MLB Player News

Cron will begin his rehab assignment at Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday.

With this latest news, it seems likely that Cron will be back in action with the Angels by the end of next week. Before getting injured, Cron was posting a career-best line of .278/.333/.475. Until he returns, Jefry Marte is expected to continue starting at first for the Angels.

Santana (head) is out of the lineup Friday against the Angels, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Santana will have the night off after he was hit by a line drive Thursday. Cleveland is expected to update his status before Friday's game, so more information regarding his recovery and eventual return should be available soon. Mike Napoli will start at first base during Santana's absence.

Rizzo went 2-for-5 and drove home the game-winning run with a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning of a victory over the Cardinals on Thursday.

Though Rizzo hasn't hit a home run since he hit two of them on July 20, he's still been hitting and driving in runs, as he's slashing .278/.376/.458 with 12 runs and 11 RBI in 19 games. Meanwhile, the Cubs have won their last 10. We could be looking at the National League MVP.

Parmelee (hamstring) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last week, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reports.

Parmelee has been sidelined since early June with a hamstring strain, but he appears to be nearing a return as he's worked his way up to minor league action for five games. He's racked up four hits -- including a home run -- in that span. It's unclear if the first baseman will rejoin the major league club when he's ready, but even if he is kept in the minors, Parmelee will likely get another chance in the big leagues when the rosters expand in September.

Santana exited Thursday's game with a head contusion, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports.

According to Bastian, Santana was struck on the side of the head with a line drive during Thursday's game against the Angels and had to leave the contest. There's no word yet on whether Santana will miss additional time, but he figures to undergo further testing given the nature of his injury. If Santana is given the day off Friday, Mike Napoli could take over at first base with Brandon Guyer filling in at DH.

Tellez, 21, is batting .342 with three home runs and eight RBI in his last 10 games for Double-A New Hampshire.

The recent surge pushes Tellez's slash line up to .296/.389/.507 on the season. He has 16 home runs in 98 games, already surpassing his previous career high in home runs set in 2015. His stock is on the rise in the Toronto organization.

Carter carried the Milwaukee offense with one big swing Wednesday, going 1-for-4 with a three-run homer against Atlanta.

He'd been in the midst of a small power drought, having gone seven straight games without a homer before Wednesday. That sort of thing hasn't been uncommon for Carter, whose 26 homers have largely come in bunches this season, often with slumps in between. With that in mind, look for him to hit a few more in the coming days.

Freeman went 3-for-3 with two solo homers and a walk Wednesday against the Brewers.

Those long balls represented two-thirds of Atlanta's offense in this matchup of lightweight teams. Freeman hit one to center and one to left, reflecting the ability to hit to all fields that makes him such a special bat. Unfortunately, thanks to the Braves' mighty struggles getting on base and scoring runs, Freeman still hasn't cracked 50 RBI despite having ripped 21 homers.

Santana is out of the lineup Wednesday in Washington.

The Indians need to choose between Santana and Mike Napoli at first base when they are playing in a National League park, and while Santana got the nod Tuesday, Napoli will start the final game of the two-game series in the Nation's Capital. Wednesday marks the Indians' final road game in a National League ballpark this season, so Santana's owners won't have to worry about this annoyance going forward.

Bell, 23, started in right field for Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday, but he is still seeing the bulk of his playing time at first base.

It is pretty clear at this point that Bell's bat is ready for the big leagues (.308/.395/.491 at Triple-A this season), but the Pirates seem to be dealing with an internal struggle as to how to proceed with him defensively. The team clearly thinks his defense at first base is subpar to the point that it negates the offensive upgrade he would provide over John Jaso and David Freese. At the same time, there is nowhere to play him in the outfield at the big league level, so giving him significant reps there at Triple-A doesn't make a lot of sense in the short term. It stands to reason that Bell will join the Pirates when rosters expand in September, but there is no evidence that he will be up before then.