MLB Player News

Rizzo is 0-for-5 and has yet to reach base through two games this spring.

There is no reason to be concerned as Rizzo is one of the best first basemen in the league and will feast in the middle of the Cubs' lineup this season. The 26-year-old is a legitimate MVP candidate heading into the 2016 season.

Singleton went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBI during Sunday's Grapefruit League win over Toronto.

Prior to Sunday's standout performance, Singleton had gone hitless over six at-bats with four strikeouts. Astros manager A.J. Hinch indicated last week that the 24-year-old has the "first look and the most experience" in the team's first base competition, but A.J. Reed (three hits Sunday) and Tyler White (home run Sunday) are right there with him in one of the most exciting position battles of the spring thus far.

Bour went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and one run scored Sunday in a loss against the Tigers.

Bour is off to a solid 3-for-7 start in Grapefruit League action as he looks to earn an everyday spot in the Marlins' Opening Day lineup. If he continues to impress during the exhibition season, Bour has a chance to open the season batting fifth for the Marlins, a position that could leave him plenty of run producing opportunities directly following Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup. Bour's work against left-handed pitching will be of particular note through March after he batted just .221/.279/.294 in limited action against southpaws last season.

Bell is 1-for-9 with a double and three RBI through his first four Grapefruit League games. He's also drawn a pair of walks.

Bell is playing first base for the first time at the big league level, and so far the results have been surprisingly positive. He struggled picking balls out of the dirt during January's minicamp, but made a nice backhanded scoop Friday and also tracked down a bloop down the right-field line. He's looked good as the Bucs have handed out playing time at first base like a revolving door in the early going.

Howard will likely miss the next two games due to the flu, CSN Philadelphia reports.

Howard was pulled from Friday's game when he started feeling ill. He is unavailable Saturday and manager Pete Mackanin said he may miss Sunday's game as well.

Astros manager A.J. Hinch indicated Singleton has the "first look and the most experience" in the team's first base competition this spring, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Singleton is competing with the highly-regarded A.J. Reed and lesser-known Tyler White for the first base job this spring, but Hinch's comments Wednesday suggest the 24-year-old is the early favorite for the role. A lot can happen during camp, however, and Singelton has struggled mightily over 420 big-league plate appearances thus far. It probably wouldn't take much for Reed or White to overtake him in the competition.

The Indians have cooled on the idea of hitting Santana leadoff this season, MLB.com reports.

It seemed like a remote possibility at best initially and appears to be a dead issue now. Santana homered in his first game of the spring Tuesday as he looks to bounce back from last season's career-worst .395 slugging percentage.

Freeman (wrist) hit a ground-rule double in the first inning of Tuesday's Grapefruit League opener, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The hard-hit ball off Baltimore's Mike Wright in Freeman's first spring at-bat was enough to convince manager Fredi Gonzalez that "Freeman's fine." Atlanta still plans to be cautious with Freeman and his troublesome wrist, limiting him to two or three at-bats every other day for the time being. Freeman took live batting practice Saturday for the first time since last season, following two "coach-pitch" batting sessions.

Flores missed Tuesday's intrasquad game with an illness, Adam Rubin of ESPN.com reports.

Flores fractured a bone in his left ankle over the offseason, but that appears to no longer be an issue. The illness is apparently a minor one, so once it's passed, the 24-year-old should be ready to make his spring debut.

Freeman (wrist) took live batting practice Saturday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

This is a significant development, as it marked Freeman's first time facing live pitching since last season. He faced Bud Norris and prospect Lucas Sims, and said he did not feel any pain in his right wrist when Sims shattered his bat on the final pitch of the session. Freeman plans to take it easy Sunday for "stress management" of the wrist, but all signs appear positive as the start of spring action nears.