in 2024, and he's performed well at the plate across 45 plate appearances in 2025 while serving as the Pirates' primary catcher.

Horwitz (wrist) has progressed to taking batting practice, throwing and fielding ground balls, MLB.com reports.

Horwitz has been swinging since early March, though his progression to batting practice is significant. He's still a few weeks away from a rehab assignment, which is projected to begin in late April or early May.