MLB Player News

Mets manager Buck Showalter said Friday that Alonso (wrist) has been hitting in the batting cage and he expects the first baseman back "before long," Laura Albanese of Newsday reports.

Showalter didn't offer an updated timeline for Alonso's return, but the fact that the slugger is already hitting would seem to give him a shot to beat the initial 3-4 week estimate for his recovery. It's been only nine days since Alonso was diagnosed with a bone bruise and sprain in his left wrist as a result of being plunked by Atlanta's Charlie Morton.

Hiura (knee) will begin a rehab assignment with the Brewers' Arizona Complex League affililate on Friday, Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com reports.

It will be the first game action in a little over a month for Hiura, who suffered a PCL strain at Triple-A Nashville. Prior to the injury, the 26-year-old had a 1.073 OPS with 12 home runs across 32 games. He was removed from the Brewers' 40-man roster just before Opening Day.

Cooper isn't starting Friday against the Nationals, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Cooper has three homers in his last 10 games but is batting just .226 (7-for-31) over that stretch. He'll get a breather Friday while Yuli Gurriel takes over at first base and bats fifth.

Olson went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and two runs scored in Thursday's victory over Colorado.

Olson capped the scoring Thursday, launching a 456-foot shot off Pierce Johnson to put Atlanta ahead 8-3 in the seventh inning. Olson is now 6-for-21 (.286) with two homers and a .919 OPS over his last five games. The 29-year-old first baseman is now slashing .232/.349/.494 with 19 homers, 48 runs scored and 46 RBI through 263 plate appearances this season.

Cronenworth is absent from the lineup Thursday against the Guardians.

Brandon Dixon will take a turn at first base and Ha-Seong Kim is at second. This appears to be a planned day of rest for Cronenworth, who's turned it on offensively over the last few weeks but holds a relatively underwhelming .216/.322/.377 overall slash line for the year.

The Cubs optioned Mervis to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

There was a lot of hype around Mervis when he got the call to Chicago in early May, but he'll head back to the farm after posting a brutal .167/.242/.289 batting line with three home runs and 32 strikeouts across his first 99 big-league plate appearances. Cody Bellinger (knee) has been activated off the injured list in a corresponding roster move and is expected to factor in at first base moving forward.

Olson is batting fifth for Atlanta on Thursday versus the Rockies.

Olson exclusively hit second in his first 68 games this year, but Ozzie Albies will jump up to that spot Thursday with the Rockies throwing left-hander Kyle Freeland. Olson has slashed just .189/.265/.324 this season against southpaws. He holds a .243/.378/.546 slash line against righties.

Smith went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, an RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Astros.

After doubling to lead off the fifth inning, Smith tied the game with an RBI triple off Ryan Pressly in the ninth, his first three-bagger of the season. The 28-year-old Smith has gone 4-for-11 (.364) over his last three games, with a double, a triple and a home run in that span. While he still hasn't hit for much power overall (two home runs), Smith is slashing a respectable .267/.345/.328 with 27 runs scored and 17 RBI through 261 plate appearances this season.

Santana went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in Wednesday's 10-6 loss to the Cubs.

Santana extended Pittsburgh's lead to 3-0 in the first inning with a two-run shot off Drew Smyly. It's Santana's fifth homer of the year and his second in five games. The 37-year-old first baseman had cooled off after a quick start to the year -- he's batting just .188 (22-for-117) in 33 games since the beginning of May. Overall, Santana is slashing .228/.319/.367 with 32 RBI, 26 runs scored and five stolen bases.

Walker went 1-for-3 with two walks and a three-run home run in Wednesday's 4-3 extra-inning loss to Philadelphia.

Walker, who entered the night with just one home run over the previous 22 games, came up clutch in the eighth inning with a game-tying homer. Along with the power outage, Walker hadn't been knocking in many runs -- he entered with just five RBI over the previous 19 games -- so Wednesday's impact was an encouraging sign. He leads Arizona with 42 RBI.