MLB Player News

Bour is out of the lineup for Friday's game against Washington.

With the Marlins facing lefty Gio Gonzalez on Friday, manager Don Mattingly will give Bour the night off and replace him at first base with Chris Johnson. Bour had started five straight games at first base coming into Friday and he figures to rejoin the order Saturday against righty Tanner Roark.

Howard is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Reds, Ryan Lawrence of the Philly Voice reports.

With left-hander Brandon Finnegan taking the ball for Cincinnati, Howard will head to the bench as usual. Recent callup Tommy Joseph will man first base in his stead.

Joseph was called up by the Philles on Friday.

Due to Darin Ruf's putrid performance at the plate so far this season, the Phillies were willing to give Joseph a promotion from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 24-year-old has been annihilating Triple-A pitching, batting .347 with six home runs and 17 RBI thus far, so he'll try to translate that to the big leagues. He'll likely slot into the short end of a platoon at first base with Ryan Howard.

Joseph is expected to be called up by the Phillies on Friday, ESPN's Jayson Stark reports.

The move has not been confirmed by the team, but it appears Jospeh is set to join the big club. Joseph hit .347 with six home runs and 17 RBI in 27 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season and posted a 1.122 OPS against lefties, so he will likely replace Darin Ruf as the platoon partner for Ryan Howard at first base.

Flores (hamstring) was officially placed on the disabled list Thursday, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.

Flores injured his hamstring in Monday's game and hasn't been able to improve much since then. The Mets will be a little thin around the infield without their utility man around, but the bullpen will be bolstered with Sean Gilmartin being called up from Triple-A to take Flores' place on the roster.

Goldschmidt went 2-for-5 with two doubles, a run and an RBI in Wednesday's loss to the Rockies.

Goldy is probably sad to be leaving Coors Field, as he went 5-for-12 with a home run and three doubles the last three days. He raised his batting average 20 points in the process, and it looks like the slugger is breaking out of his early season slump. He is set to face Johnny Cueto and the Giants on Thursday back home.

Manager Pete Mackanin confirmed Wednesday the Phillies have discussed bringing Joseph up from the minors, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia reports.

Joseph entered Wednesday leading the International League in batting average, slugging and OPS. The Phillies haven't been getting much from Darin Ruf of late, so he could head to the minors and Joseph could slot into Ruf's platoon role at first base with Ryan Howard.

Flores will be placed on the disabled list Thursday with a left hamstring injury.

Flores suffered the injury in Monday's game, though it is not believed to have occurred on his stolen base attempt, during which his helmet popped off and cut him on his forehead. He has backed up at all four infield positions, but due to better health than expected by David Wright, a solid start by the incumbent at each spot and a lack of left-handed opposing starting pitchers, Flores has seen minimal at-bats.

Bour went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer Wednesday in a 3-2 win over the Brewers.

The fifth-inning long ball against Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson was crucial in such a close game, as it broke a scoreless tie. Although Bour hasn't exactly been lighting fantasy owners' hearts on fire this year, he does own a higher OPS than last year (.846 to .800). However, considering the lefty slugger gets basically no at-bats against southpaws, his fantasy utility remains limited to very deep leagues and daily formats.

Freeman went 3-for-4 with his third homer in four games and two runs scored against the Phillies on Wednesday.

After a slow start, the stats are coming up, but Atlanta's horrendous offense is severely limiting Freeman's counting stats -- he has six homers, but only 10 RBI and 14 runs, numbers that simply aren't going to set fantasy owners' hearts racing even if they come with solid average and a strong OPS. That said, the Braves just got Ender Inciarte back and Nick Markakis gets on base a lot, so Freeman should see some kind of uptick in RBI opportunities moving forward.