MLB Player News

Winker is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Blue Jays.

Winker had started in each of the Mets' last six matchups -- all against right-handed pitching -- and went 1-for-18 with six strikeouts. The Mets have been running a four-man committee in the outfield of late with Winker, Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte and Harrison Bader all vying for playing time. Winker will continue to sit regularly versus lefties, and he could find himself out of the mix versus right-handers more frequently if he's unable to break out of his funk at the plate.

Hernandez (ankle) remains out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Cubs, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Hernandez will miss a third straight start as he continues to recover from a left ankle contusion. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had said previously he expected Hernandez back in action either Monday or Tuesday, but the outfielder will now be shooting for the latter date due to some lingering soreness. Hernandez will go through his normal routine Monday and should be cleared for the second game of the series if all goes according to plan, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Chris Taylor is in left field and batting ninth for Monday's series opener.

Joe is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Marlins.

After a stretch of five consecutive starts, Joe has now hit the bench in consecutive games for the Pirates. Joe will likely be in store for a short-side platoon role the rest of the way, barring Pittsburgh losing additional everyday players to injury.

Grandal will start at catcher and bat seventh in Monday's game against the Marlins.

Though he's included in the starting nine Monday, Grandal is expected to move into the No. 2 role at catcher after the Pirates reinstated top backstop Joey Bart from the injured list Friday. Grandal is slashing .333/.469/.569 since the beginning of August, but his .681 OPS on the season still lags well behind Bart's mark of .848.

Kiner-Falefa is absent from Monday's lineup against the Marlins.

Kiner-Falefa will hit the bench after he started each of the Pirates' last four games against the Nationals, going 5-for-18 with four runs scored and two RBI. Alika Williams gets the start at shortstop and bats ninth in Kiner-Falefa's stead.

Bart is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Marlins.

Bart will get a breather for the series opener after he started at catcher in Sunday's series finale versus the Nationals while going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Yasmani Grandal will spell Bart behind the dish and will bat seventh.

The Phillies will call Allard up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to start in Saturday's game against the Mets, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

The Phillies will avoid skipping the No. 5 spot in their rotation by calling up Allard to provide a spot start Saturday, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Allard has won in each of his last two starts with the big club, and across four major-league outings this season (three starts), the 27-year-old southpaw holds a 2-0 record with a 3.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 13:2 K:BB over 18 innings.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said Monday that Blackburn (hand) was scratched from his start Monday against the Blue Jays due to a back issue, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Blackburn was placed on the 15-day injured list Aug. 25 after taking a comebacker off his pitching hand. He was slated to return from the IL to start Monday, but the Mets opted to delay activating him once the back issue cropped up. Mendoza added that the Mets will monitor Blackburn's back over the next couple of days, and the right-hander will not pitch in the upcoming series in Toronto, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Monday that Realmuto (knee) could be ready to play by the start of the team's series against the Mets on Friday, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Realmuto will miss a third straight start Monday against the Rays while he deals with a left knee contusion. Thomson noted that the catcher is still dealing with swelling and fluid in the knee, which will prevent him from catching a bullpen session Monday as originally planned. The hope is that Realmuto will be able to test out the knee by catching a bullpen session Tuesday, but that doesn't seem to be a given, as the club monitors his status on a day-to-day basis. Garrett Stubbs will start at catcher for the Phillies on Monday, and he and Aramis Garcia will likely continue to spilt work behind the dish during the team's three-game series with Tampa Bay.

The Mets acquired Alvarez from the Red Sox on Sunday and selected his contract ahead of Monday's series opener in Toronto.

With Jeff McNeil (wrist) landing on the injured list over the weekend, Alvarez will step into the utility role off the New York bench that was vacated by Jose Iglesias, who is now expected to fill in for McNeil as the Mets' everyday second baseman the rest of the way. A 34-year-old switch hitter, Alvarez last saw big-league action in 2022 with the Dodgers and owned a .247/.348/.463 slash line with 18 home runs and 18 stolen bases in 114 games for Triple-A Worcester this season before he was dealt to the Mets.