MLB Player News

Williams is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals.

Williams has now started just two of the last six games and four of the previous 10 contests. Liover Peguero is at shortstop Thursday and appears to have usurped Williams as the preferred option at the position for the Pirates.

Mateo went 1-for-1 with a walk and a stolen base in Wednesday's 1-0 loss against St. Louis.

While Mateo's seen limited playing time in the short side of a platoon, he's been productive when on the field, going 6-for-17 (.353) with three steals in his last six games. He's up to 29 stolen bases this season, putting him on pace to top the 30-steal mark for the second consecutive year. Overall, Mateo is slashing .215/.266/.342 with seven homers, 52 runs scored and 32 RBI across 328 plate appearances on the campaign.

De La Cruz is starting at shortstop and batting eighth for Thursday's game in Detroit.

De La Cruz didn't start Wednesday's game and a day later is in the lowest batting order position he's been at all season. The talented rookie homered and drove in six runs in the first game of a doubleheader versus the Angels back on Aug. 23, but in 20 games since he's hit just .158/.256/.197 with a 32.2 percent strikeout rate.

De La Cruz entered Wednesday's game as a pinch runner and stole a base in a 4-3 win over the Tigers.

De La Cruz, who has slumped during the second half of the season, was held out of the starting lineup against lefty Eduardo Rodriguez on Wednesday. The switch hitter had snapped an 0-for-22 run against southpaws the previous day. De La Cruz ran for Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the sixth inning and stole his 27th base, then stayed in the game to play shortstop and went 0-for-1. De La Cruz is batting .181 since the All-Star break.

Lawlar went 1-for-3 in Wednesday's 7-1 loss to the Mets.

Lawlar's bunt single in the sixth inning snapped a stretch of 13 at-bats without a hit. He's 2-for-16 since being called up Sept. 7, and neither hit has left the infield. The Diamondbacks have settled into starting Lawlar against left-handers over the past few games, and he was pinch hit for in his final at-bat Wednesday when the Mets brought in right-handed reliever Trevor Gott.

Witt went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and one RBI in Wednesday's 7-1 win over the White Sox.

Witt has been hot at the plate and on the basepaths, going 7-for-14 (.500) with five steals over his last four contests. He's converted his last six stolen base attempts without getting caught, putting him at 44-for-54 this season. After a relatively quiet first week in September, Witt has bounced back well. He's slashing .276/.317/.494 with 28 home runs, 88 RBI and 83 runs scored across 143 games overall.

Bogaerts is absent from the lineup Wednesday versus the Dodgers.

Ha-Seong Kim will play shortstop and bat leadoff as Matthew Batten handles second base and hits eighth. This appears to be a routine day off for Bogaerts, who has slashed .439/.489/.805 in 45 plate appearances since the calendar flipped to September.

Wendle is not in the lineup Wednesday at Milwaukee.

Garrett Hampson will start at shortstop and bat seventh as the Marlins take on right-hander Trevor Megill and a parade of Brewers relievers. Wendle owns a brutal .224/.259/.325 slash line through 102 games (297 plate appearances) this season.

Edman is absent from the lineup Wednesday at Baltimore.

Richie Palacios is playing second base and Lars Nootbaar will patrol center field. Edman has gone 0-for-13 with four strikeouts over his last three games.

Allen is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Astros.

Allen has a .536 OPS through 10 games in September and will take a seat for Wednesday's series finale in Houston. Kevin Smith will step in at shortstop and bat ninth.