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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B | TOR
Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Won't receive promotion
Guerrero will not be promoted to the majors this season, Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 The Fan reports.
There was some hope that Guerrero would get a cup of coffee in September, but the Blue Jays will hold off on promoting the 19-year-old stud in order to keep his service time down. Guerrero will undoubtably make his major-league debut sometime in 2019 after slashing a combined .382/.439/.637 with 20 homers across 94 games in the minors this season.
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Anthony Rizzo 1B | NYY
Cubs' Anthony Rizzo: Collects three hits, home run in loss
Rizzo went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run in Monday's 4-3 loss to the Brewers.
Rizzo went deep in the eighth inning against stingy Brewers' lefty Josh Hader, who entered the game holding left-handed hitters to a .081 batting average with no home runs. The 29-year-old slugger has now homered in consecutive games to got to 24 long balls for the season, which puts him eight behind his total in each of the last two years.
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Asdrubal Cabrera 1B | CIN
Phillies' Asdrubal Cabrera: Swats solo homer in loss
Cabrera went 1-for-3 with a solo homer in Monday's loss to the Marlins.
Cabrera put the Phillies up 1-0 with his solo shot off Jose Urena in the second inning, though that would be the team's only run. The 32-year-old has now homered twice in the last four games, bringing his season total to 22, just three shy of his career high (25) set in 2011.
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Dominic Smith DH | ATL
Mets' Dominic Smith: Back in majors
Smith was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday.
Smith will spend the final month of the season in the majors with the minor-league season coming to a close Monday. The 23-year-old owns an unsightly .195/.225/.377 slash line across 31 games with the big club this season, while he slashed just .258/.328/.380 across 84 games with the 51s. Despite his struggles, Smith should still see his fare share of starts at first base and in the outfield as the Mets look to evaluate him against major-league pitching before the 2019 season.
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Chris Shaw 1B | CHW
Giants' Chris Shaw: On bench vs. lefty
Shaw is not in the lineup Monday against the Rockies, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Shaw will head to the bench with a southpaw in Tyler Anderson starting for the Rockies. The rookie, who is 0-for-6 with five strikeouts through his first three big-league games, is expected to start mostly against right-handed pitchers down the stretch.
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C.J. Cron 1B | BOS
Rays' C.J. Cron: Knocks cover off ball
Cron went 2-for-5 with a double and a solo home run in a win over the Indians on Sunday.
Cron belted both his 25th double and 26th homer of the season off Carlos Carrasco, with the latter serving as his second round tripper in the last three games. The 28-year-old continues to enjoy semi-regular playing time and is now just nine RBI from eclipsing the career-high 69 he established in 2016.
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Rhys Hoskins 1B | CLE
Phillies' Rhys Hoskins: Takes seat in series opener
Hoskins is out of the lineup Monday against the Marlins, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.
With the Phillies playing back-to-back day games and Hoskins stuck in a 2-for-18 rut over the team's past five contests, manager Gabe Kapler decided it was a good time to give the star slugger a breather. Hoskins will hit the bench for the first time since June 8, opening up a spot in the lineup for the surging Roman Quinn.
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Anthony Rizzo 1B | NYY
Cubs' Anthony Rizzo: Launches 23rd homer
Rizzo went 2-for-2 with a solo home run, two RBI, two walks and three runs scored Sunday against the Phillies.
Rizzo filled the stat sheet in the series opener as he reached base four times, slugged a solo homer in the fourth inning and delivered an RBI single in the eighth to pad the lead. He'll be relied upon as a key cog in the Cubs' offense during the final month of the season while they look to maintain control of the NL Central.
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Wilmer Flores 1B | SF
Mets' Wilmer Flores: Retreats to bench
Flores is out of the lineup Sunday against the Giants, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.
Manager Mickey Callaway seems to have gotten increasingly comfortable with using Jay Bruce at first base, as the veteran will draw his fourth start in five games at the position. That has translated to less playing time for Flores, who has been on the bench three times during that same stretch. The lack of a guaranteed full-time role could make Flores a drop candidate in deeper mixed formats where he has been a serviceable corner-infield option for most of the season.
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Luke Voit 1B | NYM
Yankees' Luke Voit: Playing time picks up
Voit will start at first base and bat sixth Sunday against the Tigers.
Voit will start for the fourth straight game, with three of those assignments coming against left-handed pitching. At the very least, Voit seems to have emerged as a platoon mate at first base with Greg Bird and may even be viewed as the preferred option against right-handed pitching, too. Bird finished August with a sub-.200 on-base percentage and slugged just two home runs, while Voit has slashed .400/.486/.800 since being recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 21.