MLB Player News

Astros designated hitter Chris Carter mashed his 19th home run of the season Saturday afternoon in Toronto. Carter took starter Josh Johnson deep in the first inning for a three-run homer. 

The slugger finished the game 1 for 3 with the three RBI in the 8-6 win. He added a walk and is batting .223 on the year. He has 51 RBI. 

Carter has just six hits in his last 10 games for Houston and just four RBI, including the three he picked up Saturday. 

Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera recorded his second career four-run game Wednesday during a 10-1 rout in Seattle. Cabrera became the second Cleveland player to accomplish scoring four runs in a game this season. 

Batting fourth for the Tribe, Cabrera went 2 for 4 with a walk in the game. He doubled and added his eighth home run. It was a solo blast in the sixth inning. Cabrera's double in the first drove in two runs and he played three in total on the afternoon. 

After starting the second half of the season slowly, Cabrera has gone 4 for 8 in the last two games with four RBI. He's batting .251 on the year. 

Cleveland designated hitter Carlos Santana doubled twice among his three base hits Wednesday afternoon during a 10-1 win at Seattle. 

Santana hit a ground-rule double to left field in the first inning to score Asdrubal Cabrera. He also plated Cabrera with a double in the third. 

The DH and No. 5 batter in the game finished 3 for 5 and is batting .272 on the season. The 27-year-old recorded just his first two RBI since the All-Star break for the Indians. 

Twins slugger Chris Colabello produced his first major-league RBI during Saturday's 3-2 win against the Indians. Colabello has been recalled four times this season, but unlike previous recalls where Colabello was mostly a bench option, the Twins are ready to play the 29-year-old rookie.

"With the numbers he put up at Triple-A, we need to find out if he can do some sort of that here," general manager Terry Ryan said, per The Star Tribune. "There are a lot of players who can succeed in Triple-A, and they come up here, and they’re not that type of player. That’s why we need to get him out there -- see what he can do against this caliber. He might take off."

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire plans to start Colabello regularly.

"We just want to see him get some swings. The kid’s done everything you can do in Triple-A," Gardenhire said before Saturday’s game. "He’s earned a shot here. For the most part, he’s going to get consistent swings."

Astros outfielder Chris Carter returned to action Friday night against the Mariners.

Carter, who missed the final two games before the All-Star break, finished 1 for 4 with a single and a walk in a 10-7 defeat. He is hitting .229 with 18 home runs and 47 RBI in 292 at-bats.

Astros outfielder Chris Carter is back in the lineup for Friday's game against Seattle, The Seattle Times reports.

Carter missed the final two games before the All-Star break with an ankle injury. The issue isn't expected to linger. He is hitting .229/.326/.469 with 18 home runs in 87 games.

The Twins have recalled INF/OF Chris Colabello from Triple-A Rochester, MLB.com reports. Colabello is hitting a massive .354/.432/.652 in 85 games for Rochester, but the 29-year-old went just 2 for 16 in an MLB stint earlier this year with the Twins.

Twins outfielder Chris Colabello will rejoin the team Friday, the Star Tribune reports. He participated in the Triple-A All-Star Game Wednesday, going 1 for 3 with a double.

Colabello has hit .354/.432/.652 with 24 home runs and 76 RBI in 322 at-bats for Triple-A Rochester. He is 2 for 16 with the Twins.

It's not like Fantasy owners needed more incentive to start Indians catcher Carlos Santana considering he's a top-5 Fantasy catcher (standard formats). But if he produces numbers like he has in the second half the last two seasons, then Santana could threaten to finish the season as the highest-scoring Fantasy catcher.

Santana hit .249 in 71 second-half games in 2011, but he slugged .498. He had two triples, 14 home runs, 20 doubles, 38 RBI and 43 runs.

Santana had similar numbers in the second half last season, but his average rose to .281 in 74 games. He slugged .498 again, while producing two triples, 13 home runs, 14 doubles, 46 RBI and 41 runs.

Fantasy owners vying for a championship would surely like to see those numbers from Santana again down the stretch in 2013.

Here's proper Chris Colabello context: a 12-team AL-only Roto league where the top bats available on the wire are George Kottaras, Jose Molina and Alberto Gonzalez. While he isn't even officially on the team, speculation is that Colabello will be called up Thursday, after participating in the Triple-A All-Star game. 

Colabello managed just two hits over 16 at-bats with the Twins earlier this season, but he's been destroying everything in his path in Triple-A -- hitting .354 with 24 home runs, 24 doubles, and a 1.084 OPS in 85 games. He can play first base, right field (currently looking like Clete Thomas/Ryan Doumit), or DH. There are plenty of at-bats for the taking here, and if Colabello can get hot, in a Shane Spencer-type way, he could stick with the team for the rest of the season, becoming a nice source of power and average. 

It's deep AL-only territory, but it's a smart risk to take, based on the staying power and impact potential Colabello offers.