MLB Player News

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman was named to the National League All-Star roster Thursday, as he won the Final Vote for the last spot on the team.

Freeman beat out Yasiel Puig, Hunter Pence, Ian Desmond and Adrian Gonzalez for the roster spot. He is hitting .307 with an .858 OPS in 300 at-bats. He received 19.7 million votes. 

Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera hit his seventh home run Thursday against the Blue Jays.

Cabrera took an R.A. Dickey knuckleball out for a solo shot. Cabrera finished 1 for 4 with a run and an RBI. He's hitting .251.

Starting for the first time in four games Wednesday due to a hand injury, Astros outfielder Chris Carter went 1 for 3 with two walks and his 18th home run of the season in a 5-4 loss to the Cardinals.

Carter also struck out twice to raise his strikeout total to 122, the highest mark in the majors. He owns a .229/.327/.472 line in 284 at-bats.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is expected to be back this season after undergoing surgery Wednesday for a debridement of his left medial meniscus. According to general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., Howard's knee was in better shape than expected, which could change the team's outlook.

"After [Phillies physician Michael] Ciccotti went in there and went in with the scope, it was a little better picture than we thought," Amaro said. "I think the player is feeling better about it, we're feeling better about it. As news goes, this is as good as we can get."

The Phillies have yet to decide whether they will be sellers at the trade deadline, and the fact that Howard could return earlier than initially expected might change their plans. His official timeline is six to eight weeks.

"There's a reasonable chance we'll have him back at some point. We still have a lot of question marks about where we're going to go in the next couple of weeks," Amaro said. "Right now, the team is making decisions a little harder on me, which is fine and which is good. I'd rather be in this situation than thinking about 2014 right now."

Howard was hitting .266 with a .784 OPS prior to his injury. 

Astros left fielder Chris Carter is back in the starting lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cardinals. Carter pinch-hit in the last two games after missing a game with a minor hand injury.

Batting fourth Wednesday, Carter has hit .228/.323/.463 with 17 home runs, 46 RBI and a league-high 120 strikeouts in 281 at-bats.

The Phillies announced first baseman Ryan Howard had successful knee surgery Wednesday morning. He is expected to need 6-8 weeks to recover.

Cubs outfielder Anthony Rizzo ended his home run drought at 13 games with a solo blast Tuesday against the Angels. Rizzo also ended his multi-hit slump at seven games.

Rizzo has had a tough start to July, batting .133 (4 for 30) in eight games. Though, it comes on the heels of a rough run in June as well. Rizzo hit .231 (21 for 91) with two home runs and 12 RBI in 26 June games.

Astros first baseman Chris Carter was held out the starting lineup for the third consecutive game Tuesday night against the Cardinals with a minor hand injury. Carter took part in batting practice Tuesday and could return soon, manager Bo Porter told MLB.com.

"I shook his hand. He said, 'It's OK for me to shake your hand, but if you squeeze, it hurts,'" Porter said. "He didn't really feel too many ill effects, but I think it's good for him to go through a full batting practice today."

Reds first baseman Joey Votto thought he put his team ahead in the top of the ninth inning Monday against the Brewers with a two-run homer, but Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez had other ideas. Gomez robbed Votto of a potential game-winning home run, sealing a 4-3 win for Milwaukee.

"I was pretty surprised," Votto said, per MLB.com. "I thought off the bat it was going to be a non-catch. He went up and made a pretty big play in the game. It was my first experience with that. It was kind of a random way to end the game."

Votto did have a single and walk Monday against the Brewers. He is batting .338 (26 for 77) with four doubles, four home runs, seven RBI, nine runs and 10 walks in his last 20 games.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard will miss 6-8 weeks with a torn meniscus in his knee, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Howard was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with knee inflammation. He was supposed to have an MRI Sunday or Monday. Howard is hitting .266/.319/.465 in 286 at-bats.