MLB Player News

Flores is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Cubs.

With Jarrod Dyson entering the lineup in center field, Ketel Marte will shift to the middle infield for the afternoon and bump Flores to the bench in the process. Flores could see his playing time drop after the Diamondbacks acquired utility man Blake Swihart from the Red Sox on Friday. Swihart will join the team in Pittsburgh for Arizona's series opener Monday against the Pirates and could be the mix for starts at second base in light of Flores' struggles this season.

Cooper (calf) is hitting and fielding while doing some mild running, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

"He's progressing along, that's for sure," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said Friday. "He was doing some outfield drills today. He's already been taking ground balls and hitting. He's doing running progression and will do curves either today or tomorrow." Cooper's rehab so far has taken place in Miami under the eyes of the Marlins' trainers, but he's expected to head to the team's spring training complex in Jupiter next week while the club is on the road. The 28-year-old will need to get in some rehab games before rejoining the big club, and a concrete timetable for his activation won't become clear until then.

Alonso went 2-for-4 with a walk, a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's 5-4 win over the Cardinals.

His sixth-inning blast off Ryan Helsley proved to be the difference, giving the Mets a 5-1 lead that just held up after St. Louis mounted a comeback. Alonso had gone just 4-for-20 with a double over the prior six games, creating a bit of worry that major-league pitchers were beginning to figure him out, but the rookie still has an impressive seven homers and a .333/.425/.739 slash line through his first 19 contests.

Rizzo went 1-for-2 with a triple, two walks and an RBI in Friday's 5-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

Rizzo's first triple of the season brought home the Cubs' third run of the game in the fourth inning. The 29-year-old slugger is struggling to begin the year with a .169 batting average, but perhaps reaching base three times will help him get on a hot streak.

Walker went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run Thursday against the Braves.

Walker took Chad Sobotka deep in the seventh inning to record his sixth homer of the season. After a short slump during which he went 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts across a four-game stretch, Walker has smacked three home runs in his last four games. While Jake Lamb (quad) is progressing, Walker should get the chance to continue his strong run of early-season power production.

Freeman went 1-for-3 with a solo home run Thursday against the Diamondbacks.

Freeman took Matt Andriese deep in the eighth inning to account for the Braves' only run on the day. It was his second home run of the season, though he has paired that with six doubles. His profile remains similar to past seasons as he has 14 walks compared to 13 strikeouts and is hitting .324/.446/.946 through 79 plate appearances.

France went 2-for-5 with two home runs in his second game at second base for Triple-A El Paso, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

This is the second straight game that France has homered twice. The 24-year-old is hitting .383/.449/.750 with six homers and 19 RBI in 14 games for El Paso and is getting reps at second base as well as third. France was in contention to be the big-league starter at third base before the offseason signing of Manny Machado. If France shows he can handle second base, he may be able to find major-league playing time with Ian Kinsler and Luis Urias struggling at the plate to begin the year.

Votto popped out to the first baseman for the first time ever in a regular-season game in Wednesday's loss to the Dodgers, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

The launch angle revolution has gone too far! Joking aside, this is the first time in 6,829 career plate appearances that Votto has popped out to first base.

Flores is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Braves.

Flores has started five of the last six games for Arizona, going 4-for-17 (.235) with a 1:2 BB:K in those contests. He'll grab a seat on the bench Wednesday, with Ketel Marte starting at the keystone and Jarrod Dyson entering the lineup in center field.

Smith is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies.

Despite making the Opening Day roster, Smith has started in just two of the Mets' first 18 games of the season. Smith was always going to have a tough time finding playing time after top prospect Pete Alonso broke camp with the big club, and it's difficult to imagine Smith's prospects improving unless the much-hyped rookie succumbs to an injury or experiences a prolonged slump.