MLB Player News

Santillan (oblique) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville on Friday.

Santillan is finally ready to pitch in games again after being sidelined since late June with a severe left oblique strain. Because he's missed so much time, he likely will require a handful of rehab outings before being reinstated to the Reds' active roster. Santillan will be slated for a setup role with the Reds as long as Emilio Pagan's hand issue doesn't linger.

Cruz (hand) will remain on his rehab assignment with Double-A Altoona at least through the weekend, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The Pirates hadn't previously ruled out a return from the 60-day injured list for Cruz this weekend against the Red Sox, but they've opted to give him more time. Cruz has gone 2-for-13 with a 3:6 BB:K through his first four rehab games between Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. He has not yet started back-to-back games in center field, and the Pirates likely want him to check that box before reinstating him. Cruz has been shelved since mid-June with a fractured hand.

The Cubs will activate Cabrera (hamstring) from the 15-day injured list and start him Sunday against the Cardinals, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports.

Cabrera -- who has been out since late June with a strained hamstring -- looked good in three rehab outings, permitting only one unearned run with a 15:1 K:BB over nine innings. He threw 64 pitches in his last rehab start, so Cabrera will be somewhat limited from a workload perspective against the Cardinals. With Cabrera rejoining the rotation Sunday, Shota Imanaga will be pushed back to Monday versus the White Sox. Additionally, if the Cubs are averse to a six-man rotation, David Peterson could shift to the bullpen to accommodate Cabrera.

Brown (neck) threw a bullpen session at Wrigley Field on Friday, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.

Brown recently advanced to throwing off a mound at the Cubs' spring training facility in Arizona, but this appears to be his first bullpen session in front of the major-league coaching staff since suffering a stress reaction in his neck in late June. The right-hander could be ready for a rehab assignment soon if he continues to progress. Between the Cubs' rotation additions at the deadline and Brown lacking time to get stretched back out, when he does return, it could be in a relief role.

Prieto will start at third base and bat ninth in Friday's contest versus the Cubs.

It's the fifth start over the last six games against right-handers for Prieto, who picked up his first hit of the season in Wednesday's win over the Phillies. The 27-year-old infielder is just 2-for-34 so far at the major-league level but has been a steady performer at Triple-A Memphis, slashing .307/.373/.517 with 12 homers and a 25:38 BB:K over 71 games there this season.

Crooks is absent from the lineup for Friday's game against the Cubs.

The Cubs have a righty on the mound in Clay Holmes, but the left-handed-hitting Crooks will begin the contest on the bench. Ivan Herrera will do the catching for the Cardinals, and Bryan Torres will slot in at designated hitter.

Cijntje struck out a career-high 11 over 6.1 innings of one-run ball Thursday with Triple-A Memphis before departing with an apparent right hamstring injury, MLB.com reports.

Making his fifth start since being promoted to Memphis, Cijntje permitted only two hits and one walk on the night, needing just 72 pitches to navigate through 6.1 frames. He was removed from the game after issuing a walk in the seventh and was able to walk off the field without any assistance. Cijntje will be evaluated before it's determined whether he will be ready to make his next start. The switch pitcher has had an up-and-down first season in the Cardinals organization, posting a 5.33 ERA and 132:57 K:BB over 104.2 innings covering 22 starts between Memphis and Double-A Springfield.

Reds manager Terry Francona said that Pagan was unavailable to pitch in Thursday's win over the White Sox due to hand soreness, Chatterbox Sports reports.

With Pagan unavailable, Julian Garcia gave up a run but hung on to notch his second career save. Francona noted that Pagan "really wanted to pitch," but the manager exercised caution and held him out. Pagan will be examined Friday when the Reds return home, and more will be known after that regarding his availability for this weekend's series against the Marlins. If Pagan needs to miss additional time, Pierce Johnson, Tejay Antone and Garcia are among the candidates to see save chances for the Reds.

The Dodgers outrighted Barnes to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday.

It's the second time in the last few weeks that Barnes has been booted off the Dodgers' 40-man roster. He wound up re-signing on a minor-league contract the first time and could do so again. Barnes has a 6.92 ERA and 6:7 K:BB over 13 innings covering five appearances between the Cubs and Dodgers this season.

Mayer (forearm) went 1-for-2 with a walk and a solo home run Thursday in his first rehab game with Triple-A Sacramento.

Mayer showed no rust in his first game in nearly two months, hitting a laser over the center-field wall in his second plate appearance. He played five innings at second base before being lifted. Per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, the Giants don't think Mayer will need many rehab games before joining the big-league roster. Mayer has been sidelined since late June with a stress reaction in his left forearm.