MLB Player News

Goldschmidt went 2-for-3 with two home runs, three RBI, three runs scored and three walks in Sunday's loss to the Pirates.

It was a monster day at the plate for Goldscmhidt in a game that went four extra frames. He has seemingly hit his stride of late, as he is batting .389 with two homers, five RBI, four runs scored and seven walks over the last five games.

Flores will start at third base Sunday in Atlanta, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports.

With David Wright getting the day off, Flores will fill in at the hot corner, though his bat has left much to be desired this season. Across 17 at-bats, he's tallied just one single and one run scored, while managing three strikeouts versus a pair of walks.

Cron is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Mariners.

Despite hitting a home run Friday, Cron will be replaced in the lineup Saturday by Ji-Man Choi as manager Mike Scioscia tries to get as many left-handed bats into the lineup as possible with the Angels facing ace Felix Hernandez. Cron is off to a tough start at the dish to start the season, slashing .161/.254/.232. Despite the early seasn struggles, Cron has still played in nearly every game this season.

Bell hit for the cycle Friday -- going 4-for-5 with five RBI -- giving him three home runs in his last seven games.

He hit a grand slam Friday and is now slashing .292/.414/.583 with an impressive 10:9 BB:K in 48 at-bats. The power appears to be coming for the hulking Bell, who is transitioning from the outfield to first base. John Jaso is playing better than expected for the Pirates, but Jaso's never played in more than 109 games in any of his seven seasons. Bell could make his debut in Pittsburgh sometime after the Super 2 arbitration date if he continues to play well and/or Jaso suffers an injury.

Cron went 1-for-4 with a solo homer Friday against the Mariners.

Cron's first blast of the year tied the game in the fifth inning, but the Angels were unable to score any more runs, and they went on to lose the game in extra innings. With the homer, he now has only two extra-base hits on the season, and his OPS is an anemic .486.

Calhoun went 1-for-4 with a solo homer Friday against the Mariners.

His second blast of the season put the Angels on the board in the fourth inning of a game they'd go on to lose. He now has six extra-base hits on the year, and his OPS sits at .849.

Santana was 2-for-4 with a solo home run as Cleveland downed the Tigers on Friday night.

Batting lead off for the first time in his seven-year major league career, he made the move to the top spot in the order look good as he smacked his third home run in the top of the first inning. It's hard to say whether the move to that spot in the batting order will last - he generally displays good on base skills, but has very little speed - but if he remains there it is likely to reduce his RBI opportunities.

Santana will bat leadoff against the Tigers on Friday.

Friday's start is Santana's first atop the batting order in seven major league seasons. Manager Terry Francona flirted with the idea of having Santana lead off during spring training, but Santana has hit almost exclusively out of the five-hole to this point. It's uncertain if this will stick, but what Santana lacks in terms of speed he makes up for with on-base ability.

Colabello has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs, Blue Jays play-by-play announcer Mike Wilner reports.

According to Wilner, Colabello tested positive for a performance enhancing substance called dehydrochlormethyltestosterone. With Colabello sidelined for such a significant portion of the season, Justin Smoak should be in line for the lion's share of the playing time at first base through the All-Star break, provided that Toronto does not look outside the organization for a replacement. The 32-year-old Colabello had gotten off to a tough start to the season before being suspensed, as he was slashing .069/.156/.069 with nine strikeouts in 29 at-bats.

Freeman is working with Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer to make some minor adjustments to his swing, David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

He is hitting just .163/.328/.245 with one homer, four RBI, seven runs and 16 strikeouts in 49 at-bats this season. The good news is Freeman is still finding his way on base, as he has walked 10 times, but overall this is a huge disappointment. Freeman didn't have a full offseason because he was healing from a wrist issue, but he hasn't been making any excuses. Fortunately, he's turned it around a little bit, going 6-for-24 (.250) over the last week. Maybe the minor adjustments will help him find his way.