MLB Player News

Taylor (groin) isn't in the Dodgers' lineup for Thursday's game against the Giants, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Taylor tweaked his groin while rounding first base during Wednesday's contest, and his injury will officially keep him out of the starting nine for at least one game. Enrique Hernandez will pick up a start at third base Thursday, while Taylor is still considered day-to-day.

Smith isn't in the Dodgers' lineup Thursday against the Giants, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Smith will be held out of Thursday's series finale after going 0-for-10 with two walks over the first three games of the series. Austin Barnes will start instead behind the dish, batting eighth.

Conforto isn't in the Giants' lineup for Thursday's game against the Dodgers, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

With southpaw Clayton Kershaw (shoulder) slated to take the mound for the first time this season, the lefty-hitting Conforto will take a seat on the bench to begin Thursday's contest. Derek Hill will fill the open spot in left field while batting ninth.

Wade isn't in the Giants' lineup for Thursday's game against the Dodgers, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Left-hander Clayton Kershaw (shoulder) will be making his season debut Thursday, so the lefty-hitting Wade will step out of the lineup. David Villar will fill in at first base and bat sixth.

The Giants recalled Villar from Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday.

With Wilmer Flores (knee) headed for the injured list, the Giants will call upon Villar to provide the team with additional infield depth. In six games with San Francisco this season, the 27-year-old has gone 5-for-17 with a home run and four RBI, and he's also posted an .857 OPS through 311 plate appearances in Triple-A. He'll presumably serve as the Giants' primary option at first base against left-handed pitching until Flores returns from the IL.

The Giants placed Flores on the 10-day injured list Thursday with right knee tendinitis, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Flores just returned from the same injury a little over two weeks ago, but it appears he might not have ever totally recovered from the issue. He'll be eligible for activation in early August, but the Giants might take things slower this time in hopes that Flores can get over the hump with the injury.

Wisely went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Dodgers.

Wisely has offered little production in July with no home runs, three RBI, two runs scored and one steal on three attempts over 17 games. The infielder also has a 2:17 BB:K this month. The emergence of Tyler Fitzgerald at shortstop has left Wisely to compete with Thairo Estrada for playing time at second base, a situation where Wisely has the platoon advantage.

Herz is scheduled to start Sunday's game against the Cardinals in St. Louis, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.

Herz was optioned to Triple-A Rochester on July 8, though his demotion always looked to be the result of the Nationals wanting to maintain more flexibility with their active roster heading into the All-Star break. He rejoined the big club when a fifth starter was needed for the first time in the second half Tuesday and worked five innings in a loss to the Padres, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four. Herz will take a 1-4 record and 4.95 ERA into his ninth start of the season with the Nationals on Sunday.

Megill is likely to receive a call-up from Triple-A Syracuse to replace the injured Christian Scott (elbow) in the Mets rotation Saturday versus Atlanta at Citi Field, Andy Martino reported Wednesday on SportsNet New York's "Baseball Night in New York" program.

Martino relays that the Mets envision using Megill as a high-leverage reliever late in the season, but since he's remained stretched out as a starter after being optioned to Syracuse in late June, the right-hander will be plugged back into the big club's six-man rotation. In his prior eight starts with the Mets this season, Megill turned in a 5.08 ERA and 1.44 WHIP over 39 innings, but his underlying numbers (4.29 SIERA, 17.1 K-BB%) suggested that he pitched slightly better than his ERA would indicate.

Yastrzemski went 2-for-3 with two RBI, a stolen base and a run scored in Wednesday's win over the Dodgers. He also drew a walk and was hit by a pitch.

Yastrzemski walked in his first trip to the plate before adding an RBI single and a steal in the fourth to put the Giants up 2-1. He drove in another run in the eighth and went on to reach four times in the contest, increasing his average to .326 (15-for-46) in July. It marked the outfielder's fifth multi-hit performance this month and fourth in his last 10 games, while the stolen base was just his second of the season.