MLB Player News

Goldschmidt went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's 6-2 loss to Atlanta.

Goldschmidt entered the contest with no hits in 12 at-bats over the previous three games and was dropped to seventh in the St. Louis batting order, the lowest he's hit in a game since the 2012 season. He broke out of his funk in the second inning, when he clubbed his 14th home run of the season to put the Cardinals on the board. However, the long ball was the only hit of the day for the veteran first baseman, who also struck out twice. Goldschmidt is currently on pace to finish with career-low marks in average (.225), on-base percentage (.287) and slugging percentage (.372), and he's also maintaining his highest strikeout rate (28.9 percent) since his rookie season.

Bryant (oblique) has gone 6-for-11 with two home runs across three games with Triple-A Albuquerque.

Bryant has had another frustrating season dominated by injuries, as he's hit just .186 with a .586 OPS in 101 plate appearances. His current form suggests he should be nearing a return from the injured list, most likely at some point during the Rockies' upcoming weekend series in San Francisco.

The Mariners are expected to recall Locklear from Triple-A Tacoma this week to take over as the club's everyday first baseman, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

Seattle is pulling the plug on incumbent first baseman Ty France, who was placed on irrevocable outright waivers Sunday. The Mariners may have to wait until France is claimed or clears waivers before adding Locklear to the roster in a corresponding move, so it's not immediately clear if Locklear will be available for Monday's series opener versus the Angels. In any case, Locklear will be back in the big leagues soon, and he should have a decent amount of leash in an everyday role as the Mariners look to him to provide a spark to a dormant offense. Locklear owns an .887 OPS over 334 plate appearances on the season between Tacoma and Double-A Arkansas and slashed .200/.250/.433 in 32 plate appearances with the Mariners during his first stint in the big leagues back in June.

The Mariners placed France on irrevocable outright waivers Sunday, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

France is now eligible to be claimed by the 29 other teams in the league, but if no team is willing to foot the bill on the money remaining on his $6.78 million salary for 2024, the Mariners can send him to the minors. That being said, France has the option to decline reporting to the minors as a result of his MLB service time. Additionally, there's a possibility that he clears waivers and remains a member of Seattle's roster, something that happened with the Blue Jays' Kevin Kiermaier earlier in July. France has produced a disappointing .223 average with eight home runs, 31 RBI and 28 runs scored over 88 games with Seattle so far this season. Tyler Locklear is expected to be called up from Triple-A Tacoma and will get full-time at-bats at first base, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com.

Smith is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Dodgers, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Smith started the first two games of the second half -- including Saturday against lefty Justin Wrobleski -- but the first baseman will sit Sunday as another lefty in James Paxton takes the mound. Romy Gonzalez will start at first base and bat leadoff in the series finale versus Boston.

France is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.

France has gone 0-for-10 with three strikeouts over his past four games and will sit for Sunday's series finale versus Houston. Luke Raley will receive a start at first base while Dylan Moore mans left field.

Schanuel (calf) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Athletics but expects to be available as a pinch hitter, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

The 22-year-old exited Saturday's contest with calf tightness but believes he'll be back in the lineup Monday in Seattle. Brandon Drury is shifting to first base Sunday while Luis Guillorme receives a start at the keystone.

Canha is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.

Canha's playing time had been trending down heading into the All-Star break due to lingering wrist soreness and general ineffectiveness at the plate, but he picked up starts in both of the Tigers' first two games in Toronto, going 2-for-7 with a home run and two walks. He'll take a seat Sunday while the Tigers clear room in the lineup for Justyn-Henry Malloy at designated hitter and Bligh Madris at first base, but manager A.J. Hinch hasn't seemed to cut bait with Canha as a near-everyday player just yet.

Santana went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and a walk in Saturday's 8-4 extra-innings loss to the Brewers.

Santana hit just .133 over his first nine games in July, but he's gone deep twice over his last three contests while going 3-for-9 in that span. The first baseman is up to a .244/.327/.434 slash line with 14 homers, 43 RBI, 36 runs scored, two stolen bases and 17 doubles through 90 games. Santana's always been fairly disciplined at the plate, but he's getting by on a 9.7 percent walk rate this year, the lowest of his career.

Arraez went 1-for-3 with two walks, one RBI and one stolen base in Saturday's 7-0 win over the Guardians.

While Arraez has no trouble getting on base, he typically doesn't run much. His steal Saturday was his fourth of the year, matching his career high from 2022. The infielder is batting .292 (14-for-48) over 12 contests in July, though that's put him on a slight decline with a .312/.347/.382 slash line through 95 contests between the Padres and Marlins this season. Arraez has battled a thumb injury recently, which caused him to miss the All-Star Game, so it's likely he'll get most of the playing time at designated hitter in the immediate future, though Jake Cronenworth started there Saturday.