MLB Player News

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.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard has gone 14 games without a walk, which is tied for the longest single-season stretch of his career without a walk, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has managed just three walks in 97 plate appearances this season.

Only four other players have as few walks in as many plate appearances. They are Ian Desmond (three in 103), Starlin Castro (three in 110), Alfonso Soriano (three in 101) and Allen Craig (three in 98).

Despite going 14 games without a walk, Howard has hit .327 (17 for 52) with two home runs, five doubles and 11 RBI in that span.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto collected his third double, while going 2 for 5 with one run and one RBI Sunday at Washington. Votto ended his multi-hit skid at six games, as he entered play mired in a 4-for-26 slump.

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard was supposed to earn a day off Sunday, but entered the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning during Philadelphia's 5-1 victory over the Mets. He replaced Kevin Frandsen and went 1 for 2 with a two-run double in his first at-bat to give him multiple RBI for the fourth consecutive game.

Howard, riding a 10-game hitting streak, has 10 RBI in his last five games after driving in six runs over his first 19 games. He has driven in 23 runs in his last 13 outings against the Mets, including seven during the three-game series.

Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano went 1 for 4 and drove in a run during Miami's 6-4 victory over the Cubs on Sunday. He collected just his third RBI of the season with a two-out single in the sixth inning and ending a nine-game stretch without an RBI.

While his run production has been minimal, Solano has recorded at least one hit in nine of his past 11 games to stake his batting average at .244. However, only one of those 11 total hits has been for extra bases.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo's two-homer performance Friday against the Marlins was a result of a fix with a mechanical issue in Rizzo's swing, according to the Chicago Tribune. Manager Dale Sveum and hitting coach James Rowson found the issue while watching film on Rizzo's swing.

"I'm not going to get into specifics," Rizzo said. "But the finish was a little high, even on some of the home runs, which I didn't like. It was good (Friday). This is going to sound stupid, but the single in my last at-bat was probably my favorite one because that's my swing there -- stay inside the ball. It was a good day overall for myself and the team. It sounds dumb, but looking back at the video, the swing is where I want it to be."

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard was absent from the lineup for Sunday's contest against the Mets after starting the previous seven games. Howard, who has pushed his batting average to .281 on the heels of a nine-game hitting streak, was replaced at first by Kevin Frandsen.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo notched the second multi-home run game of his career Friday night against the Marlins. Rizzo, who hails from South Florida, belted a pair of long balls in the 4-2 win, including a two-run shot off Wade LeBlanc in the opening frame.

He also touched up LeBlanc for another two-run bomb in the third, accounting for all four of Chicago's runs.

Rizzo, who entered the contest mired in a 1-for-20 slump, finished 3 for 4 with four RBI, two runs scored and a steal.

Rizzo's eight home runs are the most in franchise history for a left-handed hitter during the month of April.