MLB Player News

Joseph is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Cubs, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia reports.

Joseph had benefited from a three-game stretch of starts against left-handed starting pitching, during which he went 2-for-10 with a homer and four RBI. That good fortune will come to an end Wednesday with right-hander Jake Arrieta on the bump for the Cubs, and Phillies manager Pete Mackanin will move Joseph to the bench in favor of the lefty-hitting Brock Stassi as a result. Joseph still projects to see most of the starts against right-handed pitching, but his miserable .192/.250/.315 batting line through 80 plate appearances on the season likely gives him a shorter leash than he had heading into the campaign.

Flores (knee) was activated from the 10-day disabled list Wednesday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Flores had been unavailable for the Mets over the last two weeks due to the knee issue, which he acknowledged was a staph infection, according to Matt Ehalt of The Bergen Record. The 25-year-old was fortunate to avoid surgery to address the infection, and after checking out fine during a three-game rehab stint in the minors, it looks like he'll be available off the bench for Wednesday's game against the Braves. Flores could enter the starting nine for the series finale Thursday.

Flores (knee) will join the Mets in Atlanta for Wednesday's game against the Braves, James Wagner of The New York Times reports.

The report doesn't specify whether Flores will be activated from the 10-day disabled list ahead of Wednesday's game, but that sounds like a good bet after the infielder recently wrapped up a successful three-game rehab stint with High-A St. Lucie and Triple-A Las Vegas, batting 5-for-12 with a homer, three RBI and five runs. The Mets have a void at first base with Lucas Duda (elbow) still on the DL, so Flores could push T.J. Rivera for at-bats at the position once he's formally activated.

Freeman went 1-for-3 with two walks and a two-run home run in Tuesday's win over the Mets.

The homer was his 10th of the season, and Freeman shows no signs of slowing down after his epic April. The first baseman now has a magnificent .378/.491/.811 slash line on the year and has scored 25 runs in 25 games to go along with his 16 RBI.

Flores (knee) is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday, Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

It seems as if the infection in Flores' knee has subsided for the most part, although Tuesday's game action should give a better indication of how healthy he really is. If all goes well in Las Vegas, the utility man could return to big-league action sometime in the next week.

Joseph went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer and two runs scored in Monday's 10-2 drubbing of the Cubs.

It was a good time for Joseph's second home run of the season, as he'd been losing valuable playing time at first base to Brock Stassi because of his early-season slump. Joseph raised his average to .183 on Monday, but he has 22 strikeouts and just five walks in 77 plate appearances. While there's no denying the 25-year-old has thump in his bat, the Phillies' platoon at first makes him attractive only in deep mixed and NL-only leagues.

Bour went 4-for-5 with a double, a home run and six RBI in Sunday's win over the Pirates.

The homer was his fourth of the season, while the career-high six RBI give him 15 through 23 games. Bour's .222/.297/.407 is less than impressive, however, and while his .250 BABIP suggests he's been a little unlucky to begin the year, don't expect a big increase in his slash line, given his 23.1 percent strikeout rate and relatively low 74 percent contact rate.

Votto hit an RBI single in the eighth inning Sunday off of the Cardinals' Trevor Rosenthal to put the Reds ahead in their eventual win. He went 2-for-5 on the day.

After Sunday, Votto ends the month of April hitting .256/.337/.578 with eight homers and 19 RBI. While the batting average and OBP are well below his customary numbers, overall, it's a far cry from last year's slow start.

Naylor was placed on the 7-day disabled list after being hit in the face on a pick-off throw Saturday.

It appears Naylor will indeed need to miss some time after taking a pick-off throw directly to the face. He had been off to a nice start with High-A Lake Elsinore this season, hitting for a .306 batting average to go along with five home runs in 106 plate appearances thus far. Naylor will be hoping to get back on the field soon in order to continue what looked to be the start of an impressive season.

Freeman went 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base, two runs scored and an RBI in Saturday's win over the Brewers.

The Braves laid into Milwaukee pitching for 11 runs on 20 hits Saturday, and Freeman got his fair share of the action. He has more multi-hit games (eight) than hitless performances (five) so far this season, and his .383/.485/.778 slash line has been buoyed by a stellar 16:16 BB:K through 22 games. He also has four steals already, putting him just two shy of last year's career high and giving Freeman a little extra fantasy value.