MLB Player News

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford returned to action Sunday afternoon against the Diamondbacks after missing Saturday's game with a bruised left foot.

Crawford finished 1 for 3 with a walk and an infield single in a 3-1 loss. He has a .269/.331/.381 line with five homers and 30 RBI in 320 at-bats.

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford was held out of Saturday's game against the Diamondbacks with a bruised left foot, MLB.com reports.

Crawford suffered the injury after an eighth-inning collision with Heath Bell Friday. Manager Bruce Bochy has listed him as day-to-day. He's hitting .269/.330/.383 with five homers and 30 RBI in 316 at-bats.

Dodgers infielder Dee Gordon has shown patience at the plate since being demoted to Triple-A Albuquerque in late May. Gordon has drawn 10 walks in his last 10 games and has a .387 on-base percentage in 64 games.

Gordon has nearly as many walks (40) as strikeouts (49) with Albuquerque. He's batting .288 with six triples, 14 doubles, 22 RBI, 50 runs and 34 stolen bases.

The Royals have assigned infielder Pedro Ciriaco to Triple-A.

Ciriaco was acquired on waivers from the Padres Tuesday. In 114 at-bats with Boston and San Diego, Ciriaco is hitting .228/.288/.342. 

Red Sox shortstop prospect Xander Bogaerts has homered three times in his last six games for Triple-A Pawtucket, giving him more home runs (seven) in 29 games for Pawtucket than he had (six) in 56 games for Double-A Portland.

Although Bogaerts is hitting more home runs for Pawtucket, his batting average and slugging percentage have taken a slight hit since his promotion. He's batting .260 with a .462 slugging percentage for Pawtucket after batting .311 with a .502 slugging percentage with Portland.

Bogaerts has no doubles or triples for Pawtucket, which is dragging down his slugging percentage.

With the Royals adding Pedro Ciriaco Tuesday, there's a decent chance for AL-only owners to snag a possible starting middle infielder for the remainder of the season. There's plenty of "meh" involved -- the Royals could continue giving Johnny Giavotella and Miguel Tejada the majority of at-bats -- but Ciriaco has some nice potential in batting average and steals, and could end up being a smart add for a Fantasy team weak in MI options. 

Ciriaco hit .293 with 16 steals over 259 at-bats with the Red Sox last year. He was fairly erratic with his batting average in the minors (it evened out to .272), but showed some nice speed potential, stealing 35-plus bases twice and 19 or more five times. 

With Giavotella hitting .206 and Tejada having a nice season but not expected to handle a full-time role at 39, Ciriaco could step in and provide a solid presence at second base for the Royals. In AL-only, the promise of regular at-bats alone should make Ciriaco a nice add in most leagues. But if he can contribute like he did in 2012 with the Red Sox, Ciriaco could be a nice boost for a team sagging in the standings. 

The Royals have claimed third baseman Pedro Ciriaco from the Padres. 

The Padres designated Ciriaco for assignment Friday. In 114 at-bats with the Red Sox and Padres, Ciriaco is hitting .228/.288/.342. 

The Padres made room on their roster Friday by designating infielder Pedro Ciriaco for assignment. Ciriaco was hitting just .238 in 63 games. Jedd Gyorko took the roster spot vacated by Ciriaco's assignment.

Diamondbacks shortstop prospect Chris Owings belted three home runs and drove in five runs Tuesday for Triple-A Reno. 

"I broke a bat in BP (Tuesday), which I never do," he said, per MLB.com. "But you know how these things go. It just kind of went from there, but BP was really nothing special."

Owings, who is considered the Diamondbacks' fourth-best prospect by MLB.com, is having a strong year for Reno. He is batting .355 with a .509 slugging percentage, .884 OPS, three triples, 11 home runs, 23 doubles and 63 RBI in 92 games. He also has 15 stolen bases.

"It's been my whole thing to not try to do too much," he said. "I'm just trying to stay relaxed up there."

Needing a strong offensive performance in the worst way, Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford got it Monday against the Mets. Crawford, who entered play mired in a 1-for-28 slump in his previous nine games, went 3 for 6 with one double, one RBI and one walk during a 16-inning loss to New York.

Crawford has been struggling since a four-hit performance June 8 at Arizona. He's batting .188 (15 for 80) in his last 24 games, dropping his average from .292 to .264.