MLB Player News

Bour is starting at first base and hitting second Wednesday against the Red Sox.

This will be his first start since the Phillies traded for him Friday. Bour, a left-handed hitter, is in there against righty Nathan Eovaldi. The team is heavily committed to Carlos Santana at first base, but Bour should see a start or two per week against righties in order to keep him fresh. The big surprise is that Bour is hitting all the way up in the two hole, which makes him an appealing option in daily formats. He has a .272/.357/.504 career slash line against righties.

Santana is out of Wednesday's lineup against the Red Sox.

The recently-acquired Justin Bour gets the start at first base and will hit second against righty Nathan Eovaldi. We keep waiting for Santana's batting average to see some positive regression, but it has not cooperated. He is 3-for-27 over his last eight games and is hitting just .214 on the season. Bour should see a start or two per week against righties, but the team is committed to Santana long term, so expect him to be in there most days. He has still been slightly above league average (102 wRC+) thanks to a 17.4 percent walk rate.

Hoskins went 1-for-3 with a solo homer in Tuesday's loss to the Red Sox.

Hoskins was bumped back to the cleanup spot and responded well, hitting his 23rd homer of the season. The hit was just his second in his last nine games. If the left fielder remains in the cleanup spot, expect a small increase in his RBI total at the expense of runs scored.

Goldschmidt went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 6-4 win over the Rangers.

After taking Yovani Gallardo deep to left field in the first inning, Goldschmidt is now just three long balls shy of reaching the 30-homer plateau for the fourth time in his career. He's been delivering the power production at an even more prodigious rate than usual recently, slugging three home runs and four doubles over his last seven games.

Rizzo will bat fourth and man first base versus Milwaukee on Wednesday.

Manager Joe Maddon decided to switch up the order following Tuesday's loss, moving Rizzo out of the leadoff spot for the first time since July 11. After shifting to the top of the order, Rizzo slashed .340/.439/.563 with five home runs, 16 RBI and 14 walks to just 15 strikeouts. Javier Baez will bat atop the Cubs' order for the matinee.

Hoskins is starting in left field and hitting cleanup Tuesday against the Red Sox, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Hoskins is hitting just .147/.293/.265 through 10 games this month, so he'll drop a couple places in the order in an attempt to get him going at the dish. He's hitting a solid .294/.443/.500 with four homers and 20 RBI in 31 games batting cleanup this season.

Votto (undisclosed) is starting at first base and hitting second Tuesday against the Indians.

Votto, who has been nursing a sore knee lately, won't be forced to miss any additional action after exiting Monday's series-opening loss in the seventh inning. The 34-year-old is hitting .290/.428/.428 with nine home runs through 116 games this season.

Freeman went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and two RBI in the second half of Monday's doubleheader against Miami.

Freeman singled home a run in the fifth inning, and he padded the lead in the seventh by slugging a solo homer over the fence in right field. The 28-year-old has collected a base knock in nine of his previous 10 games, although he's recorded just one home run over that span. He sits with a .319/.398/.530 slash line and a .928 OPS through 117 games in 2018.

Votto was removed in the sixth inning of Monday's game against Cleveland due to an apparent injury, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Votto was seen limping to second base on a double earlier in the ballgame, but he managed to remain in the contest for the next few innings. He was replaced by Curt Casali at first base in the top of the seventh frame, when the game was out of hand. Votto has been battling a sore right knee over the past few days, so it's possible the same issue is causing him problems.

The Giants signed Stassi to a minor-league contract Sunday.

Stassi was assigned to Triple-A Sacramento and made an immediate impact in his organizational debut, finishing 3-for-4 with a double Sunday in the affiliate's 4-1 loss to El Paso. The 29-year-old, who had been playing for the New Britain Bees of the independent Atlantic League before signing with the Giants, logged his only MLB action in 2017 with the Phillies. He appeared in 51 contests at the big-league level that season, slashing .167/.278/.295.