MLB Player News

Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said Goldschmidt is being too selective at the plate, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

Goldschmidt (a career .297 hitter) is hitting just .232 so far this season, and Hale said he thinks the slugger's selectivity is contributing. "I think he just has to be a little more aggressive in the zone," Hale said. "It seems like every time you look up, he's hitting with two strikes." In fact, Goldschmidt has reached two strikes in 60 percent of his plate appearances this year, up from his career rate of 53 percent. He does have a league-high 28 walks so far and a strong .421 on-base percentage, however.

Howard is out of the lineup again Friday against the Marlins, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

With another left-handed pitcher in Wei-Yin Chen scheduled to pitch Friday, Howard will once again take a seat on the bench. Darin Ruf will fill in for him at first base as usual.

Bour (finger) remains out of the lineup Friday against the Phillies, Andre Fernandez of the Miami Herald reports.

Bour was targeting a Friday return after he was cleared of serious injury by a hand specialist, but it seems the Marlins want to give him a little extra time to rest his dislocated pinky finger. That being said, he could return to the lineup sometime over the weekend. Chris Johnson will slot in at first base in his stead.

Carter went 1-for-4 with his 10th homer of the year Thursday against the reds.

He's joined a small crowd at the top of the NL homer list, with only Colorado's Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story sitting on more long balls. Five of Carter's have come in the last five games, and he's certainly capable of hitting them in bunches. More impressively, though, he's been able to cut his strikeout rate and is hitting a more-than-respectable .274 -- a dramatic improvement that looks like it may well actually be sustainable to some degree.

Bour (finger) was cleared of serious injury during Wednesday's visit with a hand specialist and is targeting a Friday return to the Marlins' lineup, MLB.com reports.

X-rays came back negative on Bour's dislocated left pinkie which he injured diving into second base on Tuesday. All signs point to the slugger avoiding any time on the disabled list and Bour has expressed his hope to return to the lineup Friday. After struggling for much of April, Bour has picked up his game in the past week and sports a solid .276/.341/.461 slash line through 76 at-bats this season.

Bour (finger) is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Diamondbacks, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Bour suffered the injury Tuesday and this will be his second consecutive missed game. The 27-year-old has had a productive start to 2016, hitting .276/.341/.461 with three home runs and 12 RBI through 23 games, and should be back in the lineup soon.

Howard is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Cardinals, CSN Philadelphia's Jim Salisbury reports.

With the Cardinals starting left-handed Jaime Garcia on the mound, Darin Ruf will man first base for the Phillies. Howard has only logged 12 at-bats against southpaws this season, tallying two hits (including a home run) and two RBI.

Joseph is hitting .344/.358/.672 with five home runs in 64 at-bats for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Joseph fell off the prospect map due to a series of concussions that forced him to miss significant amounts of time and ultimately required him to move from behind the plate to first base. If he keeps producing there will be an opportunity for him in the majors once the Phillies decide to move on from Ryan Howard. Howard is in the last year of his deal, but the Phillies could decide to cut him at some point if his struggles continue.

Howard went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer and two strikeouts against the Cardinals on Wednesday.

Well, aside from the .333 batting average, that's Howard in a nutshell -- of his 87 at-bats this season, a whopping 41 have ended in either a homer (seven) or a strikeout (34). He's homered in consecutive games, but he's also posted five straight multi-strikeout games as part of a streak of 12 straight games with a whiff. Those fantasy owners willing to hold their noses and play Howard for the homers should know full well what they're getting into by now.

Rizzo went 3-for-5 with a solo home run and three runs in the 6-2 victory over the Pirates on Wednesday afternoon.

The Cubs first baseman had an extremely slow start to the season, but he has three straight multi-hit games. Rizzo has also reached safely in 11 of his last 12 games. Despite the poor batting average, Rizzo has been on base and hitting home runs all season long. He has nine home runs, a .467 on-base percentage and 1.159 OPS in 96 at-bats this season.