MLB Player News

Kelly isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Miami.

Kelly will move to the bench Saturday after going 1-for-11 with an RBI and a run scored in three games to begin September. Miguel Amaya will handle catching duties and bat ninth.

Caissie (neck) will start in right field and bat sixth Saturday against the Cubs.

Neck spasms kept Caissie out of the starting lineup for each of Miami's last three games, though he was able to enter Friday's contest off the bench. Now fully healthy, he'll aim to turn things around at the plate after slashing .161/.254/.250 across 63 plate appearances since the beginning of August.

Stowers (hamstring) will serve as the Marlins' designated hitter and bat leadoff Saturday against the Cubs.

Stowers sat out Friday's contest after leaving Thursday's game with hamstring tightness, but he appears to be feeling well enough to play Saturday. The 28-year-old has been swinging a hot bat since returning from the injured list, going 10-for-33 with two homers, seven RBI and four runs scored in his last 10 games.

The Cubs recalled Assad from Triple-A Iowa ahead of his start Saturday against Miami, Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Assad has put up a 3.46 ERA and 1.10 WHIP across 83.1 innings in the big leagues this season and has given up four runs in nine innings since being sent down to Triple-A in late August. He'll now return to the majors to pitch against a Marlins offense that's put up a .677 OPS in the last two weeks, and he could stick around in the Cubs' rotation if he delivers another strong performance. Tyler Ferguson was optioned to Iowa in a corresponding move.

The Cubs optioned Ferguson to Triple-A Iowa on Saturday, Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Ferguson gave up one run in 1.2 innings during his lone appearance after coming up from Iowa on Tuesday. He'll now head back to the minors to make room for Javier Assad, who was recalled to start Saturday's game against the Marlins.

The Giants optioned Walker to Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Walker will lose his place in San Francisco's bullpen to make room for Joel Kuhnel, who was claimed off waivers from Milwaukee on Friday. Walker has struggled to a 7.16 ERA and 1.81 WHIP in 32.2 big-league innings this season and could spend the rest of the year at Triple-A.

Cox went 2-for-2 with two runs scored in Friday's 10-6 loss to the Mets.

Cox entered the game in the seventh inning and immediately hit a leadoff single before coming around to score. He added another base hit in the eighth and scored again. The 25-year-old outfielder has racked up four multi-hit performances over San Francisco's last nine games, batting .391 with seven runs scored, five stolen bases, four RBI and a home run in 27 plate appearances over that stretch. On the campaign, he's slashing .297/.342/.541 with 16 runs scored, 10 RBI, nine stolen bases and four long balls across 82 plate appearances.

Hill went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk in Friday's 10-6 loss to the Mets.

Hill logged a base hit in the fifth inning and added an RBI single in the seventh. The 27-year-old outfielder has recorded at least one hit in four of the last five games, batting .471 with six RBI and four runs scored in 22 plate appearances during that span. Overall, he's slashing .333/.426/.438 with 12 RBI, seven runs scored, five doubles and a stolen base across 61 plate appearances this season.

Winn (thumb) intends to return from the 10-day injured list for Saturday's game in Colorado, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The Cardinals put Winn through a full pregame workout Friday, and as long as he recovers from that with no issues, he'll be in the lineup for Saturday's contest versus the Rockies. Winn has missed the last two weeks of action with a small fracture in his left thumb.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol indicated Friday that Graceffo is under consideration to make a start during next week's series in San Francisco, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The qualifier is that the Cardinals will have to first get through a weekend series at Coors Field without needing to use Graceffo out of the bullpen, which is easier said than done. A midseason pitch mix change has unlocked Graceffo, who has logged a 2.22 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 31:11 K:BB over 28.1 innings since ditching his curveball for a new slider. He threw three perfect innings with four strikeouts while starting a bullpen game last week versus the Orioles, and the righty has since added an additional five scoreless frames with a 9:1 K:BB over two subsequent outings. Graceffo threw a season-high 48 pitches his last time out, so he should be capable of around 50-to-60 pitches next week if he does wind up making a spot start.