MLB Player News

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said he will not return from a wrist injury until after the All-Star break. He is hoping to continue rehabbing during the mid-July break and return shortly after.

Marlins first baseman Justin Bour hit a three-run home run to lift his team past the Giants on Wednesday.

Bour hit the walk-off blast with two runners on base and no outs in the ninth inning off Giants relief pitcher Santiago Casilla. He finished the game 2 for 4 with three RBI.

The multi-hit performance was much needed for Bour, who was hitting merely .182 with eight hits and 12 strikeouts over his last 15 games.

Marlins first baseman Justin Bour hit his seventh home run of the season in Tuesday night's 5-3 win over the Giants. 

Bour's homer was of the solo variety and he ended the game 1 for 4 from the plate. Bour had been in mired in a bit of a slump as he'd hit .194 in his previous 10 games. Bour now has a slash line of .254/.331/.454. 

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (wrist) will not be ready to come off the 15-day disabled list when eligible Friday, manager Fredi Gonzalez told reporters Tuesday.

"[Freeman] plays every single day, he's frustrated," Gonzalez said, per MLB.com. "He wants to get back on the field, but he understands this might take a little more time."

Gonzalez said Freeman's wrist is not improving and the team is trying some other therapy to help with the recovery.

The Braves are still hopeful Freeman will return before the All-Star break.

It seems that Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt states his case for being the finest hitter in the sport every time he swings the bat.

Goldschmidt simply continues to rake. His latest show of force is a 10-game hitting streak in which his batting average has actually fallen from .357 to .352. He has one home run and 10 RBI during that stretch.

He ranks second in the National League in average, fifth in home runs (20) and third in RBI (64).

Reds first baseman Joey Votto heads into Monday's game against the Twins having gone hitless in his last three games (0 for 11). 

He is in the lineup to face Twins starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey, who Votto has a favorable history against. Votto is batting .357 (5 for 14) with one double, three home runs, five RBI, one walk and three strikeouts in his career against the right-hander.

Despite his recent three-game hitless streak, Votto has done well in June. He has a .286/.414/.527/.942 slash line in 25 games this month. He also has one triple, five doubles, five home runs, 12 RBI, 16 runs, 20 walks and 21 strikeouts in that span.

For many players in baseball, what Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is experiencing lately would be considered a typical stretch. For Rizzo, it's a slump.

Rizzo has been mashing for so long that his 4-for-17 run over the last five games comes as a surprise. He is 1-for-13 aside from a three-hit effort Thursday and has not homered since June 21.

That might not seem like a drought, but it is for Rizzo considering he clobbered seven in May and six over the first three weeks of June.

His .413 on-base percentage is at its lowest point since the opener.

Mets manager Terry Collins said last week that it was a possibility shortstop Wilmer Flores would move to second base upon Daniel Murphy's return from the disabled list.

Murphy is getting closer to a return, but Collins apparently couldn't wait any longer to get a glimpse of Flores at second base, as the 23-year-old infielder made his first start this season at second base Sunday against the Reds.

"This kid played fine at shortstop," Collins said, per NJ.com. "Made a couple of errors that cost us a couple of runs at times. But I looked through the league and he caught the baseball. He can play second base. He showed us that last September. And look in September, we played pretty good with Wilmer Flores playing second, with Dan at third and Ruben (Tejada) at shortstop.

"With Dan coming back, we certainly don't know what the time frame is with David (Wright) and I think this is going to be our best infield that we're going to run out there on a nightly basis."

Phillies outfielder Ben Revere and first baseman Ryan Howard are not in the lineup of the second game of Sunday's doubleheader against the Nationals. 

In Game 1, Revere went 0 for 4 and Howard went 0 for 3 with a walk. Howard's performance saw him strike out three times. Playing first base for the Phillies in Game 2 will be Darin Ruf and manning center field will be Odubel Herrera. 

The Marlins will start Jeff Baker at first base in Saturday's game, in place of Justin Bour.

Bour has started 30 games at first this season, but Baker has gotten the call three times in the last four games. 

Baker will be starting his twelfth game at first base this year. He'll bat fifth in the lineup.