MLB Player News

Diaz (forearm) is starting at third base and batting leadoff Friday against the Royals, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Diaz missed the Rays' final game before the All-Star break after he was hit in the forearm by a pitch Saturday, but he's locked and loaded to start the second half Friday. The 30-year-old owns a .294 average with three home runs, 26 RBI, 40 runs and a stolen base over 83 games this year.

Hall is not in the starting lineup Friday versus the Cubs.

Hall will take a seat as the Phillies face left-hander Justin Steele. Alec Bohm will slide over to designated hitter while Yairo Munoz will start at third base and bat eighth in the series opener.

Freeman went 1-for-2 with a solo home run, two walks and two total runs in a 9-6 victory over the Giants on Thursday.

Freeman entered the All-Star break with a scorching bat, and he wasted little time carrying that over to the second half, swatting a solo homer off Carlos Rodon in his first plate appearance. The superstar first baseman went on to reach base twice more in the contest, both times via walk. Freeman has pushed his batting average up to .322 -- fourth highest in the majors -- due to a blistering seven-game stretch in which he is slashing .654/.688/1.308 with four homers, eight RBI and nine runs.

Rizzo isn't starting the second game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Astros.

Rizzo started at first base during Thursday's matinee and went 1-for-4. He'll get a breather while Aaron Judge serves as the designated hitter with Tim Locastro starting in right field.

Gurriel is out of the lineup for Game 2 of Thursday's doubleheader against the Yankees, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Gurriel started the matinee and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout during Houston's victory. J.J. Matijevic, who walked off New York in Game 1 with an RBI single, will start at first base in the nightcap.

Triple-A Worcester is expected to reinstate Casas (ankle) from its 7-day injured list this weekend, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

Casas' sprained right ankle has kept him from playing for Worcester since May 17 and also caused him to miss last weekend's All-Star Futures Game, but the 22-year-old first baseman looks as though he'll be ready to go when the Triple-A club resumes its second-half schedule. Before the All-Star break, Casas appeared in four rehab games for Boston's rookie-level Florida Complex League affiliate, going 6-for-14 with a home run, three doubles and three walks.

Clemens was called up from Triple-A Toledo on Thursday.

Clemens will be back with the Tigers following the All-Star break after he was sent down to Triple-A on July 11. The 26-year-old has produced a disappointing .161 average with three home runs, eight RBI, eight runs and a stolen base over his first 56 major-league at-bats, which covers a span of 25 games.

The Mets placed Smith on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a right ankle sprain.

The transaction is retroactive to Sunday, so Smith will be eligible to come off the IL as soon as July 27. The Mets have yet to announce a corresponding roster move, but Smith's placement on the IL should open up more reps against right-handed pitching for Luis Guillorme or J.D. Davis.

Steer has gone 13 straight games without a homer at Triple-A St. Paul, though he's still hit .260 with a .362 OBP and 8:9 BB:K in that span.

He's hit four doubles and a triple in that time, too, so it's not like Steer's extra-base power has dried up altogether even while he's been stuck on 19 home runs since June 24. Even with this power outage, he still has a solid .253/.344/.531 line in Triple-A, and that's with an uncharacteristically low .259 BABIP. Steer's bat ought to write his ticket to the big leagues before too much longer, though the Twins' overcrowded infield remains an impediment.

Tellez went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 9-5 loss to the Giants.

Tellez's eighth-inning blast off Jakob Junis was his 18th of the season, leaving him one behind Willy Adames -- who hit a solo shot in the first inning -- for the team lead. Before leaving the yard in the Brewers' final game before the All-Star break, Tellez had endured a prolonged power outage, as he produced no extra-base hits in any of his previous nine contests.