MLB Player News

Freddie Freeman had two hits Sunday and drove in two runs to help the Atlanta Braves defeat Washington. The first baseman was 2 for 4.

In his last 10 games, Freeman is hitting .405 with three home runs, 10 RBI and eight runs scored. The downside is that he's walked once in that span.

Freeman's batting average is .314 and he has five home runs, 27 runs scored and 36 RBI.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt enjoyed a productive night at the dish as he reached base three times and launched a grand slam Saturday night against the Cubs.

Goldschmidt went deep in the eighth inning for a grand slam that broke the game open for the Diamondbacks. He added a single and finished 2 for 5 with a walk, three runs scored and four RBI in a 12-4 victory.

Goldschmidt is hitting .428 (12 for 28) with nine RBI in his last seven games. He has a .332/.411/.603 slash line with 13 homers and 45 RBI in 54 games played.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman hit his fourth home run in Thursday's victory over Toronto.

Freeman finished 2 for 5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Over his last four games, Freeman is a scorching 9 for 18 with a triple and a home run. His batting line is up to a cool .312/.376/.452.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt continued his assault on the ball Thursday, going 4 for 5 in a 9-5 loss to the Rangers.

Goldschmit drove in a run on a seventh-inning single, and he added his 15th double later in the loss. Goldschmidt is hitting .337, though he has not homered in 10 games.

Goldschmidt is hitting .393 in May -- with seven home runs, 23 RBI and 16 runs scored -- and a game remaining. He has nine multi-hit games in the month, including three games with at least four hits. 

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard has just seven home runs this season, putting him on pace for about 24. He's also hitting .258, which is 13 points below his career average. 

But Howard has a couple things going for him. His 13 doubles have him on pace for a career high and he's hitting .308 over his last 10 games. While his HR/FB ratio has dipped to 14.9 percent (about half of his career rate), one could attribute that to several factors, including some residual rust and strength issues from his Achilles surgery and rehab. 

Additionally, Howard tends to heat up later in the season, with his OPS reaching its highest marks in June (.899), July (.935) and August (.889). And while it's easy to say he's in a late-career power decline (he hasn't hit 40 home runs since 2009), Howard is still just 33. 

If Howard is sitting on a fellow owner's bench, or even being underutilized in the CI spot, it might not be a bad idea to send a buy low offer and see if you can pry him loose.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto hit his 10th home run of the year Wednesday against the Indians. The solo homer in the first inning was Votto's only hit of the night.

Votto has now collected at least one hit in 15 of his last 16 games, giving him a .352/.474/.563 line in 199 at-bats this year.

Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano has been rehabbing at extended spring training in Jupiter, according to MLB.com, and is nearing a minor-league rehab assignment. Solano is on the disabled list while recovering from an intercostals strain. 

Marlins manager Mike Redmond told The Miami Herald that second baseman Donovan Solano is making progress and could start his minor-league rehab assignment with Class A Jupiter at the end of the week.

Solano has been out since May 7 with an intercostal strain. He hit .278 with a home run and five RBI before landing on the DL.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo tripled for just the second time in his major-league career Monday, as he drove in two runs in a 7-0 win over the White Sox.

Rizzo brought in two runs on his seventh-inning triple, one inning after he doubled and came around to score on a sacrifice fly. He finished the game 2 for 5 with the two RBI and two runs scored, his third game in a row with at least one of each.

Rizzo is batting .263, while ranking sixth in the National League in home runs (10) and RBI (35). 

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, who was in the lineup Monday after missing Sunday's game, told MLB.com that his sore left knee will linger throughout the remainder of the season.

"Right now I'm just looking at it day to day," Howard said. "Sometimes it's a little more, sometimes it's a little less. Obviously that's going to be something. Right now I'm looking at it day to day, and trying to run with the good days."

Howard is hoping to avoid surgery, calling it "the worst-case scenario. I guess kind of if all else fails."

He finished 2 for 5 with two strikeouts Monday and is hitting .259 with six homers and 25 RBI on the year.