MLB Player News

Cooper, who is not in the starting lineup Saturday, is experiencing some tightness in his calf, Andre Fernandez of The Athletic reports.

It's worth pointing out Cooper is evidently available to pinch hit, which would seem to suggest the injury isn't serious. The 28-year-old has started both of the past two contests but failed to record a hit in any of his six at-bats. Rosell Herrera will get the start Saturday and hit seventh in the order.

Walker hit a three-run homer as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning of Arizona's 5-4 extra-innings win over the Dodgers on Friday.

The Diamondbacks were lifeless until Walker's bomb tied the game. It was the second homer in as many games for the backup first baseman and raises the issue of whether manager Torey Lovullo will manipulate the lineup to get his bat in there more often. One clear solution is to occasionally move starting first baseman Jake Lamb to third base, his natural position, but Lovullo put an end to that speculation for now, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports. "I think we're going to put that idea on hold where we'll move [Lamb] across the diamond," Lovullo said. "We have definitely discussed it. It has come up. And yes, it would be nice to get both of those guys in there. But for the short-term time being, I think we're going to stand pat at first base." The manager said, after Walker's surprising Opening Day start, during which he homered and doubled, that there is not a strict platoon at first base.

Goldschmidt went 4-for-5 with a walk, three home runs and five RBI in Friday's 9-5 win over the Brewers.

The walk was intentional, as Milwaukee gave him a free pass in the ninth inning rather than giving Goldschmidt a chance to tie the major-league record with his fourth homer of the game. The Cards' big offseason acquisition is already paying dividends, and the 31-year-old first baseman is off to a quick start as he looks for his fifth career 30-HR campaign.

Flores isn't in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Dodgers.

Flores doubled and scored in Thursday's season opener but will take a seat in favor of Ketel Marte for the second game of 2019. Flores is expected to see plenty of time at the keystone this year, although the Diamondbacks have elected to shake up their lineup on opening weekend.

Shaw will open the season at Double-A Richmond, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

It was assumed when Shaw was optioned in mid-March that Triple-A Sacramento would be his destination, as he spent the bulk of the last two seasons at that level and hadn't played at Double-A since 2017. There's no immediate apparent reason why he'd be demoted one extra level, but this likely doesn't change his timeline for returning to the big leagues, as the Giants could easily call him up straight from Double-A should they decide he's ready to go.

Alonso went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in Thursday's win over the Nationals.

Facing Max Scherzer in his debut went about as well as you might expect, but Alonso was able to collect his first big-league hit once the Nats' ace left the game, slapping a single to center field off Justin Miller in the eighth inning. The 24-year-old first baseman is hitting in the two hole for the Mets to begin his career, a spot that gives him the opportunity for significant fantasy value if he can hang onto it.

Goldschmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk and three strikeouts in a season-opening loss to the Brewers on Thursday.

Better days are sure to come, but Goldschmidt essentially put up a dud in his Cardinals regular-season debut. The prodigious slugger did look like his usual self during a strong spring (.280 average, three home runs, six RBI), so the Opening Day clunker is naturally nothing to be concerned with over the long term. Goldschmidt will look to break the ice at the plate Friday night against Freddy Peralta in the second installment of a four-game set against the Brewers.

Hoskins went 1-for-3 with a grand slam, a walk and two runs scored in Thursday's 10-4 victory over the Braves.

Hoskins tacked on four insurance runs in the seventh inning by launching his first homer of the season with the bases loaded. He slugged 34 home runs and registered 96 RBI over 153 games in his first full year of big-league action a season ago and is already off to a strong start in 2019.

Flores started at second base and went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored while batting third in Thursday's 12-5 loss to the Dodgers.

Flores' status was up in the air following the Adam Jones acquisition, which led to talk of center fielder Ketel Marte getting starts at second base, too. Steven Souza's knee injury has since opened an everyday spot in the outfield for Jones in right and means Marte will play a lot in center field. That leaves Flores locked in at the keystone and looking at potentially a career high in at-bats.

Walker started at first base Thursday and went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBI in a 12-5 loss to the Dodgers.

Walker got the start against Los Angeles left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, but manager Torey Lovullo was quick to point out that the left-handed hitting Jake Lamb is the primary first baseman, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports. "As I've been saying, this isn't going to be a straight platoon situation for that," Lovullo said. "But I feel like it's a way to get Christian a start. We face a lot of righties coming up in the next several days. Jake will obviously get those starts. Will it be a platoon situation? Not at all. Jake is going to get a number of starts against left-handed pitchers." Walker had a big spring, posting a 1.041 OPS with 11 RBI in 21 games, which may have factored into Lovullo's decision to give him the Opening Day start.