MLB Player News

The Cardinals will call up Crooks from Triple-A Memphis prior to Friday's game against the Reds, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Crooks is ready for an opportunity at the major-league level after slashing .274/.337/.441 with 14 home runs this season with Memphis. The 24-year-old has been red hot in August, producing a .337/.404/.518 line with three long balls. It's not clear what the corresponding move will be to get Crooks on the active roster, but Yohel Pozo was shaken up by a foul tip off the mask Thursday. If Pozo needs to miss time, Crooks could share catching duties with Pedro Pages.

Chourio (hamstring) has gone just 1-for-19 with an 8:2 K:BB in five rehab games with Triple-A Nashville.

The results at the plate for Chourio on his rehab assignment have not been there, but the good news is he played through the top of the 10th inning of Nashville's extra-inning loss to Charlotte on Wednesday. That could be the final step he needed to take before being reinstated from the 10-day injured list, as he was off Thursday and is expected to rejoin the Brewers for their weekend series in Toronto. Chourio has been shelved since late July with a strained right hamstring.

Ortiz will remain on non-disciplinary leave for the remainder of the 2025 season, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports.

Ortiz has been on leave since July 3 as MLB investigates a possible gambling-related offense. The 26-year-old's locker was cleared out at the beginning of August, so Friday's update doesn't come as much of a surprise. Teammate Emmanuel Clase, who's under investigation as well, will not return in 2025 either.

Clase is expected to remain on the restricted list and administrative leave for the remainder of the season as MLB continues its sports-betting investigation, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports.

The news comes as no surprise, as Clase's locker at Progressive Field was cleared out at the beginning of the month. The right-hander has been away from the Guardians since late July and there's no word on when MLB's investigation could conclude. The reliever's future in baseball is very much in doubt.

Seymour is slated to start Sunday's game against the Nationals.

The rookie southpaw will stick in the rotation after a magnificent first MLB start Monday, when he struck out eight Guardians and allowed just two baserunners over five scoreless frames. Seymour owns a 3.18 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 34:9 K:BB in 28.1 innings over his first 13 big-league appearances, and the Rays should have a permanent spot available for him if he continues to excel. Seymour will get a prime opportunity to build up more job security against a Nationals offense that has produced an 80 wRC+ versus left-handers this season.

Brown is slated to start Saturday's game against the Cubs.

Colorado is getting German Marquez (biceps) back from the injured list Friday, but Brown will stick around in the rotation with Antonio Senzatela having been moved to the bullpen earlier this week. After bypassing Triple-A, Brown took the loss in his MLB debut Sunday, surrendering four earned runs on five hits and three walks across 3.2 innings. The rookie won't make for an appealing streaming option while taking on the Cubs at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

The Marlins activated Norby (wrist) from the 10-day injured list Friday, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of ElExtraBase.com reports.

As expected, Norby will rejoin the active roster ahead of Friday's series opener against the Mets. The third baseman had been sidelined since July 13 due to a fractured hamate bone in his left wrist that required surgery. He slashed .241/.289/.364 in 273 plate appearances this season before the injury. Maximo Acosta was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in a corresponding move.

The Marlins optioned Acosta to Triple-A Jacksonville on Friday.

He's being sent down to clear a roster spot for Connor Norby (wrist). Acosta went just 4-for-24 during his nine games with the big club, though three of those hits were home runs.

Helsley thinks his struggles since joining the Mets are a result of tipping pitches, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports. "I think I know how to fix it," the right-hander said Thursday. "So it's just being able to enforce that and that being my mental norm versus what I was doing to get my body to accept that and reinforce that."

The former Cardinals closer has a brutal 10.38 ERA, 2.31 WHIP and 11:7 K:BB in 8.2 innings with the Mets, and he's been tagged with multiple earned runs in four of his last six appearances. "It definitely stinks," Helsley said. "I've never gone through anything like this in my career." He's still looking for his first hold for New York after being acquired at the trade deadline to be the top set-up man for Edwin Diaz, instead taking three losses and getting charged with four blown saves.

Pirates manager Don Kelly said that Burrows won't make a start during this weekend's series versus the Red Sox but should be available in relief, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Burrows tossed four shutout innings in his most recent start Saturday to lower his ERA to 4.23, but Kelly said the right-hander's turn through the rotation this week will be skipped in an effort to manage his workload. After being limited to 54.2 innings in 2024 following April 2023 Tommy John surgery, Burrows has already doubled that total in 2025 between his stops with Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis. The Pirates haven't yet discussed shutting him down for the season, but the team's workload management plan could result in him missing another start or two in September. Burrows could also be deployed as a tandem starter with fellow rookie Bubba Chandler, who has covered four innings in each of his first two MLB relief appearances while piggybacking Graham Ashcraft and Carmen Mlodzinski.