MLB Player News

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.

Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano hit his first home run of the season Friday, representing his team's only scoring in his team's 4-1 loss to the Phillies. He also added a single to raise his season line to .278/.333/.324 in 118 plate appearances.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo extended his hitting streak to four games during a 6-5 loss to Cincinnati Friday. Rizzo finished 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored as he collected three hits for the second time during his four-game hot stretch to lift his batting average to .243 on the season.

Indians catcher Carlos Santana is hitting .395 with a .483 on-base percentage and a .711 slugging percentage. All three lead the American League.

Santana has walked in 14.6 percent of plate appearances and already has 14 extra-base hits. He has shown flashes of this talent throughout his first three seasons, and if April is any indication, 2013 could be a breakout year if he can avoid injuries. 

Joey Votto tied for the NL lead in walks last year, with 94. The Reds first baseman also finished second in the league in doubles, with 44. He did this while missing 51 games.

This year, Votto ranks eighth in Points among first basemen. He is again tied for the league lead in walks, while hitting .292. He's a bit off in his doubles (three) and home run (four) pace, which can be looked at two ways: either, at 29 years old, Votto has suddenly lost the power part of his game (highly unlikely), or Votto is due for a power explosion very soon, to bring his numbers up to the levels we've expected from him. From 2009-2011, Votto averaged 30 home runs and 38 doubles a year, while hitting .318. This slow start can be attributed to him shaking off rust and getting his timing back (in his last 12 games, Votto is hitting .321 with three home runs and two doubles).  

If someone in your Points league is treating Votto like a top 10 first baseman instead of a top three first baseman, it may be time to poke around and see what it would take to pry him loose. 

Astros outfielder Chris Carter homered for the sixth time in Tuesday's loss to the Yankees.

Carter has lived up to his billing as a one-dimensional power hitter so far. He's slugging a robust .454 but has just a .227 batting average and .303 on-base percentage. He struck out two more times Tuesday night and has now whiffed in a league-leading 46 of his 97 at-bats.

Indians catcher Carlos Santana hit his fifth home run of the season Tuesday night against the Phillies.

Santana hit a two-run shot in the first inning off starter Roy Halladay. He finished 1 for 2 with three walks, a run scored and two RBI in a 14-2 victory.

Santana has gone 6 for 10 with four walks, three runs scored, a home run and four RBI in his last four games. He is hitting .389 in 72 at-bats.

It took Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman a while to get going in his return from an oblique strain, but he appears to have found his stroke. Freeman went 3 for 5 with three RBI Tuesday against the Nationals, his second multi-hit game in the last four.

Freeman has one extra-base hit in eight games since his return, but it's not like he was stinging the ball before the injury. Freeman has three extra-base hits, including a home run, so the cold spell is probably not the result of the injury. That should make you think he is more likely to snap out of it before long.

Freeman is owned in 99 percent of CBSSports.com leagues, so his Fantasy owners might be a bit disappointed with his production. Still, it looks like his bat is waking up, so you have to continue to keep him active while he works his way out of his power outage. 

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo had his third multi-hit performance in the last five games Tuesday night against the Padres. He went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a walk. The 23-year-old also stole his third base in the 13-7 loss.

All three of his hits were doubles. Rizzo has gone 8 for 17 (.471) in the previous five games with two homers, six RBI and two stolen bases. His average has risen from .173 to .224 during that stretch.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto went 2 for 4 with an RBI Monday against St. Louis.

Votto is up to 11 RBI on the season. His total is still a little disappointing given Shin-Soo Choo's early on-base ability. However, Votto now has eight RBI in his last 11 games, a 118 pace over 162 games, so perhaps the tide is turning a bit for the three-time All-Star.