MLB Player News

The Pirates announced Tuesday outfielder Andrew McCutchen suffered an avulsion fracture of cartilage near his left rib, but are not yet planning to place him on the disabled list.

 "We continue to evaluate Andrew’s progress and he will remain on the active roster," general manager Neal Huntington said. " We want to take the appropriate time to make the best possible decision for Andrew and for the Pirates."

McCutchen suffered the injury while swinging Sunday, one day after he was hit in the back by a pitch against the Diamondbacks. 

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas was on the bench Sunday against the Athletics for the first time in 12 games in favor of Christian Colon. Manager Ned Yost explained Tuesday to MLB Network on how he plans to handle the playing time at third base moving forward.

"It's not a strict platoon," Yost said. "Right now, we're just looking for ways to improve the offense and score more runs."

The Pirates are expected to place outfielder Andrew McCutchen on the 15-day disabled list, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He could miss 3-4 weeks due to an oblique injury, a source told the Post-Gazette.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen said that his X-rays didn't reveal anything, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

McCutchen was removed from Sunday's game with left side discomfort, and the team will know more about the extent of his injury Monday. He has hit .311/.411/.536 line with 17 home runs, 67 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 412 at-bats.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen was removed from Sunday's game with left side discomfort, the team announced.

McCutchen delivered a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning to tie the game, but he was seen clutching his side on his way back to the dugout. The team replaced him in the field in the bottom half of the inning. McCutchen went 1 for 2 with a walk and an RBI before exiting, and he now owns a .311/.411/.536 line with 17 home runs, 67 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 412 at-bats.

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley went 2 for 6 with a walkoff home run in his team's 4-3 win over the Rangers Sunday.

Brantley led off the bottom of the 12th inning by slugging the game-ending home run, which gave him his fourth straight multihit performance but only his first home run of the second half. He has hit .322/.382/.516 with 16 home runs, 69 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 419 at-bats.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt went 1 for 4 with a solo home run in his team's 9-0 win over the Mets Sunday.

Belt made his return from the disabled list Saturday with a two-hit performance and followed up one day later with his first home run since July 5. Off to a fast start in August after a sluggish July, Belt owns a .250/.312/.471 line with 11 home runs and 24 RBI in 172 at-bats.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has been activated off the 7-day concussion disabled list and is in the lineup Saturday night against the host Mets.

Belt, who has spent about half the season sidelined by injury, hopes to gather some momentum upin his return. He had four hits in his last 25 at-bats before going down.

It appears that Chris Taylor has earned the starting shortstop job with the Mariners. He is set to make his third straight start Saturday at that position with Brad Miller sitting out again.

Taylor has six hits in his last 16 at-bats with two RBI. Miller, meanwhile, is 6 for 40 since July 7.

Newly acquired outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is in the lineup for the Red Sox for the first time Saturday, batting fourth and playing left field.

Cespedes was acquired from the Athletics in a trade deadline deal that sent Jon Lester to Oakland. He was hitting .256/.303/.464 in 399 at-bats with the A's prior to the trade.