MLB Player News

Freeman went 2-for-6 with two solo home runs Tuesday against the Reds.

Freeman doubled his season home run total with solo shots in the seventh and ninth innings, one of which came off left-hander Amir Garrett. He has started the season right on track with strong contributions across all hitting categories besides stolen bases. With Ronald Acuna now joining the lineup, Freeman could be in line for even more prolific production.

Votto went 1-for-5 with a solo home run and two runs scored Tuesday against the Braves.

Votto's long awaited first home run of the season came in the fifth inning against Brandon McCarthy. He got off to a similarly slow start in 2016 before slugging .668 in the second half of the season, so there is precedent for Votto having excellent seasons after showing little out of the gate. A more notable concern is the low quality of the Reds' lineup surrounding him, as he has scored only four runs, with two coming Tuesday, despite a .351 on-base percentage.

Santana's .151/.301/.288 line through his first 93 plate appearances does not accurately reflect how he's hitting the ball, the Phillies' official site reports.

According to Statcast's expected batting average stat (which uses the Hit Probability of each batted ball), Santana deserves a batting average of .277. The 126-point gap between his actual and expected batting average is easily the largest in the majors, 28 points larger than the next most unlucky player (minimum 50 at-bats). His 51.6-percent hard-hit rate (according to Statcast) is ninth among qualified hitters, yet he's hitting just .233 on hard-hit balls, well below the league average of .512. Santana doesn't really need to do anything new to turn his lousy start around. He's already walking more than he's striking out, so once the batted balls start finding holes in the defense, his numbers should look quite good.

Ellis is slashing .210/.290/.452 with three home runs and 11 RBI across 69 plate appearances with High-A Visalia this season.

The batting average and on-base percentage aren't anything special for Ellis, but the third baseman's power has always been his main allure as a dynasty prospect. With nine extra-base hits already on his ledger, Ellis isn't disappointing on that front, and he's also displayed some early growth in terms of his plate approach. Ellis' strikeout rate sits at a manageable 13 percent, down more than eight points from the mark he posted at short-season Hillsboro in 2017.

Bour is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Dodgers, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Despite reaching base three times and driving in a pair of runs Sunday, Bour will head to the bench for Monday's series opener against the Dodgers after starting six consecutive games. Miguel Rojas will start at first base and hit leadoff in his stead.

Blandino is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Braves, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Blandino is in the midst of a modest three-game hitting streak, but he'll head to the bench for a breather after starting each of the previous four games at third base. Cliff Pennington will start at the hot corner and hit seventh in his stead Monday.

Bell collected a pinch-hit triple Sunday against the Phillies.

The triple, his first of the season, gives him three hits in his last 24 at-bats. Pittsburgh starts a six-game homestand Tuesday and Bell will face at least four right-handed starters, against whom the switch hitter holds a career slash line of .270/.346/.461.

Bour went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI in Sunday's loss to the Brewers.

Bour provided all of Miami's offense in this one, driving in their only two runs while reaching three times via a walk, single and a double. The 29-year-old has reached base safely in 11 straight games, but even still, his slash line sits at just .241/.323/.466 -- a far cry from last year's .289/.366/.536. Hitting in the middle of the order, he'll continue to see plenty of opportunities to improve upon that, but run-producing and run-scoring chances may be harder to come by in general this year in Miami.

Goldschmidt went 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored Sunday in the win over San Diego.

Goldschmidt is slashing .278/.429/.569 through 21 games this season, and he's recorded multi-hit performances in back-to-back days against the Padres. He'll look to make more contact moving forward as he's struck out 25 times in 72 at-bats. The Diamondbacks are set to begin a three-game series with Philadelphia on Tuesday.

General manager Neal Huntington said Bell is available to pinch-hit Sunday against the Phillies.

Speaking on his weekly radio show Sunday, Huntington said the team is looking to give the first baseman a rest, pairing Sunday with Monday's off-day. Bell had played in every inning of Pittsburgh's first 21 games before coming out of the sixth inning of Saturday's contest as part of a double switch.