MLB Player News

Goldschmidt went 2-for-3 with two home runs, three RBI, three runs scored and three walks in Sunday's loss to the Pirates.

It was a monster day at the plate for Goldscmhidt in a game that went four extra frames. He has seemingly hit his stride of late, as he is batting .389 with two homers, five RBI, four runs scored and seven walks over the last five games.

Flores will start at third base Sunday in Atlanta, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports.

With David Wright getting the day off, Flores will fill in at the hot corner, though his bat has left much to be desired this season. Across 17 at-bats, he's tallied just one single and one run scored, while managing three strikeouts versus a pair of walks.

Bell hit for the cycle Friday -- going 4-for-5 with five RBI -- giving him three home runs in his last seven games.

He hit a grand slam Friday and is now slashing .292/.414/.583 with an impressive 10:9 BB:K in 48 at-bats. The power appears to be coming for the hulking Bell, who is transitioning from the outfield to first base. John Jaso is playing better than expected for the Pirates, but Jaso's never played in more than 109 games in any of his seven seasons. Bell could make his debut in Pittsburgh sometime after the Super 2 arbitration date if he continues to play well and/or Jaso suffers an injury.

Freeman is working with Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer to make some minor adjustments to his swing, David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

He is hitting just .163/.328/.245 with one homer, four RBI, seven runs and 16 strikeouts in 49 at-bats this season. The good news is Freeman is still finding his way on base, as he has walked 10 times, but overall this is a huge disappointment. Freeman didn't have a full offseason because he was healing from a wrist issue, but he hasn't been making any excuses. Fortunately, he's turned it around a little bit, going 6-for-24 (.250) over the last week. Maybe the minor adjustments will help him find his way.

Rizzo got a piece of the offensive party in Thursday's 16-0 rout of the Reds, going 1-for-6 with a three-run homer and two runs scored.

It's been a slow start to the year for the star first baseman, who's still under the Mendoza Line, but has homers in consecutive games and 16 RBI in as many contests. We'll take the bad with the good until he inevitably lifts the ol' average back to its normally solid level.

Votto is in the midst of an 0-for-16 slump entering Thursday's game. He's been pulling the ball more frequently than usual - 47.7 percent of the time, as opposed to 37.1 percent last year.

He's had a lot of hard hit grounders to the right side of the infield, but contends that his low BABIP (.220) is *not* bad luck. "That's not bad luck. That's me hitting the ball at people," said Votto. "I'm supposed to hit balls where nobody is. That's me working on my swing, trying to get to a certain destination, and I'm not there yet. But I'm working daily. Rome wasn't built in a day. My swing is a fine piece of machinery. Everybody wants to rush the Ferrari, but it comes out every four to six years. It takes time."

Carter went 2-for-5 with a double, a homer and three RBI against the Twins on Wednesday.

After hitting .199 with the Astros last season, expectations were low for Carter in Milwaukee, but he's surprised everyone with a .261 average and .970 OPS in the early going. Both those numbers would easily be career highs if he could maintain them, but it's more likely that his average will fall off into the .220-.230 range while he continues serving as a strong source of power numbers.

Rizzo went 2-for-4 with a home run and RBI-single in the loss against the Cardinals on Wednesday.

After a strong start to the year, Rizzo has gone cold at the plate, so it was good to see him get multiple hits Wednesday. Coming into the game, Rizzo was 2-for-31 (.065) in the last 10 contests. Fortunately, he does have four home runs and 13 RBI.

Rizzo went 0-for-3 with a walk against the Cardinals on Tuesday. In his last 11 games, he is 3-for-38 with just two RBI.

Rizzo cost plenty on draft day this year, and though he's driven in 11, nine of those RBI came in the first three days of the season and his slash line is down to .163/.339/.388. It's possible you could pry him away from a nervous owner at a slight discount, but most savvy owners will continue to hold him and expect him to come around.

Blandino missed the first week of the season for Double-A Pensacola with a thigh injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic, but has returned to action.

So far Blandino has struggled, going 1-for-16 in his first four games. This level is a step up for Blandino and a big one at that, moving from an offense-heavy league in the Cal League to a more pitcher-friendly one in the Southern League.