MLB Player News

DeJong went 1-for-3 with a solo homer Saturday against the Cubs.

DeJong launched his 11th bomb of the season off Jon Lester to break up a scoreless tie in the eighth inning of a losing effort. In less than two months in the majors, the rookie's shown exceptional power, as evidenced by a .558 slugging percentage while also offering a reasonable .279 batting average.

Crawford is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Padres, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Crawford will sit for the first time since June 28 as Eduardo Nunez shifts over to short and Conor Gillaspie mans the hot corner. While Crawford has multiple hits in two of his last three games, he's still batting just .217/.254/.400 for the month of July. He's taken a dramatic step back against right-handed pitching this season, with his OPS against righties falling nearly 180 points from a year ago.

Baez is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Cardinals.

Baez will head to the bench for the second time since the All-Star break with Kris Bryant (finger) returning to third and Ben Zobrist and Addison Russell up the middle. With 11 hits (including two homers) in his last five starts, Baez has raised his average from .252 to .274, but given the Cubs' current roster construction, it seems likely that he will continue to sit at least once a week.

Joe Jordan, the Phillies' director of player development, said Crawford "fought some things health-wise during the first half of the summer," Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

It's unclear if Jordan is talking about the groin injury that put Crawford on the disabled list in mid-June, but that could have had some impact on his poor performance this year, especially if he had been trying to play through it for some time. Crawford is showing signs of turning his season around, having hit .288/.373/.652 with six home runs this month. His overall slash line still looks pretty terrible, so it may be possible to acquire him at a discount, given how far he dropped on most midseason prospect lists.

Owings is out of the lineup for Friday's game against Washington.

Owings receives his first day off since June 27 as Ketel Marte draws the start at shortstop during Friday's series opener. Throughout the course of the 2017 season, Owings is hitting .283/.316/.464 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI. He will likely return to the lineup Saturday as the club faces Tanner Roark.

Owings went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in Thursday's 12-2 win over the Reds.

In a game in which manager Torey Lovullo gave multiple key regulars the afternoon off, it was two of the Diamondbacks' lineup mainstays -- Owings and Paul Goldschmidt (0-for-5, four strikeouts) -- that were the only starters who failed to reach base. Owings' hitless showing came on the heels of an 0-for-5 effort the night before, but the lack of production over the last two contests won't jeopardize his everyday role. The 25-year-old continues to uphold a career-best .780 OPS, and Owings' ability to play multiple infield and outfield spots helps his case for sticking in the lineup over other regulars in instances where Lovullo wants to give his bench options some at-bats.

Turner (wrist) has begun rehabbing at the Nationals' spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Jamal Collier of MLB.com reports.

The shortstop has yet to be cleared for baseball activities, but he's running and staying in shape while he waits for the go-ahead to start fielding and swinging a bat. The Nats have yet to release a timetable for Turner's return, although the team has indicated that he's on schedule.

Seager went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in Wednesday's 9-1 win over the White Sox.

The 23-year-old extended his current hitting streak to nine games, and Seager is now slashing .340/.400/.600 in July with three homers and 10 RBI through 12 games.

Diaz (personal), who is slashing .217/.229/.348 through 11 games with Triple-A Memphis, continues to work closely with Redbirds hitting coach Mark Budaska, Alaina Getzenberg of MLB.com reports.

Much like teammate Randal Grichuk, Diaz was unexpectedly sent to Memphis earlier in the season, although the latter's serviceable .260/.293/.396 line made his demotion even more surprising. At the time, the Cuban shortstop was struggling with pitch selection and dealing with thumb and ankle ailments, which certainly may have played a part in his struggles. Budaska, who also worked with Grichuk during his Redbirds tenure in late May and early June, has been focusing on helping Diaz improve his plate discipline and pitch recognition. While his numbers thus far haven't exactly validated the amount of work the two have put in, Diaz did post a pair of multi-hit efforts over his most recent three games before leaving the team until this coming Friday to tend to a personal matter.

Crawford went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run against Cleveland on Wednesday.

It's been a rough patch for the Giants' shortstop lately -- over his prior 23 games, he managed just a .156/.196/.267 line, although he did somehow manage to accumulate 15 RBI in that time. Even assuming some positive regression from his uncharacteristically low .261 BABIP, there's not a whole lot of fantasy upside here other than in that RBI category, in which Crawford has been surprisingly productive for years.