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    Marcell Ozuna not in Pirates’ lineup on Thursday

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    PIT Designated Hitter #24
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    Marcell Ozuna is not in the Pirates’ starting lineup for Thursday night’s showdown against the Reds.

    As has been the case more often than not lately, Ozuna finds himself on the pine with an opposing right-hander on the mound. Bryan Reynolds will serve as the team’s designated hitter while Jhostynxon Garcia will start in center field and bat ninth against Rhett Lowder and the Reds.
Judge's leg injury looms large for the Yankees
Eric Samulski breaks down Aaron Judge's latest injury, what it means for Ben Rice and Luis Garcia, and if the right fielder is still bringing value to the team

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  • PIT Right Fielder #34
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    The Password only started four games after being recalled in late July, and since August 5 had only appeared as a late-game replacement. He’ll try to get back on track in Indianapolis.
  • PIT Designated Hitter #24
    Ozuna signed a one-year, $12 million contract this offseason, but has only hit .203/.286/.327 with eight home runs, 29 RBI, and a 28.6 percent strikeout rate in 280 plate appearances. It was an interesting swing for the Pirates in free agency, but it just didn’t work out.
  • PIT Right Fielder #34
    Garcia will be right in the lineup, batting eighth and playing center field on Wednesday against the Diamondbacks. Garcia worked his way onto some top 100 prospects lists last year after a strong season in Boston’s organization, but he has struggled against right-handed pitching in the upper minors and also in his limited MLB sample, slashing .200/.259/.240 with a 30 percent strikeout rate in 27 plate appearances. The Pirates are facing Eduardo Rodriguez today and Andrew Abbott over the weekend, but this feels like a small-side platoon for “The Password.”
  • PIT Designated Hitter #24
    Ozuna smacked an RBI single off of Robert Gasser in the second inning that increased the Pirates’ lead to 2-0 before riding home on a two-run blast by Henry Davis. Ozuna then did some yard work of his own with a 338-foot (103.6-mph EV) solo shot off of Gasser to open the fourth inning. He has been a major disappointment overall for the Pirates this season, slashing just .205/.288/.305 with eight homers and 28 RBI.
  • PIT Designated Hitter #24
    Ozuna hit the homer a season-high 448 feet off of Scott Barlow in the seventh. He is 6-for-20 in limited action this month. The Pirates could up his playing time with Oneil Cruz on the IL. It’d at least seem to be a good idea to see what he can do in Coors Field this weekend.
  • PIT Right Fielder #34
    The 23-year-old slugger struggled in his limited action with the Pirates, hitting .200 (7-for-35) with no homers, two RBI and a 10/1 K/BB ratio in 37 plate appearances. He’ll continue to refine his craft in an everyday role at the Triple-A level. The Pirates selected the contract of Davis Wendzel from Triple-A Indianapolis in a corresponding move on Sunday.
  • PIT Designated Hitter #24
    Ozuna was responsible for two of the Pirates’ three hits on the night, and drove in Nick Gonzalez in the third inning to give the Pirates an early 3-1. lead. Ozuna has hit safely in four-straight games but is still struggling to find his power and is slashing just .196/.317/.275 in his last 15 games. There’s not much to get excited about here.
  • PIT Right Fielder #29
    O’Hearn has gone 3-for-8 with one homer in a pair of games since returning from the injured list earlier this week. The 32-year-old takes a seat despite the presence of righty Spencer Arrighetti on the hill for Houston in this one. It’ll be Marcell Ozuna at DH as he draws his first start since May 27.
  • PIT Designated Hitter #24
    There hasn’t been any reporting concerning a potential physical issue or illness that Ozuna is dealing with. He remains stapled to Pittsburgh’s bench with Konnor Griffin limited to DH exclusively due to a forearm issue. It’s probably for the best since the 35-year-old has been scuffling recently, hitting .219 (16-for-73) with three homers and 27 strikeouts in 20 games since the start of May. It would make sense for the Pirates to give top prospect Esmerlyn Valdez some extended runway in the near future, especially if Ozuna doesn’t turn things around.
  • PIT Center Fielder #15
    Cruz takes a seat with Toronto lefty Patrick Corbin toeing the rubber. It’ll be intriguing prospect Jhostynxon Garcia getting a chance in center field with Nick Gonzales moving up to the leadoff spot. Cruz is hitting .303 (20-for-66) with four homers against lefties this season. However, he’s been struggling a bit of late, hitting just .242 (15-for-62) with one homer and 26 strikeouts over his last 15 games.

Rotoworld

  • SF Designated Hitter #8
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    Bryce Eldridge could play Saturday after missing Friday’s game with a head laceration.

    Eldridge, a surprising scratch Friday, banged his head on a low-hanging ceiling at the Giants team hotel. However, he passes tests afterwards, and it sounds like he might have played tonight if the Giants were in the race.
  • LAD Starting Pitcher #31
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    Tyler Glasnow fanned 10 while allowing two runs in six innings Friday in a win over the Giants.

    Rebounding nicely from a couple of subpar outings, Glasnow allowed just three hits and three hard-hit balls tonight. He’s now 5-1 with a 3.46 ERA. His last start of the regular season will likely come Thursday against the Padres.
  • LAD Relief Pitcher #3
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    In his first outing back from the IL, Edwin Díaz struck out two in a scoreless ninth against the Giants on Friday.

    Expectations are low for Díaz at the moment, but he was sharp tonight in throwing 12 of his 17 pitches for strikes while pitching with a six-run lead. He averaged 97.6 mph with his fastball, with his 1.3 mph better than his season norm, and he lowered his ERA from 11.85 to 11.05.
  • SF Starting Pitcher #83
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    Cesar Perdomo allowed two runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings Friday against the Dodgers.

    Perdomo did a nice job limiting the damage in an outing in which he allowed six hits, walked three and struck out just one. He’ll probably make a final start next week against the Twins.
  • LAD Right Fielder #90
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    Josue De Paula finished 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a walk against the Giants on Friday.

    We don’t want to jump the gun, but it sure looks like DePaula is going to be on the Dodgers’ postseason roster, even if he’s not a starter following Shohei Ohtani’s return. He’s at .238/.448/.476 with a ludicrous 2/8 K/BB through 29 plate appearances.
  • SD 1st Baseman #25
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    Ty France went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer in leading the Padres to an 8-2 win over the Marlins on Friday.

    France is now hitting .301, though he’s going to need 37 plate appearances in the Padres’ final eight games to qualify for the batting title. He’s just a little short of the leaderboard at the moment or else he’d be seventh in the majors in average and ninth with an .887 OPS.
  • SD Starting Pitcher #27
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    Nick Pivetta tossed five innings of one-run ball Friday against the Marlins.

    Pivetta allowed four hits, walked one and struck out four to win for the second time in three starts since coming off the IL. He got up to 76 pitches tonight after throwing 63 and 69 in his first two starts back. Things are lined up for him to face the Dodgers next week and then start Game 2 of a potential Wild Card series for the Padres.
  • MIA Relief Pitcher #30
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    Tyler Phillips tossed 3 2/3 scoreless frames before being lifted Friday against the Padres.

    The Marlins are still being very aggressive, even though the postseason is almost certainly out of reach, and that meant yanking Phillips with a 1-0 lead in the fourth tonight. Cade Gibson did finish that inning without a run scoring, but then he and Tyler Zuber combined to give up six runs in the sixth. Phillips was also pulled in the fourth last time out. He has a decent enough 4.08 ERA in his 19 starts, but the Marlins don’t trust him to pitch more than twice around the order. He’ll face the Cubs next.
  • MIA Designated Hitter #50
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    Agustín Ramírez went 3-for-4 with a homer against the Padres on Friday.

    Ramírez was the Marlins’ DH tonight. He’s caught a total of 34 innings since being recalled on Aug. 4, and he hasn’t really shined as DH while batting .233/.320/.384 in 33 games. It’ll be interesting to see what the Marlins’ plans are for him next year. He’s definitely not going to overtake Joe Mack behind the plate, and while he still has some upside offensively, he’s yet to look like he’d be helpful as a first baseman or DH. He could be trade bait, but he might not fetch much unless some team thinks it can turn him into a better defender behind the plate.
  • NYY Designated Hitter #22
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    Ben Rice homered, tripled and walked twice as the Yankees decimated the D-backs 9-2 on Friday,

    Rice has 39 homers, which is far and away a record for Yankees who qualify at catcher for fantasy purposes. Gary Sánchez, at 34, holds the actual single-season record for Yankees catchers. One more will give Rice the 36th 40-homer season in Yankees history.