MLB Player News

Marlins first baseman Justin Bour scored four runs in a productive night at the plate in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Nationals.

Bour singled in the second, doubled in two runs in the seventh and singled again in the ninth. He finished 3 for 4 with a walk, four runs scored and two RBI in a 15-7 victory. He is hitting .294/.368/.382 with one home run and 11 RBI over 68 at-bats.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto is likely done for the rest of the year, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

General manager Walt Jocketty said "it doesn't make any sense at this point" to bring Votto back. He's been sidelined since July 5 due to a quad injury. Votto hit .255/.390/.409 over 220 at-bats. 

Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores reached base four times in his team's 7-4 victory in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Nationals on Thursday.

Flores singled in the first, fifth and eighth innings, respectively, along with a walk in the seventh. He also reached base on a throwing error in the third. Flores finished 3 for 4 with a walk, two runs scored and three RBI. He owns a .252/.286/.382 slash line with six homers and 29 RBI over 246 at-bats.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto returned to pregame activities Tuesday, but Bryan Price stressed that there is no change to his status. The team would prefer to bring him back into action before the end of the season, but have yet to make an announcement with just five games remaining.

"He was doing everything - hitting the cage, taking ground balls, running bases, by the last day there in St. Louis, but we'll probably know more on that in the nest day or two," Price told the Cincinnati Enquirer, which recently reported that it's unlikely he'll play again until next year. "There's not a whole of time left."

Votto has been sidelined since July 5 with a quad injury.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto (quad) has taken batting practice for four straight days without any problems, but his return before season's end is considered doubtful, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. He's been on the disabled list since July 8.

"He's not pain-free," manager Bryan Price said. "He's not 100 percent, and he won't be at any time during the rest of the season. So the question is, Do we want to play him at less than 100 percent? He still hasn't seen any live pitching."

The Reds are out of the race and would like Votto to enter 2015 spring training completely healthy.

Dilson Herrera was out of the Mets' lineup for Sunday's game at the Braves. He exited Saturday's contest with a leg injury. Wilmer Flores got the start at second base in place of Herrera.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman has managed just one home run since Aug. 15.

Freeman maintains great overall numbers while playing virtually every inning of every game for the Braves this season, but only five of his 18 home runs have come in the second half. Despite the relative lack of power, he soared in August, hitting .330/.444/.476 in 103 at-bats. Overall, Freeman has hit .290/.387/.469 with 18 home runs and 73 RBI in 576 at-bats.

A matchup against San Diego left-hander Robbie Erlin has Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and second baseman Chase Utley out of the lineup Thursday.

The game off could hurt Howard's quest for his first 100-RBI season since 2011. He has 92 with 10 games remaining. Utley is in the mdist of a 2-for-17 slide.

Granted, if the Mets make a play for Starlin Castro or some other high-profile shortstop this offseason, all bets are off, but Wilmer Flores' two-homer performance Tuesday against the Marlins was just the latest indication that the 23-year-old is on the verge of turning the corner.

And that's an exciting prospect for Fantasy owners now that he's proven at least competent at the weakest position in the game.

In his last 18 games, he's batting .303 with five home runs and a .984 OPS. He has struck out just twice in 66 at-bats during that stretch. In 43 games since the All-Star break (or since his return from the minors, more accurately), he has struck out just nine times in 140 at-bats.

That was his calling card in the minors, where he never struck out even 80 times in a season and was typically between 60 and 70. The high contact rate often resulted in a .300 batting average -- particularly in the upper levels, when he began to develop the power to hit 15-plus homers and 30-plus doubles.

It's a skill set similar to the one Edgardo Alfonzo brought with him to the majors in the late 90s. If you were playing Fantasy then, you'll probably remember he had a few years when he was a pretty stellar option even at the height of the steroids era. And he wasn't even a shortstop during that time.

Sleeper alert?

Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores has been tearing it up at the plate recently, but went downright hog-wild Tuesday night.

Flores achieved the first two-homer game of his career in a rout of Miami. He began his big night with an RBI double in the fourth inning, socked a three-run blast in the fifth and added a two-run shot in the seventh for six RBI. He is 8 for 15 with two homers and 10 RBI in the last four games combined.