Baseball

Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago confirmed early on Monday that Chicago Cubs shortstop prospect Javier Baez will be called up and will make his major league debut at second base on Tuesday night in Colorado.

While the Arizona Diamondbacks have struggled this season, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has certainly been one of the team's brightest spots. Unfortunately, according to a tweet from the team's official Twitter account, he'll be out of commission for a while due to a fractured left hand:  

Boston Red Sox catcher David Ross left as quickly as he returned and has been placed on the 15-day disabled list after aggravating an injury Friday.  

The team confirmed the news on Twitter and detailed further roster shuffling to make up for the lost production:

Poised to win the American League Central for the fourth consecutive year, the Detroit Tigers' fortunes this October will rest squarely on the right arm of one Justin Brooks Verlander. 

With the trade deadline now passed and the calendar switching over to August, we have officially reached the stretch run of the 2014 MLB season.

The entire MLB landscape has been wide open this season, and after one of the busiest trade deadlines in recent memory, the final two months of the year should be awfully exciting.

No division lead is bigger than four games entering play Saturday, and a grand total of 21 teams are within six games of a playoff spot, as parity has certainly reigned in both leagues here in 2014.

Shane Victorino was a key factor in the Boston Red Sox's run to a World Series in 2013. This year, however, he's been unable to stay on the field, playing just 30 games and landing back on the disabled list with back and hamstring problems.

Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig is known for making some crazy highlight plays. And while this one didn't make much of a difference in the final score, it was still pretty impressive.

The Cleveland Indians were one of the more active teams at the July 31 trade deadline.

The club entered the deadline in a curious position, sitting 6.5 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers and five games back of the final AL wild-card spot. Without all the necessary pieces to make a serious run at the division, the Tribe chose to ship off two of their more high-profile players.

Jose Abreu can hit home runs. That much has been obvious from the moment he put on a big league uniform. But his talents, clearly, go well beyond the long ball.

Excitement has trailed the Cuban star since he inked a six-year, $68 million contract with the Chicago White Sox last fall. But his reputation, by and large, was that of a single-tool slugger.

This trade deadline, the Cubs added to an already loaded system of young talent. Even though they've yet to add any elite pitching prospects to the system, the team continues to claim it can build the pitching staff through trades and free agency.