MLB Player News

Rizzo went 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, an RBI and a run scored in Thursday's 9-6 win over the Cardinals.

Rizzo batted leadoff Thursday, which is something the Cubs have experimented with a little bit the last two seasons. The slugging first baseman is batting just .249 with a .759 OPS, so maybe the lineup shuffle will get him going. Still, Rizzo is best suited to hit in the middle of the order, and the Cubs will likely move him back there at some point in the near future.

Diaz will be called up to the majors on Friday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Diaz appeared in 49 games for Cleveland last season, hitting a mediocre .263/.352/.327. He's hit .284/.415/.375 for Triple-A Columbus so far this year, though he has just two homers in 81 games. He'll likely fill a utility role in his time in the big leagues.

Guerrero (knee) was reinstated from the disabled list Tuesday and sent to High-A Dunedin.

Guerrero had been rehabbing at the rookie-league level. He's no longer technically on a rehab assignment, though his time with Dunedin will effectively still be short, as he'd been dominating at Double-A New Hampshire and was expected to head to Triple-A once healthy. Expect to see him promoted back to his former level or Triple-A Buffalo in the near future.

Hiura struck out in both of his plate appearances in Sunday's Futures Game.

Hiura went down swinging in the second inning against the Athletics' top pitching prospect, Jesus Luzardo, and was put away on four pitches from the Twins' Lewis Thorpe in the fourth inning. Though he didn't make much of an impression Sunday, the weekend wasn't a total wash for Hiura, who delivered his first four-hit game for Double-A Biloxi on Saturday.

Cabrera suffered an injury to his right hand during Sunday's tilt against the Nationals, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Cabrera injured himself after trying to catch a pickoff throw with his bare hand. He underwent X-rays following the game, but they came back negative, so he's expected to be good to go following the All-Star break.

Rizzo went 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs scored Sunday against the Padres.

Rizzo enjoyed a productive weekend series against the Padres, totaling six hits -- including three doubles -- two runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base in 14 at-bats. He's suffered from a disappointing first-half of the season, highlighted by a paltry .401 slugging percentage, though he does rank sixth in the National League with 61 RBI.

Smith is out of the lineup Sunday against the Nationals, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Smith is on the bench for the third consecutive contest and has started just six times in 17 games. The Mets seem satisfied with deploying Wilmer Flores as their starting first baseman with Michael Conforto and Jose Bautista as their corner outfielders, leaving limited opportunities for Smith to crack the lineup. Playing time will only become harder to come by for the 23-year-old when Yoenis Cespedes (hip) and Jay Bruce (hip) return from the 10-day disabled list at some point after the All-Star break.

Bour is out of the lineup Sunday against the Phillies, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Most of Bour's absences from the Miami lineup typically come when the team faces a left-handed starter, but he'll receive a rare day off in the series finale with righty Enyel De Los Santos on the bump for Philadelphia. It's possible that Marlins skipper Don Mattingly just wanted to give Bour an early start on the All-Star break after the slugging first baseman went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Saturday's contest. Garrett Cooper will replace Bour in the starting nine for the series finale.

Calhoun went 2-for-4 with a double, a solo home run and a second run scored in Saturday's 5-4 extra-inning win over the Dodgers.

He drove the first pitch he saw from Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen over the wall in right-center field for his fourth homer in five games and ninth of the year. Calhoun had a rough first three months of the season, but he's now hitting .326 with six home runs and 11 RBI this month.

Cron went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer, a walk and another run scored after entering as a pinch hitter Saturday in the Rays' 19-6 win over the Twins.

Cron wasn't in the starting lineup but did plenty of damage upon entering the contest. He took a Matt Belisle curveball over the center-field fence in the eighth inning as Tampa Bay piled on during a 15-run stampede across the final three innings. The first baseman has enjoyed a breakthrough 2018 so far, slashing .254/.326/.480 with 19 homers and 49 RBI in 371 first-half plate appearances.