MLB Player News

German re-signed Sunday with the Pirates on a minor-league contract, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.

German had opted out of his minor-league deal with the Pirates last week, but after canvassing the open market, he's elected to rejoin the organization. His new contract contains an Aug. 9 opt-out clause, so he could choose to pursue free agency once again in three weeks if he's not promoted to the big leagues before then. German has turned in a 5.36 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 48:28 K:BB across 50.1 innings over his 10 starts with Triple-A Indianapolis this season.

Diaz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants after leaving Saturday's 4-3 win in the third inning with right calf tightness, Dennis Georgatos of the Associated Press reports.

Since Diaz had started at catcher in the first two contests of the series, he might have been due to receive a breather for Sunday's finale anyway, and the injury made it an even easier decision for the Rockies to hold him out. Jacob Stallings came off the bench to replace Diaz on Saturday and will get the starting nod Sunday. Consider Diaz day-to-day heading into the Rockies' three-game series with the Red Sox that begins Monday.

Tovar is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants, Patrick Lyons of JustBaseball.com reports.

The 22-year-old has started 96 of Colorado's 99 games this season and has multiple hits in each of his past five contests, so it's a bit of a surprise he's on the bench so early after the All-Star break. Aaron Schunk will receive a start at shortstop Sunday in Tovar's absence.

Casali is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rockies.

After going 0-for-2 with a strikeout while starting behind the plate in Saturday's 4-3 loss, Casali will return to his usual bench role in the series finale. Casali will likely be in store for just one or two starts per week while No. 1 backstop Patrick Bailey is healthy.

Estrada is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rockies, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Estrada has gone 1-for-7 with a triple and two RBI in the first two games of the second half and will sit Sunday versus Colorado righty Ryan Feltner. Brett Wisely will shift to second base while Tyler Fitzgerald starts at shortstop.

Amaya is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Amaya will take a seat for the second time in the three-game series against the Diamondbacks to open up the second half of the season. Though he's sported a hot bat of late with eight hits in his last 16 at-bats, Amaya is still slashing an underwhelming .213/.275/.298 on the season. Unless Amaya sustains his hot run at the dish for a longer period of time, the Cubs could prefer to prioritize Tomas Nido at catcher due to his defensive acumen.

Mastrobuoni is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Mastrobuoni started at third base in each of the Cubs' final five games before the All-Star break as well as Friday's 5-2 loss to Arizona, but he'll hit the bench for the second day in a row to close out the series with the Diamondbacks. The 28-year-old no longer looks slated to get regular playing time moving forward after the Cubs brought Mike Tauchman back from the injured list Friday.

Thomas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cubs.

Thomas will join fellow left-handed-hitting regulars Corbin Carroll and Joc Pederson on the bench as the Cubs send southpaw Shota Imanaga to the hill. Jake McCarthy will fill in for Thomas in center field.

Moreno is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cubs.

Moreno looks to be getting some routine maintenance for the Sunday afternoon contest after he had logged starts behind the dish Friday and Saturday. Jose Herrera will handle the catching duties for Arizona in the series finale.

Pederson is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cubs.

The lefty-hitting Pederson will retreat to the bench for the series finale while the Cubs send southpaw Shota Imanaga to the hill. Ketel Marte will get a day out of the infield and will replace Pederson as the Diamondbacks' designated hitter.