MLB Player News

Olson went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs in a win over the Red Sox on Monday.

Olson's fifth homer of the season extended the Athletics' lead to 5-3 in the sixth inning and served as his first round tripper since May 4. The 24-year-old is considerably off the torrid long-ball pace he established in his spectacular 2017 rookie campaign, but he's actually making hard contact at a career-best 51.1 percent rate. However, a near-four-point bump in strikeout rate (27.8 percent to 31.3 percent) over last season is certainly playing a part in his reduced output.

Votto was removed in the fourth inning of Monday's game against San Francisco with back tightness.

The Reds have not announced the reason for Votto's removal, but he appeared winded after a swing on a single to left and struggled to run to second base later in the inning. That sounds like it could be an oblique or other type of core injury, but we'll consider him day-to-day until the Reds explain the substitution. Votto was replaced at first base by Adam Duvall.

Santana went 2-for-3 with a walk, a homer and two runs scored Sunday against the Mets.

Santana doubled to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning and scored the tying run after Nick Williams homered. He added a solo shot of his own in the eighth off of Jeurys Familia. The homer was Santana's seventh of the year and his fifth in nine games. He's been on fire over that stretch, hitting .324/.342/.892. His wRC+ finally sits at 100 after a very slow start to the season. Even during that slow start, however, Santana's batted-ball data was very encouraging, so this seems to be a case of his results finally starting to line up with how he's been hitting the ball.

Bour hit a pinch-hit three-run home run Sunday against the Braves.

Bour entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning and launched his eighth home run of the season to cut the Marlins deficit to one. He had gone 4-for-24 over his past nine games prior to this home run, so maybe the day off will allow him to get back on track at the plate.

Votto went 1-for-3 with two walks, a two-run home run and a stolen base in Sunday's win over the Dodgers.

He parked a Pat Venditte pitch over the right-field wall for his sixth home run of the season. All six of those homers have come in Votto's last 19 games (21 homerless to begin the campaign). The 34-year-old also chipped in the rare stolen base and now has his batting line up to .288/.413/.445. Expect that line to only continue to trend upward.

Smith was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas following Sunday's game against the Phillies, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

The Mets have an off-day Monday, and Jay Bruce is going to come off the paternity list prior to Tuesday's game, so sending Smith down now allows him to rejoin Las Vegas a day early. He went 0-for-1 and didn't get a start in two games with the big club. While Smith will be an option the next time the Mets need to summon a bench bat, Peter Alonso is on the verge of passing him on the organizational depth chart with his scorching performance at Double-A Binghamton.

Flores will start at third base and bat fifth Sunday against the Phillies, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Flores will be included in the lineup for a third consecutive game and should remain the Mets' primary option at the hot corner until Todd Frazier (hamstring) is ready to return from the 10-day disabled list. Recent reports have suggested that Frazier will likely be activated by next weekend, so assuming that timetable still holds, Flores should be viewed as more of a short-term pickup than one who can stabilize a corner-infield spot for fantasy owners over the long haul. Flores is hitting .286/.348/.524 with a home run, two RBI and two runs through nine appearances in May.

Bour is not in the lineup Sunday against the Braves, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Bour hasn't pieced together a multi-hit performance since April 22 and holds a career-low .228 average. He has, however, drawn a walk in nearly 19 percent of his plate appearances, which has buoyed his value up to this point. With Bour out of the lineup, Miguel Rojas will pick up a start at first base.

Abreu went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Saturday's 8-4 loss to the Cubs.

Abreu's nascent hitting streak reached four games Saturday. During that run, he's reached base nine times (seven hits, two walks) in 17 plate appearances with three extra-base hits and four RBI. It's indicative of the production potential in his bat, but the White Sox don't have much surrounding Abreu, particularly at this time with Yoan Moncada (hamstring) unavailable. That means opposing pitchers can pitch around him to get to less accomplished hitters. After he hit six home runs over the first 19 games, Abreu has gone yard just once over the last 16.

Freeman went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and three RBI in Saturday's 10-5 win over the Marlins.

Both blasts came off left-hander Jarlin Garcia, giving Freeman eight homers and 31 RBI through 38 games to go along with his impressive .331/.431/.593 slash line. With the young Braves providing plenty of production around him, the 28-year-old first baseman only needs to stay healthy to put together a career season.