MLB Player News

Smith went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Friday's 4-3 loss to the Phillies.

It's only his third big-league homer of the season, but two of them have come in only 11 at-bats since Aug. 18. Playing time has been somewhat inexplicably tough to come by for the 23-year-old, as veterans like Austin Jackson and Jay Bruce remain ahead of him on the depth chart even though the Mets have nothing to play for but the future, but Smith's recent flashes of power might earn him more starts over the remaining September schedule.

Hoskins went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 4-3 win over the Mets.

He'd been mired in a 2-for-27 slump over his last eight games, but Hoskins made his 28th homer of the season count, breaking a 3-3 tie with his eighth-inning shot. Half of those home runs have come in 45 games since the All-Star break, but his .235/.344/.542 slash line over that stretch is still a step backwards from his breakout 2017.

Goldschmidt went 2-for-2 with a home run, a second run scored and three walks in Friday's victory over the Braves.

Goldschmidt got things started early with a solo shot in the first inning, and he ended up reaching base in all five of his plate appearances. He now has a homer in back-to-back games, and he has collected at least one hit in his last eight games. Goldschmidt continues to showcase that he's one of the best hitters in the game, and Friday's effort boosted his slash line to .300/.403/.561 on the season.

Bell went 1-for-3 with a walk and a two-run home run in Friday's 5-3 victory over the Marlins.

Bell handed Pittsburgh an early 2-0 lead after clubbing a two-run homer in the second inning. Prior to Friday's ballgame, the 26-year-old had been struggling at the dish, going hitless in his previous four contests. Bell sits with a .255/.345/.397 slash line through 128 games this year.

Goldschmidt went 3-for-5 with a double, solo home run, and three runs scored Thursday against the Braves.

Goldschmidt took southpaw Jesse Biddle deep in the ninth inning to tie the game and record his 32nd home run of the season. The performance extended his hitting streak to seven games, during which he has managed four multi-hit games. After a slow start in power production this season, Goldschmidt is tied for second in the National League in home runs and OPS (.951).

Rizzo went 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, an RBI and a run scored in Thursday's win over the Nationals.

Rizzo continued his hot run at the plate, as he's now batting .417 over his last 10 games with two home runs, five RBI and eight runs scored. The 29-year-old should remain an elite fantasy contributor over the final few weeks of the regular season.

Freeman went 1-for-1 with a solo homer in Wednesday's loss to the Red Sox.

Freeman went deep in the bottom of the eighth inning in his lone at-bat of the game to put the Braves up 8-7, though the Red Sox would respond with two runs of their own to claim the victory. While the 28-year-old first baseman has cooled off at the dish over the past two weeks, he's still hitting an impressive .307/.388/.507 with 21 homers and eight stolen bases on the season.

Bell is not in the lineup against the Reds on Wednesday, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

Bell will remain on the bench for the second straight game after starting the previous seven. In his place, Jose Osuna will man first base and bat sixth.

Cabrera went 2-for-4 with a walk, a homer, a run and three RBI in Tuesday's win in Miami.

Cabrera hit a two-run double in the second inning to stretch Philadelphia's lead to five. He increased the margin to six in his next at-bat with a fourth-inning solo shot, his 23rd homer of the season. He's now just two shy of his career high of 25, set back in 2011, and is hitting .342/.375/.684 with three homers in his last 10 games.

Santana went 2-for-5 with a walk, a homer, two runs and two RBI in Tuesday's victory over the Marlins.

Leading off for the second time in four games, Santana set the tone from the start, opening the game with a leadoff homer, his 21st of the season. Santana's batting average remains quite low at .227, but that's brought down by poor batted-ball luck from the start of the season; the first baseman's expected batting average according to Statcast is a solid .263, right in line with the .259 batting average he recorded in each of the last two seasons.