MLB Player News
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Alejandro Kirk C | TOR
Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Receiving Sunday off
Kirk is out of the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Brewers.
Kirk went 1-for-7 with a walk and a double while starting the first two games of the series and will take a seat for Sunday's finale. Tyler Heineman will do the catching for Max Scherzer while batting eighth.
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Jimmy Crooks C | STL
Cardinals' Jimmy Crooks: Making first MLB start
Crooks is starting behind the plate and batting eighth Sunday against the Reds.
The 24-year-old will make the first start of his MLB career after being called up by the Cardinals on Friday. It technically won't be his MLB debut, however, since he entered as a defensive replacement without receiving an at-bat in Friday's contest. Crooks is one of St. Louis' top prospects and posted a .272/.336/.437 slash line with 14 homers in 99 games for Triple-A Memphis this year.
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Pedro Pages C | STL
Cardinals' Pedro Pages: Taking seat Sunday
Pages is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Reds.
Pages will get a breather after starting behind the dish in three of the previous four contests. Jimmy Crooks will step in for his first MLB start Sunday. With the 68-69 Cardinals fading from playoff contention, Pages could be at risk of losing playing time down the stretch to Crooks, who is regarded as one of the organization's top prospects and offers a higher offensive ceiling.
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Samuel Basallo C | BAL
Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Slugs first big-league homer
Basallo went 1-for-4 with a solo home run, an additional run and a walk Saturday in an 11-1 victory versus San Francisco.
Basallo achieved a personal milestone when he swatted a 376-foot shot in the fourth inning for his first major-league homer. The long ball also snapped a seven-game stretch without an RBI for the rookie backstop. Basallo hasn't exactly hit the ground running since being called up Aug. 17, but he's at least been moderately productive with six RBI through 11 games while striking out a tolerable seven times in 42 plate appearances.
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Padres' Elias Diaz: Shows off power with two homers
Diaz went 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI in Saturday's 12-3 win over the Twins.
Diaz opened with a 405-foot solo shot off Taj Bradley in the fifth inning and later added a two-run blast in the seventh for his second career multi-homer game. The long balls were the veteran's seventh and eighth of the season. Despite the breakout, Diaz hasn't given San Diego much reason to grant him more playing time recently, as he's gone just 6-for-28 over his last 10 games, driving in only two runs outside of Saturday's RBI.
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Agustin Ramirez C | MIA
Marlins' Agustin Ramirez: Swipes bag in win
Ramirez went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and a stolen base in Saturday's 11-8 win over the Mets.
Ramirez sparked the offense late, singling and scoring in the seventh inning before adding a double, swiping a bag and crossing the plate again in the ninth. He's hit just .208 over 27 August games but has made his mark on the bases with eight steals in that span, trailing only Cal Raleigh among backstops with 11 on the season. It's been a strong rookie campaign overall for Ramirez, who's slashing .231/.287/.422 with 18 homers, 58 RBI and 59 runs scored across 477 plate appearances.
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Freddy Fermin C | SD
Padres' Freddy Fermin: Getting breather Saturday
Fermin isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Twins.
Fermin will get a day to regroup Saturday after going just 1-for-17 with two walks over his last seven games. Elias Diaz will take over at catcher and bat ninth.
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Patrick Bailey C | SF
Giants' Patrick Bailey: Idle Saturday
Bailey isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Baltimore, Andres Soto of MLB.com reports.
Bailey has notched hits in back-to-back contests, but he'll step out of the starting nine Saturday while Andrew Knizner catches for right-hander Carson Seymour and bats ninth.
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Henry Davis RF | PIT
Pirates' Henry Davis: Sitting down Saturday
Davis isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Boston.
Davis will grab a seat in the dugout after going 0-for-3 with an RBI and three strikeouts during Friday's series opener. Joey Bart will catch for Johan Oviedo and bat eighth.