MLB Player News

Rizzo left Tuesday's spring training game early, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports.

Rizzo collided awkwardly with Andrew Lambo, so the early removal was likely a result of that. The nature of the setback is currently unclear, and it's possible the move was simply a precautionary one, but the club will likely offer more clarity on the situation if it turns out to be anything worth monitoring.

Carter is 9-for-42 (.214) with hour home runs and 10 RBI through 16 spring games.

Carter's batting line this spring is just about what one would expect -- a few home runs to go along with a meager batting average. He will be the Brewers' regular first baseman when the regular season kicks off next week.

Cabrera (knee) is slated to return to Grapefruit League action Monday, ESPN.com's Adam Rubin reports.

Cabrera was initially scheduled to play Sunday, but he said that he first wanted to log some time at shortstop in the minors before doing so. He's scheduled to play four innings in the minors after serving as the designated hitter a day earlier.

Cabrera (knee) will remain out of the lineup in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals, Matt Ehalt of The Record reports.

The Mets were hopeful that Cabrera would be able to make his return Sunday, but manager Terry Collins said the infielder still hasn't been fully cleared by team trainers. Cabrera was at least able to serve as the designated hitter during a minor league game Saturday, going 2-for-5 with a double and a single. He's been out of Grapefruit League action since March 10.

Cabrera, sidelined since March 10 when he suffered a strained patellar tendon, will return to game action Sunday, SNY.TV reports.

Cabrera has made a faster than expected recovery, progressing from hitting soft toss and off a tee in the cages to live batting practice and then a minor-league game. He has a week until Opening Night to show he is fully healed. The goal over the next week for the Mets' new double-play combination of Cabrera and Neil Walker to get as many reps as they can to build up chemistry before the regular season starts.

Flores will make his spring debut at first base Friday, and should serve as the team's backup there this season, in addition to his other duties, MLB.com's Anthony DiComo reports.

While the Mets clearly wanted to upgrade from Flores defensively at shortstop by acquiring Asdrubal Cabrera, Flores will get plenty of at-bats this season as the top backup at all of the non-catcher infield positions. Considering that Cabrera (knee) and David Wright (back) are currently banged up, Flores could get a handful of starts in the first couple weeks on the left side of the infield.

Cabrera (knee) will is set to play in a spring training game Sunday and the team believes that he'll be ready for Opening Day, ESPN New York's Adam Rubin reports.

Cabrera has been sidelined since March 10 when he suffered a strained patellar tendon, but he has been able to ramp up his baseball activity in recent days and should be ready to appear in a Grapefruit League game by the end of the weekend. He'll likely serve as a DH on Sunday before getting back into on-field work. Collins said that once Cabrera is healthy, the Mets will need to get him up to speed and comfortable with his double-play counterpart at second base, Neil Walker.

Votto hit his second home run of the spring in Monday's loss to San Diego. "He's doing a lot of good things," manager Bryan Price told MLB.com. "He's playing with a lot of energy. It's always fun to see him get to his power. He just looks good. He looks advanced for this time of spring."

While Votto has no other extra-base hits besides the two homers, he seems to be seeing the ball well as he typically does, posting an 8:6 BB:K over his first 13 spring games. Votto doesn't have to hit for a ton of power to be highly valuable in fantasy even at first base, but there's reason to think he could approach 30 homers again given the hard-hit rate from a season ago (13th among qualifiers).

Manager Terry Collins said he hopes Cabrera (knee) is able to DH in a game by the end of the week, Matt Ehalt of The Record reports.

Cabrera is still in the process of rehabbing a strained patella tendon, and while he's yet to take live batting practice, he hit from indoor cages both Saturday and Sunday. The Mets are hoping to have Cabrera by Opening Day, and if he's able to DH by the weekend, that would certainly be a step in the right direction.

Cabrera (knee) hit from the indoor cages Saturday and Sunday, and there's still a belief that he'll be available for Opening Day, Marc Carig of Newsday reports.

Cabrera mainly hit from the tee and off soft toss, as he works his way back from a strained patella tendon. With two weeks until Opening Day, he'll need to progress to full batting practice and then game action, likely by next weekend, to be ready for April 3.