MLB Player News

Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera homered twice Monday during a win over the Athletics. Cabrera hit his homers off starter Jarrod Parker, once in the first and again in the fifth. 

Cabrera, who has four homers, went 2 for 4 with a walk and three runs scored. The 27-year-old has hit in three-straight games and nine of his last 10 to raise his average to .233. He also 10 RBI in that stretch. 

Astros slugger Chris Carter is expected to see more time at first base and designated hitter, the Houston Chronicle reports Monday. Carter has mostly played in left field, but that has not been successful. 

Carter is batting .207 with six homers and 14 RBI over 111 at-bats. He's 1 for 14 (.071) in 15 May plate appearances with five strikeouts. 

Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano was out of the lineup for a third-straight game Monday night against the Padres. He has been dealing with lingering tightness in his left side.

Solano has a six-game hitting streak and has gone 10 for 26 (.385) with a homer and three RBI over that span.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman finished a triple shy of the cycle and drove in three runs during a 9-4 rout of the Mets Sunday. He went 3 for 5 with a solo homer off Jeurys Familia in the sixth inning -- his second of the season and first since returning from the disabled list.

Freeman has now registered a hit in three consecutive games to improve his season average to .313. He has collected three RBI in four separate outings on the year.

Indians catcher Carlos Santana continued his season-long hot streak with his sixth home run in Sunday's loss to Minnesota.

Santana finished 2 for 3 with a walk and the home run. He's now hitting an absurd .379/.471/.690. His batting average ranks second to Miguel Cabrera and his on-base and slugging percentages each lead the major leagues among players qualified for the batting title.

Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano remained out of the lineup for Sunday's game at Philadelphia due to lingering tightness in his left side. Solano was also sidelined Saturday with the issue, and was replaced at second base by Chris Valaika.

It seems Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard should draw more walks since the recent correlation has related in more home runs for the veteran slugger.

In case you haven't noticed, but Howard has drawn a walk in just two of his last 19 games. However, in both those games -- Thursday and Friday against the Marlins -- Howard hit home runs.

Whether or not that's pure coincidence or Howard being a more patient hitter will result in more home runs, you can't really argue with his results lately. After batting .161 through his first eight games, Howard has a slash line of .329/.354/.605/.959 in his last 21 games.

The high strikeout rate is going to hurt in Head-to-Head formats, but if he keeps this pace up, then it's possible Howard could threaten for a 30-homer, 100-RBI season. I definitely was getting impatient when Howard got off to a sluggish start, but now my concerns have died down and I think they have for most Fantasy owners as well.

Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano was scratched from the lineup for Saturday's contest against the Phillies due to tightness in his left side.

Solano is hitting .278 with one home run and five RBI in 108 at-bats. He was replaced by Chris Valaika at second.

Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera snapped a 10-game hitting streak Friday, going 0 for 4 and leaving six men on base in his team's 7-6 win over the Twins. Even with the streak, Cabrera has just a .217 batting average on the year.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard hit a double and a home run as part of a 2-for-3 night that also featured a walk. It was Howard's second home run in as many days, giving him five on the season.

Howard's .288 bating average represents a high mark for the season. He'll try and keep his power binge going as the series against the Marlins continues into the weekend.