MLB Player News

Cruz (ankle) is not in the lineup for Monday's contest in St. Louis, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Cruz exited Sunday's game against the Royals due to left ankle discomfort. The ankle is the same one he fractured in April 2023, and he also missed a handful of games this season due to soreness in the ankle. The Pirates are viewing Cruz as day-to-day. Billy Cook will pick up the start in center field and will bat ninth in Monday's series opener.

Saggese is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Pirates, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Saggese had started each of the first six games for the Cardinals upon his promotion, but he'll grab a seat Monday as the Pirates send Paul Skenes to the mound. Masyn Winn and Brendan Donovan will form the St. Louis middle infield in the series opener.

Abrams (shoulder) is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Mets, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

He'll miss out on a fourth consecutive start while he continues to contend with a sore left shoulder. Nasim Nunez will once again fill in at shortstop in place of Abrams, who is considered day-to-day and may be available off the bench Monday.

Nunez will start at shortstop and bat ninth in Monday's game against the Mets, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

He'll pick up a fourth consecutive start in place of CJ Abrams, who remains day-to-day with a sore shoulder. Nunez has gone 0-for-8 with a walk and a stolen base over his prior three starts and will likely head back to a reserve role once Abrams is cleared to rejoin the lineup.

Lindor said Monday that he expects to return to the lineup within the next 2-to-5 days after an MRI on his back revealed no structural damage, SNY.tv reports.

Lindor said a specific timetable will "depend on how my back reacts," but he expects to be back before the end of the regular season. The shortstop exited two of the last three games and didn't play at all in the other contest because of a nagging back problem. He is out of the lineup again Monday versus the Nationals, but he's optimistic that he'll return at some point later this week. Jose Iglesias will start at shortstop for the series opener against the Nationals.

Lindor (back) is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Nationals.

Lindor is scheduled to undergo an MRI on his back after renewed soreness forced his exit from Sunday's game versus the Phillies. There's no word yet on the results of that exam, but he will miss at least one more start. Jose Iglesias is at shortstop and batting leadoff for the Mets.

Swanson went 1-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base in Sunday's 6-2 win over the Rockies.

Swanson is up to 17 steals on the year, with 10 of them coming since the start of August. He's batting .275 in that span, a vast improvement on his .235 average for the year. The shortstop has still offered decent counting stats with 14 home runs, 58 RBI, 72 runs scored and 23 doubles over 138 contests, but his .685 OPS is his lowest mark in a full season since 2017.

Kiner-Falefa went 3-for-5 with an RBI single and two runs during Sunday's 4-3 win over the Royals.

Kiner-Falefa participated in three of the Pirates' four runs Sunday, notching his seventh game this season with at least three hits. The utility player has one homer, six stolen bases and a pair of triples in 39 games with the Pirates. He's 11-for-32 (.296) during his last seven games.

Cruz exited Sunday's 4-3 win over the Royals in the seventh inning due to a left ankle injury, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Cruz is dealing with left ankle discomfort after slipping in the outfield according to manager Derek Shelton. Shelton said that the 26-year-old "was able to run" and that it later "stiffened up." Cruz finished his day 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored against Kansas City. The Pirates will start a four-game series in St. Louis on Monday, and it's unclear if Cruz will be ready to go for the opener.

Rojas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Atlanta.

Rojas will retreat to the bench for the series finale in Atlanta after having started in each of the Dodgers' last five games. Tommy Edman will fill in for Rojas at shortstop.