MLB Player News

Joseph continued his resurgent July on Monday, going 1-for-3 with a solo home run against the Marlins.

The rookie had a rough month of June, but has rebounded to the tune of a .400 average this month. Joseph has 12 home runs and 22 RBI in 160 at-bats this season, but has started just two of the first four games since the All-Star break.

Rizzo went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer in Monday's victory over the Mets.

Rizzo now has 22 home runs this season and two in his last seven games. The first baseman had a rough start to the season, but has watched his batting average rise from .238 to .293 since the start of June. His 68 RBI have him behind only Nolan Arenado in the National League.

Flores, making his first start since the All-Star break, went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Monday against the Cubs.

Playing time has been inconsistent for Flores since the promotion of Jose Reyes, but he's been tearing the cover off the ball when in the lineup. Flores is hitting .351 with six home runs, 11 RBI and nine runs scored in the month of July. If he continues to hit like this, he'll force his way into the lineup again in short order.

Pirates GM Neal Huntington said Sunday that Bell will see more action in the outfield after he was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis a day earlier, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. "It'll be just a refresher. He's very comfortable in the outfield, in fact he ran around the other day here in right field as we were working through when and if Gregory [Polanco's] going to be ready to go," Huntington said. "With what he's done offensively with the number of years, the number of balls he's taken in the outfield, we felt that he could be a very good fallback choice for us if there were an injury or something happened at the major league level and we needed another outfielder."

Bell had played primarily first base this season at Indianapolis prior to his promotion to the big leagues earlier this month, but the Pirates are content with what John Jaso and David Freese have provided them at that position. However, with Bell slashing an impressive .324/.407/.535 at Triple-A and having little left to prove in the minors, the Pirates will try to find ways to increase his utility at the big-league level. Once he gets comfortable playing the outfield again, a promotion could come again in the next couple of weeks, and at the very latest, as a September call-up.

Joseph is out of the lineup for the second straight game Sunday against the Mets.

Joseph had actually been starting to turn things around at the plate, as he owns a 1.281 OPS since the beginning of June. The more experienced Ryan Howard will get the call Sunday, however, batting fifth in the order against tough right-hander Jacob deGrom.

Rizzo went 1-for-4 with a two-run double in Saturday's 3-1 victory over the Rangers.

The slugging first baseman plated Tommy La Stella and Miguel Montero with a third-inning two-bagger, allowing the Cubs to overcome an early 1-0 deficit. The double, his sixth over the last four contests, extended Rizzo's hitting streak to 11 games. Rizzo's recent stretch of success at the plate has raised his average 18 points since July 2.

Votto went 4-for-5 with a double and a run Saturday against the Brewers.

Votto scored the only Reds' run in the ninth inning of a 9-1 loss. The double was only his third extra-base hit in 10 July games, and he's now slashing .261/.390/.452.

The Marlins are leaning toward sending Bour (ankle) out on a rehab assignment, MLB.com reports.

While Bour is eligible to return as soon as Monday, he's still dealing with some soreness in his ankle and thus remains limited in his baseball activity. He will ultimately need a few games in the minors to knock the rust off. It sounds like July 22 is the earliest possible date for Bour's return.

Bell was optioned back to Triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune reports.

Bell has logged only four plate appearances for the Pirates on the year, and he'll now return to Triple-A, where he holds a .324 average with 53 RBI through 83 games. The move comes in response to Gerrit Cole returning from the DL on Saturday.

Joseph is out of Saturday's lineup, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki reports.

He'll get a rest day after starting six of the last eight games and tallying 11 hits, including three home runs, over that stretch. Ryan Howard will get the nod Saturday and hit fifth against the Mets.