MLB Player News

Votto is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

With no recent reports indicating that Votto is dealing with an injury, he's presumably just getting an early season breather in the series finale. After going 4-for-21 at the plate through the Reds' first six games, Votto's bat has woken up a bit in Pittsburgh the past two days, during which he's recorded a double and his first home run of the season. Derek Dietrich will fill in for Votto at first base for Sunday's matinee game.

Hoskins went 1-for-2 with a solo home run and two walks in Saturday's 6-2 loss to the Twins.

Hoskins has been busy against the Twins as he is now 4-for-6 with three walks, two runs scored, five RBI and a home run in two games. The 26-year-old is enjoying a fast start to the season by slashing .318/.516/.636 with two home runs and 11 RBI through seven games.

Bell went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and two RBI in a 6-5 win over the Reds on Saturday.

Bell entered the game without an extra-base hit through 25 plate appearances this season but finally busted out in a major way against the Reds. The 26-year-old now carries a .269/.333/.462 slash line through seven games.

Goldschmidt went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in a loss to the Padres on Friday.

Goldschmidt squared up on a Trey Wingenter offering in the eighth inning for his fifth homer of the season. The slugging first baseman has been as good as advertised on the power front thus far, but he's actually in a bit of a slump overall. Factoring in Friday's production, Goldschmidt is just 1-for-11 over his last three games.

Hoskins went 3-for-4 with a walk, a run and four RBI in Friday's win over the Twins.

Hoskins drove in the second run of the game with a first-inning single off Jake Odorizzi. He added on three insurance runs in the seventh off Adalberto Mejia with a rare three-run single. Through six games, Hoskins certainly seems to be enjoying the Phillies' revamped lineup, hitting .300/.481/.500 with 10 RBI.

Walker should be in line for a regular role at first base as Jake Lamb has been sidelined six weeks with a Grade 2 left quad strain, Jack Magruder of The Sports Xchange reports.

Walker was already starting against lefties and will now presumably get the call against most righties as well. He's hitting .368 with three homers on the season so far this year.

Rizzo went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Thursday's 9-4 loss to the Braves.

The Cubs went scoreless through eight innings before showing a little life in the ninth, which included Rizzo's two-run bomb, his second of the young season. The 29-year-old has hit at least 25 home runs and driven in at least 100 runs the past four seasons.

Montero will open the year with Double-A Springfield, Mike Rosenbaum of MLB.com reports.

This is a challenging assignment for Montero, but it's an assignment he earned after a dominant 2018 season at Low-A and a decent performance over the final month after a promotion to High-A. Montero operates with a pretty aggressive approach, but his elite hand-eye coordination has allowed that approach to work thus far. He is already a known commodity in dynasty leagues, but if he lays waste to Double-A pitchers in the same manner he dominated Low-A pitchers, his stock will continue to soar.

Walker started at first base and went 0-for-4 in Wednesday's 4-1 loss to San Diego.

The hot-hitting Walker got another start Wednesday, the fifth time he's started with a left-hander on the bump, but cooled off in the finale of Arizona's season-opening road trip. The game also featured the first start at third base for Jake Lamb, the batter with whom Walker has been sharing first base. Lamb suffered what's being called a strained quadriceps and is scheduled for an MRI. Pending Lamb's status, Walker is line for more starts at first.

Flores is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Padres.

Flores has started the past three games for the Diamondbacks, going 4-for-12 with a double, a walk and a pair of runs scored in those contests. Eduardo Escobar will cover the keystone in his absence, with Christian Walker and Jake Lamb manning first and third base, respectively.