MLB Player News

With the Angels facing Texas lefthander Wandy Rodriguez on Friday, left fielder Matt Joyce is out of the starting lineup. 

Joyce has faced southpaws in just three of his 52 plate appearances this season. Collin Cowgill gets the start in left, batting seventh in the lineup. C.J. Cron is the DH, batting sixth. 

The Angels are -180 money line favorites against visiting Texas. 

With Christian Yelich on the 15-day disabled list with a back injury, the Marlins could turn to Ichiro Suzuki to fill that void in left field, MLB.com reports.

Suzuki has made seven starts this season for Miami, five of which have come at right field. He is hitting .257 (9 for 35) with a triple and an RBI in 16 appearances.

Although the Marlins don't have a true backup outfielder on the roster, third baseman Martin Prado has some experience as a corner outfielder. Donovan Solano has also seen some playing time at left field back in 2012.

The Marlins placed outfielder Christian Yelich on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain. Yelich has missed the last three games, and the transaction is retroactive to April 20. 

Yelich is hitting .200 with no home runs and four RBI this season. 

To replace Yelich on the roster, the Marlins called up first baseman Justin Bour from Triple-A New Orleans. Bour was hitting .275 for New Orleans this season with one home run and five RBI. 

Bour played in 39 games for the Marlins last season, hitting .284 with a homer and 11 RBI.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, second baseman Chase Utley, shortstop Freddy Galvis and catcher Carlos Ruiz were all held out of the starting lineup on Thursday. All four starters returned to the starting lineup Friday night against the Braves.

Howard moved back to the No. 5 spot in the order for just the second time this season. Utley returned to his regular No. 3 spot, while Ruiz batted seventh, followed by Galviz eighth.

Philadelphia is considered a slight underdog (+105) at home against Atlanta, per VegasInsider.com.

Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun went 1 for 4 with a two-run home run to provide the only offense in his team's 2-0 win over the A's Thursday.

Calhoun's home run, which came in the third inning, was the only hit allowed by Oakland starter Jesse Chavez. The right fielder has hit .271/.314/.542 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 48 at-bats.

Astros first baseman Chris Carter showed signs of coming out of his early-season funk Wednesday, going 2 for 4 with his first home run of the season in his team's 3-2 loss to the Mariners.

"I finally got a couple hits and got the first [homer] out of the way," Carter said after the game, per MLB.com. "In that situation [in the eighth], that's a game-changing situation. I've got to come up with something there instead of striking out."

Carter was just 3 for 42 entering play Tuesday but is 3 for 7 with two walks, one home run and two RBI in his last two games.

"He swung the bat very well today," manager A.J. Hinch said Wednesday. "The base hit early in the game, the home run late. He's going to contribute. Obviously, it's going to take a while for things to even out for him. Chris Carter will be a productive player for us."

Carter will look to build on his recent success when the Astros open a three-game series in Oakland against the A's Friday.

Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg chose to rest four of his starters for Thursday's day game against the Marlins.

First baseman Ryan Howard, second baseman Chase Utley, shortstop Freddy Galvis and catcher Carlos Ruiz were all held out of the starting lineup. Darin Ruf started at first base, Cesar Hernandez started at second base, Andres Blanco started at shortstop and Cameron Rupp started at catcher.

Ruiz (.184), Howard (.196) and Utley (.120) are all batting below the Mendoza Line (.200). Galvis is batting .300 (15 for 50) with one double, one triple, one home run and eight RBI through 14 games.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt entered play Wednesday hitting .314 with a 1.073 OPS, the latter of which would be a career-best mark in April. He's slugged five home runs in just 51 at-bats.

"You're going to have two weeks during the year when you hit a few homers and then you're going to go two weeks where you may not have an extra-base hit," Goldschmidt said Wednesday, per the Arizona Republic. "Early on, that's all you have to judge yourself off of, whereas if it happens in August you've built up four and a half months of credibility. It's not really that big of a deal."

Goldschmidt has been swinging more at the first pitch of his at-bats, and three of his home runs have come on first pitches.

"If you try to take pitches, they're going to notice that really quickly and start pumping strikes," Goldschmidt said. "When you're hitting behind in the count and they go to their off-speed pitches or become a little more particular with their pitches."

Goldschmidt will look to continue his hot start as the team continues its homestand with a three-game series against the Pirates beginning Friday.

Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores went 2 for 4 at the plate in New York's 3-2 win over the Braves Wednesday. Flores found success early, picking up an RBI single in the second inning to score Eric Campbell.

Then in the seventh, Flores ripped an 0-1 pitch from Cody Martin over the left center field wall for a solo home run, his third of the season. Flores is now hitting .273 with seven RBI in 44 at-bats.

White Sox slugger Jose Abreu has been tearing it up since arriving in the bigs to start the 2014 season. But he has really battered the Indians.

Abreu smashed his eighth home against Cleveland in just over a year Wednesday. He clobbered a blast to the opposite field against ace Corey Kluber in the first inning.

He wasn't done. He almost went yard again in the seventh and had to settle for a two-run double to left that knocked out Kluber.

Abreu has three home runs in his last five games, during which time he is 9-for-21 with 10 RBI.