MLB Player News

Cubs first basemen Anthony Rizzo continued his hot hitting Saturday against the Nationals. Rizzo collected three hits in the 8-2 win, including a two-run single in the fifth inning.

He also singled in the fourth and seventh innings, finishing 3 for 5 with two RBI.

Rizzo has hit safely in 10 of the last 11 games and is batting .467 (21 for 45) with one home run, seven doubles and nine RBI over that stretch.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit two home runs Wednesday, bringing his season total to nine.

Goldschmidt has been on fire this week, clubbing four home runs in three games. Goldschmidt was responsible for all three of the teams runs Wednesday. He hit a two-run shot off Clayton Kershaw in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game, and later put the team ahead with a solo shot in the eighth. Goldschmidt is now hitting .320/.413/.592 in 125 at-bats this season.

Freddie Freeman has been slow to produce since coming off the 15-day disabled list, but he is showing signs of putting his oblique injury behind him. After notching just one extra-base hit over his first 11 games back with the Braves, he has now registered two doubles and a home run in his last three games.

As of now, Freeman is outside the top 30 first basemen in points leagues and top 20 in Rotisserie leagues, as he has provided a .319 batting average with little power. However, Freeman has been a line drive machine, smashing frozen ropes at a 34 percent rate, while only 30 percent of his hit balls have been grounders. Though he is hitting flyballs at a slightly lower rate than he did last season, not a single one of them has been an infield fly.

It's only a matter of time before Freeman gets back on pace for 30-plus doubles and 20-plus homers, and a 35/25 season is easily within reach. Even with the high batting average, it's a good time to see if you can acquire Freeman at a discount.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has started all 33 games through Tuesday, but he doubts he will make it an entire season without sitting out a game.

"We’ll see what happens, but I doubt I’ll play every game," Goldschmidt said, per The Arizona Republic. "Whatever Gibby (manager Kirk Gibson) decides. Sometimes you have to back off and know your body. That’s for everyone. It’s just a long year. You’re always trying to pick and choose spots where you get some extra work in, but also take some rest when you can get it."

Goldschmidt said he's feeling fine in terms of energy and that was evident Tuesday against the Dodgers. Goldschmidt battled through 11 pitches against Dodgers closer Brandon League in the ninth inning and clubbed a tiebreaking, two-run homer. It was Goldschmidt's second home run in as many games and seventh this season. He's batting .450 (9 for 20) with one double, two home runs and nine RBI in six May games.

"When you get a chance to win the game, you want to come through for your team," Goldschmidt said. "Once we got to 3-2, he threw me five fastballs and I was just trying to fight them off. He's got that really good slider and split-finger, so I was trying to make sure that in case he threw that to just step back a little bit."

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard turned in a solid night at the plate as he slugged his sixth home run of the season during Tuesday's contest against the Giants.

Howard singled in a run in the first inning and took reliever Jose Mijares deep for a solo home run in the ninth inning. He finished 2 for 3 with a run scored and two RBI in a 6-2 victory.

Howard is batting .333 (6 for 16) with four runs scored, three homers and four RBI in his last six games. He is hitting .282 with six homers and 20 RBI in 117 at-bats.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto extended his hitting streak to nine games Tuesday night against the Braves. He went 2 for 4 with a single and a double in the 5-4 win.

Votto is batting .425 (17 for 40) during his streak with four RBI and nine runs scored.

The Marlins placed second baseman Donovan Solano on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with an left intercostal strain. The move was retroactive to May 4.

Chris Valaika will likely see the bulk of starts at second base in Solano's absence. Valaika has started at second base the last three games for Miami.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo has been on fire lately, and has improved his strikeout rate.

Rizzo worked to fix a hitch in his swing April 28, and has been strong since. One of Rizzo's biggest issues early in the year was his high strikeout rate, which had pushed his average below .200. Since he fixed his swing, Rizzo has struck out just five times in his last 32 at-bats.

As Ed Gauna pointed out recently, Rizzo is currently enjoying a seven-game hitting streak. After a questionable start to the season, he's starting to live up to his lofty Fantasy potential.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt had a season-high four hits and continued his dominance against Dodgers starting pitcher Chris Capuano during Monday's 9-2 win. Goldschmidt homered for the sixth time this season and drove in three runs, while going 3 for 3 against Capuano.

Goldschmidt is now batting .800 (12 for 15) with three doubles, three home runs and nine RBI in his career against Capuano.

"I think after Goldy got the second hit, Capuano just kind of looked at him and said, 'Oh my gosh.'" manager Kirk Gibson said, per MLB.com. "It's incredible. It's pretty incredible. It's not very common."

Even Capuano is baffled by Goldschmidt's success against him.

"The ball Goldschmidt hit out, I got that one in there and he still hit it out," Capuano said. "It seems like even when I make good pitches Goldschmidt finds a way to get it to the outfield or find a hole. He's got a good approach against me."

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo extended his hitting streak to seven games in Monday's series opener against the Rangers. He went 3 for 4 with a home run and four RBI. Rizzo also walked once in the 9-2 win.

The 23-year-old singled in two runs in the fourth inning before hitting a double in the sixth. Then in the eighth, he had a two-run homer off Derek Lowe for his ninth HR.

Rizzo is batting .464 (13 for 28) during his streak with six RBI.