MLB Player News

Crawford is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Crawford will get his first day off since July 27 while he's endured a rough patch at the plate in recent weeks. Through his first 13 games of August, Crawford has recorded eight hits in 48 at-bats (.167 average) while striking out 27.8 percent of the time. Dee Gordon will fill in at shortstop, but the slick-fielding Crawford is in no danger of losing his everyday role that position even while he slumps at the plate.

Ahmed went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in Saturday's 11-6 loss to the Giants.

The two-run blast came off Giants reliever Travis Bergen in the eighth inning. Ahmed has now homered five times in his last seven games, bringing his total for the year up to 16. He's tallied 68 RBI and 67 runs scored in 122 games this season while also stealing seven bases. Since the start of August, the shortstop is hitting .375 with six homers, 16 RBI and 12 runs scored. Ten of his 18 hits this month have gone for extra bases.

Story went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs in Saturday's win against the Marlins.

The 26-year-old is 12-for-28 in his past seven games, hitting safely in each of those games. Story is slashing .293/.361/.575 with 28 home runs with 90 runs and 70 RBI this season.

Bichette went 2-for-5 with a solo homer in a 4-3 loss to the Mariners on Saturday.

Bichette homered to left field in the fifth inning off Taylor Guilbeau to draw the Blue Jays to within one run at 3-2. He's been highly productive since he was called up last month, slashing .349/.400/.675 with five home runs, 12 doubles, nine RBI and two stolen bases in 19 games.

Swanson (foot) increased his on-field activities Saturday, fielding a round of grounders at shortstop, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

It was reported earlier in the week that Swanson had been doing some hitting and was fielding short hops from his knees. He has taken another step forward, but Swanson is still not especially close to playing in games. The Braves just signed Adeiny Hechavarria on Friday to help out at shortstop while Swanson is on the mend.

DeJong is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Reds.

This is a bit of an eyebrow raiser considering DeJong homered again Friday, his second homer in three games, but to this point there has been no mention of an injury. Consider it a breather for now. Yairo Munoz will start at shortstop and bat eighth against right-hander Anthony DeSclafani.

Velazquez was placed on the 7-day injured list at Triple-A Columbus with a hamstring injury.

He returned from a hamstring injury a couple weeks ago, so it seems like he aggravated it. Velazquez, who was traded from Tampa Bay in early July, is versatile defensively but probably won't ever hit enough to be a big-league regular.

Edman went 3-for-5 with an RBI single and three runs in a win over the Reds on Friday.

Edman was a thorn in the side of Reds pitching throughout the night, setting the table effectively for both Marcell Ozuna and Paul Goldschmidt in the process. The rookie's defensive versatility -- he played both corner-outfield spots Friday -- is helping to keep him in the lineup on an everyday basis, and he's now compiled four multi-hit efforts over his last six starts.

DeJong went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in a win over the Reds on Friday.

DeJong launched one of four homers on the night for the hot-hitting Cardinals, marking the second time he's left the yard in the last three games. The 26-year-old has hits in eight of 13 games this month, slightly improving his fortunes after hitting just .205 in July.

Rojas (hamstring) has begun running and participating in baseball activities, Manny Randhawa of MLB.com reports.

There's no timetable yet for his return. Rojas may have to settle for a utility role when he does rejoin the Marlins given Jon Berti's performance in his absence as the starting shortstop.