MLB Player News

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit his first home run of the season Wednesday.

Goldschmidt went 3 for 8, with a homer and two singles in the start. He played all 16-innings of the game at first. Goldschmidt also scored one run and plated two RBI.

Goldschmidt is coming off a breakout 2012, in which he hit .286/.359/.490 over 514 at-bats.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto waited for an opportune time to record his first hit of the 2013 campaign Wednesday against the Angels. After going 0 for 1 with two walks in his three at-bats, he came up in the bottom of the ninth inning with one on, one out and the game tied 4-4.

Votto hit a hard grounder that deflected off the glove of first baseman Albert Pujols and drove in the game-winning run.

"It's important to get that first win and get the winning going," Votto said.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard was hitless for the second straight game Wednesday, going 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts against the Braves in a 9-2 loss.

Howard missed play last April while recovering from injury but started the 2010 season on fire, hitting .524/.522/.952 in his first five games. He'll look to get his season on track against Kris Medlen Thursday.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman capitalized on his excellent career numbers against starter Roy Halladay to finish Wednesday's 9-2 win with two hits, a walk, a run and three RBI. He's 5-for-7 with one home run and six RBI in the team's first two games.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman heads into Wednesday's showdown with the Phillies with a favorable history against starter Roy Halladay. Freeman is batting .467 (7 for 15) with three homers, nine RBI and two walks in his career against Halladay.

Freeman homered on opening day against the Phillies, going 3 for 4 with three RBI. Freeman's opening-day home run comes after a torrid spring, in which Freeman hit .342 (26 for 76) with seven homers and 16 RBI in 26 games.

Astros first baseman/outfielder Chris Carter had another quiet night at the plate on Tuesday against the Rangers. He went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in the 7-0 loss.

Carter is 0 for 7 with four strikeouts through two games.

The Indians got a strong performance from the pitching staff in Tuesday's opener against the Blue Jays, so they only needed one hit on offense. Asdrubal Cabrera provided it.

Cabrera, the team's starting shortstop on opening day for the fourth year in a row, slugged a two-run home run in the fifth inning off Jays' starter R.A. Dickey. That lone swing was enough to lead the Indians to a 4-1 win. He finished the game 1 for 4 with a walk. 

Cabrera is coming off consecutive All-Star game appearances and should be a fixture in the top of the team's lineup during the season. 

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman had a productive night at the plate in Monday's season opener against the Phillies. He went 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBI in the 7-5 win.

Freeman launched a two-run homer off starter Cole Hamels in his first at-bat before driving in Andrelton Simmons with a single his next time up. He added another base hit in the seventh inning.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo wasted little hitting his first home run on 2013 in Monday's season opener against the Pirates. He took the first pitch he saw from starter A.J. Burnett deep for a two-run shot in the opening frame.

Rizzo finished 1 for 4 in the 3-1 win.

"I don't really remember the pitch or where I hit it or whatever," Rizzo said. "It was just kind of blacked out there for a second but it was nice to get the win and get on a good note."

Scott White moved Joey Votto ahead of Albert Pujols as the top Fantasy first baseman in Head-to-Head. His colleagues, on the other hand, think Pujols is still first at first.

Scott cited Pujols’ plantar fasciitis as the reason for him moving down the rankings. We’ll see if Scott sticks to his slight demotion. Track how our experts react to player production by frequenting our regularly updated rankings for Heat-to-Head and Rotisserie.