MLB Player News

Astros 1B Chris Carter went 2 for 3 with his 22nd homer of the season during Sunday's 4-2 win over Texas.

Carter has homered in four of his last six games for the Astros and while he's no longer their everyday starting first baseman, he's certainly getting hot at the right time. Overall, the 28-year-old is hitting .195/.305/.414 over 370 at-bats this season.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard (knee) is expected to return to the Phillies' lineup as early as Tuesday against the Mets, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki reports. 

A bruised left knee has sidelined Howard for nearly two weeks, but he's demonstrated progress in recent days. He resumed taking batting practice Friday and appears fit to take the field as well, putting him on tap to see action in the final week of the regular season.

Angels first baseman C.J. Cron went 1 or 3 with a solo home run in a 3-2 win over the Mariners on Saturday.

Cron continues his recent power-surge, as he has two homers and five RBI over his last three games. The young righty has put together a pretty nice season, as he has 16 homers and 49 RBI in just 347 at-bats. If he plays a full 162 games develops as an everyday player next year, Cron would be a good candidate for 25-plus home runs and an average in the .275 range. Those numbers alone would make him must own in almost every format.

Marlins first baseman Justin Bour went 2 for 3 with a homer, two RBI and a walk in Saturday's 6-2 victory over the Braves.

Atlanta pitching has brought Bour's bat to life, with the 27-year-old hitting .625 (5-for-8) with two homers, five RBI and three runs scored in the first two games of the series. Bour now has seven round-trippers in September to go along with a remarkable 22 RBI, on the heels of back-to-back 16 RBI months in July and August.

The young first baseman has proven to be an offensive revelation and power source for the Marlins in a season that has seen Giancarlo Stanton miss the last three months with a worrisome hand injury. After hitting only one homer in his initial 74 major-league at-bats last season, Bour has slugged 21 gopher balls and amassed a .474 slugging percentage and .800 OPS in the 2015 campaign.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto went 3 for 5 in a 10-2 loss to the Mets on Saturday.

As a forgettable season winds down for Cincinnati, the All-Star first baseman is hitting the ball the best he has all year. Votto now has nine multi-hit efforts in September and has reached base safely in every game of the month as well. Even more impressively however, the last time Votto failed to get on via either base hit or walk dates all the way back to Aug. 10 against the Padres, an amazing streak of 43 contests.

When the veteran isn't pounding out base hits or homers, he's drawing an incredible number of base on balls, with the 139 he's amassed this season serving as a career high and contributing greatly to the .464 OBP figure he entered Saturday's game with.

Marlins first baseman Justin Bour went 3 for 5 with a homer, three RBI and two runs in Friday's win over Atlanta.

Bour has been on a tear as of late, mashing eight homers and driving in 27 runs over the past month. Though patience remains a weakness, he has managed a dismal 7.7% BB rate this season, Bour may be worth a spot in the lineup simply as a means to tap into that power. Since the All-Star break, Bour ranks among the top 10 first basemen in the league in homers and RBI.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman went 3 for 4 with a homer, a walk, two RBI and three runs in Friday's loss to Miami.

After struggling to stay in the lineup for stretches this season, Freeman is turning up the heat during fantasy crunch time. He has driven in 14 runs in his past 15 games, batting .280 with a .403 OBP. He ranks among the top six first basemen in the league in doubles, RBI and walks for the month of September.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard (knee) took batting practice Friday, Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News reports.

It's the first time that Howard swung in batting practice since being sidelined with a knee injury on Sept. 14. The 35-year-old is still hoping to return before the end of the season, but there's still no clear timetable. Darin Ruf figures to continue filling in at first base in his absence.

Phillies veteran first baseman Ryan Howard is expected to resume hitting and fielding ground balls this weekend, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Howard has been sidelined since Sept. 14 with a knee injury. He is making an attempt to return, but the Phillies won't push him with nothing to play for this season. Darin Ruf will continue to see playing time at first for as long as Howard remains sidelined.

Rays shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera went 3 for 5 with his 13th homer and two runs scored against the Red Sox on Wednesday.

That white-hot streak Cabrera experienced after coming off the DL unsurprisingly passed into memory quite some time ago; thus, this was both his first multi-hit effort and his first homer since Sept. 11 -- also against the Red Sox. Cabrera hasn't been a huge fantasy asset outside AL-only formats, but this has nonetheless been his best season since 2012.