MLB Player News

Joseph will be on the bench for the next three games, Ryan Lawrence of the Philly Voice reports.

The Phillies intend to honor Ryan Howard as he closes out his career with the team. He'll start the next three games at home against the Marlins and the last three games of the season at home against the Mets. That will leave Joseph with nine more starts this season in a best case scenario, but he could end up losing playing time to Howard in some of those games as well.

Manager Pete Mackanin said Howard will start the next three games against the Marlins at first base, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia reports.

Howard has been splitting time at first base fairly evenly of late with Tommy Joseph. Mackanin also said the Phillies plan to start Howard for the team's final three home games of the season against the Mets. They will be Howard's final games with the Phillies before he becomes a free agent.

Bell is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Phillies.

Bell raised his batting average from .277 to .292 with eight hits over his last seven games, but manager Clint Hurdle still decided to give him a day off Thursday. John Jaso will get the start at first base in Bell's place.

Rizzo went 2-for-5 with a pair of home runs and three RBI in a 7-0 victory over the Cardinals on Wednesday.

The two homers were Rizzo's 30th and 31st of the season. He needs just two more to set a new career high. Rizzo also has a .290 average, .938 OPS and 101 RBI, all of which are either career bests or tied with previous career highs.

Freeman exited Wednesday's game to join his wife, who is in labor with their first child, Kevin McAlpin of Sports Radio 680 The Fan reports.

Freeman will likely miss a couple games and be placed on the paternity list because of the event. However, the Braves don't really need a roster spot due to the expanded September rosters. In his absence, Gordon Beckham could be in line for playing time at first base.

Joseph went 2-for-4 with a home run and three runs scored in a 6-2 win over the Pirates.

Joseph has struggled mightily of late after initially hitting quite well following a midseason call-up. He was hitting .167/.225/.278 in his last 15 games prior to Wednesday. The home run was Joseph's 19th of the season over 280 at-bats, which projects as roughly a 40-homer year given a full season's worth of at-bats.

Flores will visit a doctor Thursday for an exam on his right wrist, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Preliminary X-rays on the wrist were negative after Flores was involved in a collision at home plate last weekend, but the soreness has persisted. In fact, Flores said he cannot even swing a bat. He also hurt his neck in the collision but Flores suggested the neck issue is no longer a significant concern.

Flores (neck) will visit a doctor Thursday, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.

Flores has been hampered by neck stiffness since being involved in a collision at home plate last weekend, and apparently there hasn't been any noticeable improvement in recent days. The Mets will send him for an exam to get a better read on the issue, and until the results are made public, Flores' status will remain in limbo.

Flores (neck) remains out of the lineup Wednesday against the Nationals.

T.J. Rivera, who was the hero in Tuesday's game, will get the start at second base and hit sixth. The Mets are off Thursday, so Flores will get another day to rest before potentially returning this weekend against the Twins.

Manager Pete Mackanin said he will "lean toward" giving Howard a little more playing time since he is likely in his last few weeks as a member of the Phillies, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Howard, who will be a free agent after the season, started a second straight game at first base Tuesday and went 0-for-3 with an RBI. He has been splitting time fairly evenly of late with Tommy Joseph, but will be on the bench the next two days. Mackanin said Joseph will start Wednesday and Thursday.