MLB Player News

Witt (hamstring) is not in the starting lineup Monday versus the Angels.

Witt tweaked his hamstring Sunday and will now be unavailable for Monday's series opener. The exact nature of his injury remains to be seen and he is considered day-to-day for the time being. Nicky Lopez will slide over to shortstop while Emmanuel Rivera takes over at third base and bats sixth against Los Angeles.

Baez (arm) is starting at shortstop and batting second Monday versus the Padres, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.

After he left Sunday's game early with an arm injury, Baez was considered day-to-day, but he's ready to go for Monday's series opener. The shortstop has gone 4-for-12 with an RBI and four runs scored over four games since the All-Star break.

Mateo will sit Monday against the Rays, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Mateo will get a day off after he went 4-for-12 with a double, two RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base in the three game series with the Yankees. The shortstop has secured at least one hit in eight of his past nine contests, batting .343 over that stretch. Jonathan Arauz will replace him at shortstop and bat ninth Monday against Tampa Bay.

Cruz went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's loss against Miami.

Cruz led off the scoring with a solo home run off Sandy Alcantara in the third inning. It was his fifth home run since being called up on June 20. Cruz has started to heat up as he is on a four-game hit streak. One major issue for the young star is that he also has eight strikeouts in those four games and has a 36.6% strikeout rate for the season. He is slashing .208/.241/.415 for Pittsburgh in 28 games this year.

Martinez went 3-for-4 with two homers, four RBI and an additional run scored for Double-A New Hampshire on Sunday.

The 20-year-old has six hits in the last two days, including a double and three homers, to snap a 1-for-34 slump over his prior nine contests. Martinez has slugged 22 home runs in 78 games for the Fisher Cats this season, but that power comes with a .214 batting average, a 6.0 percent walk rate and a 29.9 percent strikeout rate. Until he learns to control the strike zone better, it's hard to project that Martinez will be a consistent offensive force in the majors. His age does offer some optimism that he can make the necessary adjustments and reach his impressive ceiling, however.

Story (hand) swung a bat Sunday for the first time since sustaining a hand injury that landed him on the injured list, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.

Story is eligible to return from the injured list, but he's not yet ready to play in a game. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said they'll see how the infielder responds Monday and hopefully activate him at some point during the week. Cora added that a rehab assignment is being discussed but no firm decision has been made.

Seager went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Sunday's 11-8 win over the Athletics.

Seager led off the fifth inning with his eighth home run during the month of July and 23rd of the season. The shortstop is on pace to smash the career-high 26 blasts hit in 2017, thanks in part to career highs in launch angle (14.7 degrees) and sweet spot percentage (41.3%).

Pena went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Sunday's 8-5 win over the Mariners.

Pena went back-to-back with Jose Altuve in the first inning as the Astros quickly jumped ahead 2-0. This gave Pena a six-game hitting streak, and he's gone 7-for-25 (.280) with three extra-base hits in that span. The rookie shortstop owns a .261/.305/.452 slash line with 14 homers, 36 RBI, 40 runs scored and six stolen bases through his first 75 major-league games.

Baez (arm) is considered day-to-day after leaving Sunday's game against the Twins, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Baez was hit in the elbow by a pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning and initially remained in the game, but he struggled gripping a bat and was replaced by a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth. Prior to his departure due to his upper arm contusion, he went 0-for-1 with a run. If the 29-year-old isn't ready to play in Monday's series opener against the Padres, Harold Castro and Willi Castro are candidates to fill in at shortstop.

Abrams (biceps) is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets.

Abrams was scratched from Saturday's lineup with right biceps soreness and will remain on the bench Sunday. The 21-year-old didn't throw during the All-Star break before playing in Friday's game, and the injury remains bothersome.