MLB Player News

Angels designated hitter C.J. Cron belted two home runs Friday against the Royals.

Cron got to work immediately. In his first at-bat, Cron stepped against pitcher Jason Vargas. After working a seven-pitch at-bat, Cron managed to get a hold of an 89 mph fastball for the solo shot. He struck again in the fifth inning. This time, Cron wasted no time, hitting the first pitch he saw for a two-run shot. 

Cron finished 2 for 4, with two runs scored and three RBI. 

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu continued his home run binge Friday against the White Sox.

Playing against home run leader Edwin Encarnacion, Abreu apparently came into the game with something to prove. In the fifth inning, Abreu hit his first home run of the game. He worked a seven-pitch at-bat from R.A. Dickey, before taking him out to left.

Abreu's next home run came in an identical situation. He led off the seventh against R.A. Dickey. After working a five-pitch at-bat, Abreu muscled a solo shot to center field. Abreu has now hit 25 home runs this season, and is tied with Encarnacion and Nelson Cruz for the league-lead. He's hitting .280/.330/.633 over 264 at-bats.

Astros designated hitter Chris Carter, whose brief hot streak has been followed by a massive slump, is grabbing some pine for the Friday night game visiting Detroit. Jesus Guzman is set to start instead.

Carter hit four home runs in three games earlier this month, but hasn't blasted off since and has just three hits in his last 30 at-bats to lower his average to .187.

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu went 2 for 5 with a walk and a record-setting home run in his team's 5-4 loss to the Orioles Wednesday.

Abreu became the first player in major-league history to hit 23 home runs in his first 65 games played after slugging his fourth-inning home run. It was his fourth home run in his last eight games, and the slugger now owns a 10-game hitting streak. He has hit .276/.325/.615 with 61 RBI in 257 at-bats.

Indians first baseman Carlos Santana's renaissance continued Tuesday, as he reached base six times in an extra-innings loss to the Diamondbacks.

Santana played a huge part despite the 9-8 loss in 14 innings, going 4 for 5. He did hit a go-ahead homer in the 11th inning, but the Diamondbacks tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Santana scored twice and walked twice, while driving in two runs.

Santana got off to a slow start, and only got his average above .200 last weekend. He is now hitting .214/.366/.408 with 12 home runs and 31 RBI in 237 at-bats overall.

Indians infielder Carlos Santana has been highly productive since returning from the disabled list June 6, a 16-game stretch in which he's played first base 14 times. Santana began the season as a third baseman and backup catcher.

Over the recent span, Santana is 19 for 57 (.333) with five homers and 12 RBI.

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu went 2 for 4 with a double, a home run and three RBI in his team's 6-4 loss to the Orioles Monday.

Abreu, who served as the designated hitter in the game, earned his first RBI on a groundout in the third inning before smacking a solo home run in the sixth inning to even the game at 2-2. He collected his third RBI on a seventh-inning double that put his team up 4-2, but the Orioles offense came through in the end to deny the White Sox a win. Abreu has hit .274/.322/.613 with 22 home runs and 60 RBI in 248 at-bats during his rookie season.

When the Angels released Raul Ibanez this weekend, it didn't get much attention in Fantasy. He wasn't contributing much of anything himself, and at age 42, nobody expected him to.

But his loss is, of course, another player's gain, and that player just so happened to be a legitimate prospect coming into the year.

Maybe C.J. Cron is overlooked in Fantasy because he's spent much of his two months in the majors as a part-timer or, at times, even a reserve. But with Ibanez out of the picture, he's in line for everyday at-bats now, which makes his performance to date ... interesting, to say the least.

In 112 at-bats, he has hit .286 with six home runs and an .846 OPS, making him out to be what some prognosticators have suggested he is: another Mark Trumbo-type player. Or at least close to it. He may trade off some of Trumbo's homers for a higher batting average since his strikeout rate is a good bit lower, but even so, he could settle into being a .275-.280 hitter with 30-homer power.

Maybe in points leagues, his poor walk rate is enough to scare you away, but in Rotisserie, Cron should probably be starting at corner infield for someone.

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.

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."