If he doesn't break out of his slump, the Philadelphia Phillies could send Maikel Franco to Triple-A.

"We've talked about it," Pete Mackanin said. "That's about all I'll say. It's been discussed."

Franco has a hit in just three of his last 25 at-bats and was benched two days last week.

"Befuddled is a good word," Mackanin said last week. "As much as he works in the cage and on the field in batting practice and does it right, when he gets in the game his head is still flying [out] and his bat is coming out of the zone.

"You've heard me say this many times: Hitting is like riding a bike. I can't teach you to keep your head in there. I can tell you to do it, but you have to do it on your own and he's got to figure it out. Guys have to figure it out. They have to figure out how to get the job done. Whether it's cut down on your swing, choke up, use a different bat, use a different stance, do something different. If you make outs the same way over and over, it's not going to change.

"At this level you've got to produce. You want to play, you've got to hit and they have to understand that. Nobody is here on scholarship."

Major League Baseball has reduced Bryce Harper's suspension to three games, a source has confirmed.

Harper originally received a four-game ban for his role in a fight with San Francisco Giants reliever Hunter Strickland.

He will begin serving the suspension when the Washington Nationals face the Giants on Wednesday night.

Harper is tied for the National League lead with 15 home runs. He will be eligible to return Sunday as the Nationals finish off a series at the Oakland Athletics.

Major League Baseball released the first National League All-Star balloting results on Tuesday and Bryce Harper leads the league in voting.

Harper, who has totaled 900,079 votes, has a 230,436 lead on Washington Nationals teammate Daniel Murphy for the top spot.

Below are the voting leaders at each position:

Catcher: Buster Posey, Giants

First Basemen: Anthony Rizzo, Cubs

Second Baseman: Murphy, Nationals

Third Baseman: Kris Bryant, Cubs

Shortstop: Corey Seager, Dodgers

Outfielders: Harper, Nationals, Charlie Blackmon, Rockies, Jason Heyward, Cubs

Jeb Bush is no longer interested in buying the Miami Marlins and has ended his pursuit of the team, according to two people close to the negotiations.

Derek Jeter, who had been part of Bush's group, is still exploring a bid with other investors.

Jeter becomes the frontman for an investment group competing with a group led by businessman Tagg Romney. The Romney group includes Tom Glavine and former Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart.

Theo Epstein visited the Chicago Cubs in San Diego on Tuesday, saying he is providing "moral support" for the reigning champions amid their ongoing struggles and insisting no drastic changes are imminent.

Epstein was on the West Coast scouting and decided to watch the final two games of the Padres series.

"It's more important to be around when the team is struggling than when they're doing well," Epstein said. "Showing moral support can be good from time to time. Take the heat off of others when the team is scuffling."

The Cubs are 25-26 after losing to the Padres on Tuesday night.

The Atlanta Braves, who have the No. 5 overall pick in next month's draft, are reportedly looking at North Carolina high school outfielder Austin Beck.

John Coppolella and scouting director Brian Bridges have held several private workouts and discussions with Beck.

Beck is a right-handed hitting outfielder at North Davidson High School.

The Tampa Bay Rays called up Jose De Leon to pitch out of the bullpen on Monday after they played a 15 inning game the day prior.

The Rays acquired De Leon from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Logan Forsythe this past winter. He had been scheduled to start for Triple-A Durham on Monday.

He tossed 69 pitches over 2.2 innings for the Rays, earning the win in a victory over the Texas Rangers despite allowing three runs.

Dustin Pedroia left Monday's game with a sprained left wrist.

He tumbled over Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu while running out a groundout in the first inning and landed awkwardly on his wrists.

"I think anytime you're dealing with a position player’s wrist, a hitter’s wrist, that’s always cause for concern," John Farrell said.

X-rays immediately taken in Chicago were negative, according to the Boston Red Sox, but he is being sent back to Boston to get an MRI.

"He feels he knows those guys, they know him well, so we felt it would be more comfortable for him to do that," Dave Dombrowski said. "He wanted to do that too because he knows those guys so well. We could have gotten an MRI here and had people read it but he just knows the people there so well. We figured he wanted to do that, so we said, 'Sure, we’ll fly you there and get the MRI done there.'"

Danny Duffy is headed to the disabled list with an oblique strain and is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks, the Kansas City Royals have announced.

Duffy suffered the injury covering first base on Sunday.

"This stinks man. I'm very bummed out today," he said. "The boys are going to pick me up. I'll be fresh and ready to go in six to eight (weeks). I'm going to try to come back sooner than that."

Duffy is 4-4 with a 3.54 ERA and leads the Royals in innings pitched.

Mike Trout is on the disabled list for the first time in his career and will have surgery Wednesday to repair the UCL in his left thumb.

The usual timetable for the injury is six to eight weeks.

"It's definitely the best course of action for him right now, and I think he's comfortable with the decision," Mike Scioscia said.

The Los Angeles Angels lost Andrelton Simmons to a similar thumb injury last season. He had surgery and was out slightly over five weeks.

Trout, 25, suffered the injury Sunday on a headfirst slide while trying to steal second base.