MLB Player News

Bour is in the lineup Thursday, hitting seventh and playing first base, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

It's promising that Bour is not riding the pine with a left-handed pitcher, the Nationals' Gio Gonzalez, taking the hill. Bour has power for days but failed to leave the yard against a southpaw in 30 at-bats last year. This assignment, however, may signal that the Marlins want to expose him more to lefties in order to facilitate his growth.

The Braves signed Howard to a minor-league deal Thursday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports. Howard will participate in extended spring training before reporting to Triple-A Gwinnett.

With Freddie Freeman locked in as a franchise player at first base, Howard didn't exactly join a spot that puts him on the fast track to the bigs. Still, Atlanta could have worse organizational depth pieces than someone who hit 23-plus home runs in the previous three seasons. The 2006 National League MVP must wait for an opportunity, though it may come as a bench bopper or as a designated hitter in interleague play at American League parks. The latter avenue could serve as a teaser before Atlanta uses him as trade bait for AL clubs later in the season.

Joseph is out of the lineup Thursday against the Reds, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki reports.

It's been a rocky start to the year for Joseph, who is 0-for-8 with five strikeouts in his first two games. He'll take a seat Thursday in favor of Brock Stassi, who will be making the first start of his MLB career.

Votto went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 2-0 win over the Phillies.

He ended Jerad Eickhoff's shutout bid by crushing a hanging breaking ball to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, providing Brandon Finnegan with all the offense he would need on the night. Votto has hit 29 homers in each of the last two seasons, but the rock-steady slugger will need the Reds' offense to improve around him if he's going to reach the 100-RBI plateau for the first time since 2011.

Joseph went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Wednesday's 2-0 loss to the Reds.

After going 0-for-4 with two Ks in the Phillies' opener, it's safe to say this isn't the way Joseph wanted to begin the season. The 25-year-old improved his strikeout rate in the second half of 2016, so don't overreact to a couple of bad games right out of the gate. If Joseph's struggles continue into May, though, Rhys Hoskins does loom behind him on the organizational depth chart.

Goldschmidt went 1-for-3 with a solo homer, a walk and two runs against the Giants on Tuesday.

He's off to a typical start, going 3-for-7 over the season's first two games. After he saw his power drop a bit last year while his steals rose, look for Goldschmidt to see the reverse effect this year -- a return to 30 homers with his typical great batting average seems more than reasonable, but it's doubtful that he'll reach 30 steals again.

Cabrera went 3-for-5 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base in Monday's 6-0 win over the Braves.

Hitting second for the Mets behind Jose Reyes, Cabrera picked up right where he left off in 2016, a season in which he posted a career-high .810 OPS. The steal was a bit of a surprise, as the 31-year-old only managed 11 stolen bases over the last two seasons combined, but if he maintains a premium spot in the batting order he should be a steady source of runs and RBI.

Freeman went 3-for-4 with a triple in Monday's Opening Day loss to the Mets.

Coming off a season in which he hit a career-high six triples, Freeman knocked a three-bagger for his first hit of 2017. The Braves scored the second-fewest runs (649) in MLB last year, but their lineup is expected to be markedly improved this season, even though it didn't look the part Monday. Freeman has been able to produce strong numbers with a weak supporting cast in recent campaigns, so assuming the roster pans out as anticipated, the first baseman could see a boost in stats this year.

Bell, who belted an RBI single Saturday in Montreal, finishes spring training with a .116/.269/.140 line in 15 exhibition games. "I feel ready to go," he told DK Pittsburgh Sports. "It could've come along a lot sooner, but the last week or so, I've gotten the reps I needed to hopefully drive in runs. When I'm on I can hit different pitches to different fields and I feel like I'm there."

He's expected to see the majority of action at first base, but it remains to be seen how patient the Pirates will be if he slumps. There's been talk of shifting Josh Harrison from second base to third, starting Adam Frazier at second and moving David Freese from third base to first on occasion. Of course, if Bell plays the way he did last year, that won't happen often.

Freeman went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run off Michael Pineda in Friday's exhibition game against the Yankees.

It was the first game played in SunTrust Park, the Braves' new home, and while it's way too early to draw any conclusions about how the park will play, it's at least worth noting that Freeman and Greg Bird both launched deep drives to right field while Chris Carter dropped one just over the short wall in left field. If Atlanta's new stadium does prove to be friendly to power hitters, Freeman should have no problem matching or topping last season's career-high 34 homers.