MLB Player News

Cabrera was listed in the starting lineup Wednesday against the Nationals but was removed before receiving an at-bat or playing the field due to back spasms, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports.

Matt Reynolds replaced Cabrera in the lineup. With the Mets having a scheduled off-day Thursday, Cabrera will have an extra day to be potentially be healthy by Friday's game against the Dodgers.

The Mets believe Flores (hamstring) will be recovered and ready to start at first base immediately when he becomes eligible to come off the DL on Friday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

In this case, Flores would only take the first base position for 4-to-6 weeks while Lucas Duda rehabilitates from a stress fracture in his back. Flores would then return to a more limited reserve infield role once Duda returns. The 24-year-old Flores is slashing .180/.255/.280 in 50 total at-bats so far this season.

Fuenmayor is batting .250 with a .305 on-base percentage through 31 games with Triple-A Omaha.

In the 16 games he played at Triple-A Omaha in 2015 before going down with an injury, Fuenmayor posted a .377/.371/.580 line with six doubles and two home runs. This season has been a different story, as he's hit just six doubles with one home run in 31 games. He'll have to show signs of improvement soon, for Ryan O'Hearn, his counterpart at Double-A Northwest Arkansas, is quickly climbing through the ranks of the organization. Since being called up to Northwest Arkansas on May 2, O'Hearn has a .293/.354/.467 line with two home runs and five doubles.

Abreu doubled twice, singled and scored a run in Tuesday's 6-2 loss to the Indians.

It's the first three-hit game for the first baseman, whose average now sits at .247. While it was good to see Abreu get a couple of extra-base knocks in this one, he's homered just one time in the last 16 games.

Hoskins went 1-for-4 with a grand slam home run for Double-A Reading on Tuesday.

Hoskins is 13-for-38 with two home runs over his last 10 games, raising his batting average to .263. He has eight home runs in 42 games this season, putting him on pace to exceed his 17 homers from last season. He is also on pace to strike out a lot more than last season as well. His strikeout rate has jumped nearly 10 percent this year.

Cabrera went 1-for-4 with a solo homer and three strikeouts Tuesday in Washington.

Cabrera is riding a .344 BABIP to a .283 average thus far, but extra-base hits like this homer have been few and far between as his .108 isolated power represents by far the shortstop's lowest mark since 2010. Add in a 19.6 percent strikeout rate that's 2.2 percent higher than his career mark, and you get a lot of signs that the 30-year-old is starting to decline.

Joseph went 1-for-3 with a RBI on Tuesday against the Tigers.

The 24-year-old hit safely for the second straight game after going 0-for-6 during the weekend. Joseph has been pretty streaky so far this season, but at least he managed to plate a run for the second straight game, so he's been finding ways to produce offense for Philadelphia.

Manager Pete Mackanin said at some point Howard's role could be reduced, but nothing is imminent, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia reports. "I'm going to look at it a week at a time," Mackanin said. "We'll see. At some point it might come to that, but I can't say it's imminent."

Howard went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts Monday, lowering his average to .156. He has just four hits in the month of May, but three of those hits were home runs. A reduction in Howard's role would lead to increased at-bats for Tommy Joseph, who is off to a solid start since his promotion from Triple-A. Howard is in the final year of his contract, so it would not be surprising to see the Phillies move him to a bench role or even release him if his struggles continue.

Joseph went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a double in Monday's loss to the Tigers.

Joseph got the start at first base against righty Mike Pelfrey while Ryan Howard was shifted to DH. Joseph is 6-for-20 with two home runs since he was promoted from Triple-A. The Phillies remain committed to a platoon at first base, but Joseph could force them to reassess if he keeps hitting and Howard keeps struggling.

Abreu will bat fifth in Monday's Game 2 against the Indians.

Abreu got Sunday and half of Monday off, but he'll return to the lineup Monday night trying to improve on his current batting average of .243.