MLB Player News

Angels first baseman C.J. Cron entered the weekend with two homers in his last 27 games. He proceeded to bash a solo homer in three straight games as the Angels swept the Rangers.

Cron seems on his way to securing a regular spot in the lineup, especially with Saturday's release of Raul Ibanez.

"You don't really want to go a long period without seeing live pitching, and I did, but I prepared as if I was playing," Cron told MLB.com. "I think that helped me a lot getting back into it, and obviously, the more at-bats, the more pitches you see, the better you get."

Cron is hitting .286/.310/.536 with six homers and 18 RBI.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto started a 12th straight game Sunday against the Blue Jays since coming off the disabled list due to a left quadriceps strain. Votto is batting .318 with five doubles, nine RBI, eight runs and seven walks in 11 games since returning to the lineup.

"It's doing well enough. We haven't really had a big regression," manager Bryan Price said, per MLB.com. "It certainly points that over this 16-game stretch without a day off that Joey will get a break. He's playing very well. You see the way he runs the bases and defensively how he breaks to the ball and gets out of the batter's box.

"[But] I know he's not 100 percent. There's still some fatigue and tenderness in his knee, but it's been something he's been able to manage up to this point."

Indians manager Terry Francona said the emergence of Lonnie Chisenhall has been one of the primary reasons he's moved Carlos Santana to first base, per MLB.com.

"To be honest with you, we're trying to put the best team out there that we can," Francona said prior to Sunday's game. "Lonnie [Chisenhall], I don't think there's anybody that would argue, deserves to be playing third base. So, we don't do the positions necessarily by what guys want to do. Lonnie has done a heck of a job.

"Carlos worked really hard [at third base], but what's kind of cool is that I think all the work he put in at third, I think it's made him a better first baseman. He's more active. He's more agile. Again, we'll see where it goes."

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Reds first baseman Joey Votto will receive a day off soon, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

Votto's quad injury has not bothered him, so manager Bryan Price just wants to be cautious. Price mentioned that Votto has not experienced any setbacks since his return. Over 180 at-bats, Votto is hitting .272/.409/.444.

Marlins first baseman Justin Bour has been bumped from the team's starting lineup Sunday.

Bour was set to start at first base, but things changed once Derek Dietrich was promoted. Dietrich will start at second, which pushes Jeff Baker to first base.

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu has a career-high six-game hitting streak after recording two singles Saturday. He has driven in a run or homered in 11 of his last 22 games and is showing no ill effects with his earlier battle with ankle tendinitis, reports MLB.com.

"He's fine. He hasn't talked about it, he hasn't even brought it up," manager Robin Ventura said of Abreu. "Even when he's running around, you see him running pretty good. Sometimes it looks like something is there, but he ran like that when he first got here, so I think that's just part of the way he runs."

Abreu is hitting .271 with 21 homers and 55 RBI in 240 at-bats.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo went 1 for 4 with a two-run home run in his team's 5-3 loss to the Pirates Saturday.

Rizzo briefly put his team ahead with his fourth-inning home run, but the Pirates were able to take the lead back in the next half-inning. Rizzo has hit .278/.400/.506 with 15 home runs and 42 RBI in 255 at-bats.

Indians infielder Carlos Santana has been among the best hitters in the league for nearly a month, dating back to May 22.

MLB.com noted Saturday Santana is second in baseball in OPS since that point, with a 1.137 mark in an 18-game stretch. He has five home runs, 15 RBI and 16 walks in that stretch, while hitting .333.

Santana got off to a slow start to the season, and is still hitting just .196 in 224 at-bats. In spite of that, he has a .725 OPS, thanks to 10 home runs and 53 walks.  

 Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman came around to score twice Thursday, in a 3-0 win over the Nationals.

Freeman reached base three times in the game, and put himself into scoring position with a pair of doubles. He scored two runs in the game, the first time he has done so in nine games.

Freeman has at least two hits in three of his last five games, and is hitting .282/.373/.495 on the season.