MLB Player News

Smith (hand) made his season debut for Low-A Tampa on Tuesday, going 1-for-2 with a walk and stolen base. He also reached base when he was hit by a pitch.

Smith missed the first three weeks of the season due to the hand injury, but he looks like he'll be ready to play for Tampa on an everyday basis moving forward. The 2019 second-round pick is playing full-season ball for the first time in his career after he initially reported to the Yankees' New York-Penn League affiliate shortly after being drafted.

Rojas isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Phillies, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Rojas had gone 1-for-12 with a double, three runs, three walks and two strikeouts in his last four games. Jose Devers will start at shortstop and bat eighth.

DeJong (ribs) was working on his fielding ahead of Wednesday's game against the White Sox, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

DeJong did some light running Monday, and he now appears to have resumed some baseball activities. DeJong could resume some hitting later in the week, but a timetable for his return to game action hasn't yet been established. The shortstop has been out with a non-displaced rib fracture since mid-May.

Anderson is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cardinals.

The White Sox haven't provided any indication that Anderson is dealing with an injury, so he's likely just getting some maintenance Wednesday as the team closes out its series with the Cardinals with a day game after a night game. Danny Mendick will spell Anderson at shortstop, while second baseman Nick Madrigal assumes Anderson's usual leadoff duties. Anderson is batting an excellent .287 on the season, but his average has dropped steadily over the past week while he's managed only three hits in 30 at-bats over his last seven starts.

Strange-Gordon signed a minor-league contract with the Cubs on Wednesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

Strange-Gordon spent time in the Brewers' organization earlier in the season, but he was let go Saturday. He'll find a new minor-league opportunity several days later after Nico Hoerner suffered a hamstring injury Tuesday. Strange-Gordon didn't appear in the majors early in the year, and he should report to Triple-A Iowa to begin his time with the Cubs.

Mondesi went 2-for-4 with two doubles in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Rays.

Making his belated season debut due to an oblique injury, Mondesi appeared to be 100 percent as he ripped two-baggers from both sides of the plate, one off Rich Hill and the other against Pete Fairbanks. The 25-year-old shortstop can be very streaky, and a big surge from Mondesi to try and make up for lost time would not be a surprise.

Crawford went 2-for-5 with a three-RBI double in Tuesday's 8-0 win over Arizona.

San Francisco quickly loaded the bases in the first inning, and Crawford's two-out, three-run double cleared them. The shortstop has only been held without a hit four times in 18 games in May. For the season, the 34-year-old is slashing .261/338/.545 with 11 home runs, 32 RBI, 26 runs scored and three stolen bases in 146 plate appearances.

Crawford went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the A's.

Crawford knocked an RBI single in the first, doubled and scored in the fourth, and singled again in the fifth for his second three-hit game of the campaign. The former top prospect is hitting a solid .261 but will need to show more power, as he has just 10 extra-base hits on the season, nine of them doubles.

Ahmed went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk in Thursday's 8-0 loss to the Giants.

Ahmed did his part on the evening, reaching base in each of his first three plate appearances, but the rest of Arizona's offense didn't show up. The veteran has a reputation as a defense-first shortstop, but he may need to perform better than his current .198/.298/.294 slash line to keep his role on a Diamondbacks team looking toward the future.

Baez went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and a run scored in Tuesday's win over the Pirates.

Joc Pederson provided most of the offense with two home runs and three RBI, but Baez delivered a solid complementary performance. The 28-year-old is batting .295 this month and has seemingly put his early-season struggles behind him.