MLB Player News

Rizzo will hit third and serve as the Cubs' designated hitter for Saturday's split-squad Cactus League game against the Angels, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Rizzo will play for the second day in a row after starting at first base in Friday's 9-3 win over the Mariners and finishing 3-for-3 with his first home run of the spring. After four straight seasons of 30-plus long balls, Rizzo finished with only 25 in 2018. While that downturn rendered Rizzo somewhat of a disappointment for fantasy purposes, the improved plate discipline he displayed last season in addition to a 34.1 percent hard-hit rate that was roughly on par with his career mark offers optimism that he'll bounce back in the power department.

Hiura hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in Friday's spring game.

Hiura recorded just one hit over his first six spring games, but he's heated up over the last week, going 3-for-8 over his last four contests. The Brewers will be patient with their top prospect this year after bringing back Mike Moustakas to play second base, so Hiura is unlikely to join the team until later in the season unless injuries hit or he really forces the issue at the Triple-A level.

France isn't believed to have suffered a concussion after getting hit in the head by a pitch Friday against Oakland, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

France is still slated to be evaluated by the Padres' team doctors once the team returns to Peoria, but it appears as though he's dodged a major bullet. He'll be considered day-to-day until he undergoes further evaluation.

France does not have a concussion after getting hit in the head by a pitch Friday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

The pitch struck the flap of France's helmet before hitting him in the jaw. His initial examination by team doctors was encouraging, though it's not yet clear if he'll still need to miss time.

France was hit in the head by a pitch Friday against Oakland and left the game.

The severity of his injury is not yet clear. France was able to walk off the field under his own power.

Flores went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run Thursday against the Indians.

Flores kicked off the scoring in the first inning by hitting a two-run blast to left-center field. He's been firing on all cylinders at the plate this spring and is now 8-for-17 with seven RBI.

Freeman went 1-for-1 with a walk and a grand slam in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Tigers.

Amazingly, the first baseman has yet to hit a grand slam in the regular season among his 189 career homers. Freeman is now slashing .308/.357/.846 through his first 13 spring at-bats with two home runs.

Blandino (knee) will not be ready for the start of the season, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. "We would love to have him ready," manager David Bell said. "I know he would love to be ready. It's just not realistic right now. As much as he's disappointed by that, he's come such a long way, I think he knows he has to be smart about it."

Blandino, who had surgery to reconstruct a torn ACL and MCL in July of 2018, is recovering slower than expected. While he's been able to field grounders and participate in batting practice, the outfielder still isn't ready for game action. As such, Blandino won't be able to get enough at-bats in before the start of the season, leaving him to open the year in the minors or on the injured list.

Goldschmidt, who went 1-for-2 with a walk in Tuesday's 2-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Phillies, is hitting .364 over his first 15 spring plate appearances.

The veteran slugger overcame a slow start in 2018 to put together a second consecutive 30-homer season for the Diamondbacks, which also ranked as his third in the last four campaigns overall. Still only 31 years old, Goldschmidt is expected to muster a similar caliber of production in St. Louis, although the change in home park could make it more challenging for him to match the long-ball numbers he's generated in recent years. Another aspect of Goldschmidt's game to monitor will be what was once above-average stolen-base production -- after notching a combined 53 thefts in the 2015-16 seasons, he's seen his numbers in that category drop in each of the last two campaigns.

Bell belted a three-run homer against Baltimore on Tuesday, his first of the spring.

He hit 12 homers in 2018 after collecting 26 home runs in 2017. Although Bell never hit more than 17 homers in parts of seven minor-league seasons, the Bucs are counting on him to boost his power numbers in 2019. Even though the 26-year-old batted just .261 last season, he still finished with a .357 on-base percentage. With little competition at first base (Jose Osuna and Francisco Cervelli), Bell will get every chance to prove that his 2017 campaign wasn't a fluke.