MLB Player News

Santana (back) is absent from the lineup Monday in San Francisco, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Santana had to depart Sunday's game in Seattle with due to lumbar spine muscular tightness, so it's not a surprise he's not ready to play Monday. Connor Joe will be at first base.

Goldschmidt went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a double in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Guardians.

This was Goldschmidt's third multi-hit effort in five games after a span in which he went just 1-for-21 over seven contests. Slumps tend not to last too long for the first baseman, but it's a positive to see him looking like himself again after a rough week. For the season, he's slashing .294/.400/.525 with 10 homers, 26 RBI, 37 runs scored, seven stolen bases and 17 doubles.

Steer went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer in Sunday's 8-5 win over the Cubs.

Steer took Brandon Hughes deep to left center in the sixth to extend the Reds' lead to 7-3. He now has 11 hits over his last five games and has been red-hot at the plate in May, slashing .311/.366/.553 with five homers, 16 RBI, 16 runs scored and a 9:21 BB:K over 112 plate appearances. The 25-year-old has been the team's regular first baseman and should still have a role locked down in the lineup even with the recent news that Joey Votto (shoulder) is reportedly ramping things up for a return in the near future.

Bell is not in the starting lineup Monday against the Orioles.

Bell will get a day off after he went 3-for-20 with a double, an RBI, two walks and five strikeouts while starting six straight games. Jose Ramirez will take over at designated hitter while Gabriel Arias enters the lineup at the hot corner and bats fifth in the series opener with Baltimore.

Casas went 1-for-4 with a run scored in Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Casas also struck out three times, so it wasn't a day to celebrate, but the first baseman extended a modest hit steak to four games (6-for-15). That run puts his batting average at .200 for the first time in 2023. Casas has hit .277 in May with two more games left in the month.

Cronenworth went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Sunday's loss against the Yankees.

Cronenworth opened the scoring Sunday with a first-inning solo shot off Gerrit Cole. The homer extended Cronenworth's hit streak to four games, though it was his first extra-base hit in eight contests. It's been a down year overall for the 29-year-old Cronenworth. He's now slashing .215/.339/.392 with six home runs, 23 runs scored, 19 RBI and two stolen bases across 219 plate appearances this season.

Olson went 3-for-5 with two homers and four RBI in Sunday's win over Philadelphia.

Olson launched a two-run shot during Atlanta's seven-run first inning before going deep again in the fifth. He was in a small slump entering Sunday, going 3-for-25 (.120) over his previous seven games since his last multi-hit effort. Still, he's ripped five homers over his last 10 contests, giving him 16 on the year with a .236/.360/.538 slash line.

Noda went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a double and a walk in Sunday's 10-1 loss to the Astros.

Noda took Cristian Javier deep to lead off the bottom of the first inning, but it was all Astros after that. Over his last 11 games, Noda has gone 10-for-32 (.313) with two homers, six RBI and three doubles. He's been a bright spot recently in a lineup that lacks much in the way of offense. For the season, he's slashing .241/.400/.451 with five homers, 16 RBI, 26 runs scored, two stolen bases and 11 doubles through 50 contests, though Noda remains mostly confined to a strong-side platoon role at first base.

Abreu went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's 10-1 win over the Athletics.

Abreu's long power drought is over -- he failed to go deep in his first 50 games before his eighth-inning blast Sunday. The first baseman has had no fewer than 15 homers in any season of his career, though that low mark came in 2022, so it's concerning that trend has continued this year. He's hitting just .185 (15-for-81) in May and .214 on the season with 19 RBI, 14 runs scored and seven doubles across 213 plate appearances. He'll have a lot of catching up to do if he's going to get back to his established power production in 2023, and at 36 years old, it's not guaranteed he'll do it.

Santana was removed from Sunday's game against the Mariners due to lumbar spine muscular tightness, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

Santana went 0-for-2 with a walk to begin Sunday's matchup, but he was replaced defensively in the bottom of the sixth inning. He's being examined and treated following his removal, and it's unclear whether he'll be available for Monday's series opener in San Francisco. If Santana is sidelined, Connor Joe could see increased time at first base with Ji-Man Choi (Achilles) still on the 60-day injured list.