MLB Player News

Perkins is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game against the Cubs.

Perkins has received most of the reps in center field for the Brewers since Jackson Chourio (hamstring) went down, but he will begin Thursday's series finale on the bench. Brandon Lockridge will patrol center field and hit eighth in the batting order.

Nimmo (neck) is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals.

Nimmo was removed from Wednesday's 5-4 loss due to neck stiffness, which he first experienced after waking up earlier that morning. The outfielder has a history of neck issues, but the Mets believe he will be ready to play at some point this weekend against Atlanta. Tyrone Taylor will start in left field for the Mets on Thursday.

Tucker will start in right field and bat second in Thursday's game against the Brewers.

The Cubs gave Tucker a three-game break as he navigates through an extended slump in which he's slashed .195/.333/.242 since the beginning of July. Manager Craig Counsell also revealed Wednesday that Tucker was diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his right hand back on June 1, though that injury is now healed. The Cubs have won three straight games with Tucker out of the lineup and will go for four in a row Thursday with their All-Star outfielder back in starting nine.

Beck went 3-for-5 with a run scored Wednesday against the Dodgers.

Beck helped spark the Rockies' offense with a leadoff single in the second inning before coming around to score. He's taken advantage of a heavy recent slate of games at Coors Field, hitting .290 with two homers, eight RBI and nine runs scored across 18 games in August.

Sheets went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four total RBI in an 8-1 win against the Giants on Wednesday.

After San Diego acquired Ramon Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn at the trade deadline, Sheets saw his playing time drop dramatically -- he got a second straight start Wednesday, but prior to that, the veteran slugger had been out of the starting lineup for six straight games. Sheets certainly made the most of the opportunity against San Francisco, clubbing a solo blast in the second inning and a three-run homer in the third to help the Padres cruise to a big win. Laureano and O'Hearn have fared quite well since joining San Diego, so it's hard to see Sheets moving back into an everyday role when the team is healthy. However, he could have at least a short-term path to regular at-bats while Jackson Merrill is sidelined with a bone bruise in his left ankle.

Hernandez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Wednesday in a loss to the Rockies.

The Dodgers were held scoreless through five frames before Hernandez broke the seal on the offense with a solo shot in the sixth. The long ball was his third over his past six games and his 21st of the season. Hernandez's .757 OPS on the campaign is well below the .840 mark he posted during the regular season last year, but the veteran outfielder does rank in the top 20 leaguewide with 75 RBI.

Pham went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI on Wednesday against the Blue Jays.

Pham accounted for all of Pittsburgh's offense with a two-run double in the first inning. After a hot stretch in the middle of the summer, he's slowed since the start of August, hitting only .218 with a pair of home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored across 16 games. Pham remains the Pirates' primary left fielder, though the team could choose to shift playing time to younger options down the stretch.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday that Tucker has fully healed from the hairline fracture he sustained to his right hand June 1, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

Though the injury occurred at the beginning of June, the Cubs hadn't disclosed until Wednesday that Tucker had been affected by the hand issue. Tucker has been held out of the lineup for the Cubs' last three games, as Counsell is trying to allow the outfielder to get a mental reset while he's hit just .189 with four extra-base hits since the beginning of July. The Cubs wrap up their series with the Brewers on Thursday, but it's unclear if Tucker will be back in the lineup for the finale.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday that Tucker was diagnosed June 1 with a hairline fracture in his right hand and has continued to play through the injury, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

Tucker was initially injured while sliding into second base in a June 1 win over the Reds. While X-rays on his right finger came back negative, further testing revealed a slight fracture on the top of his hand, where the pinky and ring finger meet. Tucker's fracture has shown healing, but president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer admitted the injury has affected the outfielder's performance. Since the start of July, Tucker is hitting .189 with just four extra-base hits. Tucker has been out of the lineup for three straight games, as manager Craig Counsell indicated the star right fielder would get a couple days off for a mental reset. Tucker doesn't look as though he'll need a stint on the IL since the hand injury will continue to be more of a pain-tolerance matter, but it helps explain his lagging production during the second half of the season.

Gurriel went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in Wednesday's 3-2 win against the Guardians.

The veteran outfielder led off the bottom of the ninth inning by launching a 424-foot solo shot off Cade Smith to tie the score at 2-2. It marked Gurriel's 17th long ball of the season and his third in the last seven contests, a stretch in which he's gone 9-for-28 (.321) with 12 RBI and five runs scored. Gurriel also recorded an RBI single earlier in the game.