MLB Player News

The power surge continued Thursday for Indians first baseman Carlos Santana.

Santana cranked out a 442-foot blast into the second deck in the first inning of the rout of Minnesota. He has four home runs in his last nine games and has improved his stat line to .233/.368/.443. He has 26 homers on the season - one short of his career-high.

Robin Ventura has expressed wonderment as to why White Sox slugger Jose Abreu is no longer slugging. But Ventura has also voiced confidence that the power outage is temporary.

"I'll take my chances with him of still being able to have the power," he told the Chicago Sun-Times. "Why it's not there right now? I don't know."

Abreu hasn't homered since Aug. 22, which covers a span of 16 games. But he has still hit safely in 14 of those games.

Angels outfielder Kole Calhoun clubbed his 16th home run Wednesday against the Rangers.

Calhoun struck in the ninth inning. With the bases empty, Calhoun drove an 88 mph slider out to right for the solo shot. Calhoun also doubled during the contest. He finished 2 for 6, with one run scored and one RBI. 

Reds first baseman Joey Votto has taken grounders this week, but he remains without a timetable to return from the disabled list, MLB.com reports.

"I can't answer those questions yet. It's not a short distance," manager Bryan Price said. "We have a long way to go, not necessarily in time but as far as things to accomplish -- hitting live BP, running the bases, seeing live pitching, doing anything we can to simulate a game environment. We haven't even talked about whether there is a trip to instructional league or simulated games. We haven't even gotten to that point because there is no reason to invest in that unless we're getting close to a possible activation. If we get to a point where we can realistically set those things up as a precursor to his activation, we'll see."

Votto went on the disabled list July 8 for the second time this season due to a quad strain.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was able to swing a bat Monday and thinks he could return for this weekend's series at Pittsburgh, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Rizzo has been out since Aug. 26 with a strained back and said earlier he'd be open to shutting down for the season. The 25-year-old has had a breakout season already, batting .278 with 30 home runs.

Outfielder Kole Calhoun was out of the Angels' starting lineup for Sunday's series finale at the Twins. Calhoun, a left-handed batter, was rested in favor of Collin Cowgill, as the Angels will oppose Twins lefty Logan Darnell with Josh Hamilton as the only left-handed hitter in the lineup.

Calhoun had made starts in each of the last three games in which the Angels faced a left-handed starting pitcher.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is not in the lineup for Saturday's Game 2 against the Pirates.

Rizzo has been sidelined since Aug. 26 due to back issues, and he remains a candidate to be shut down for the remainder of the season at some point in the near future if his back doesn't start to improve soon. He has hit .278/.375/.514 with 30 home runs and 71 RBI in 486 at-bats.

A back injury that continues to plague Cubs slugging first baseman Anthony Rizzo has him sidelined again for the Friday afternoon game against visiting Pittsburgh.

Rizzo, who could be shut down for the rest of the season, has not played since Aug. 26. If he has indeed played his last game, he will finish the year with a fine stat line of .278/.375/.514 and 30 home runs.

Indians infielder Carlos Santana hit his 24th home run Wednesday against the Tigers.

Santana struck almost immediately. With a man on in the first inning, Santana took an 85 mph changeup from Justin Verlander out to right for the two-run shot. With the hit, Santana has homered in two consecutives games. He finished 1 for 4, with one run scored and two RBI. 

Astros first baseman Chris Carter belted two home runs Wednesday against the Angels.

Carter first struck in the second inning. He led off the inning by working a six-pitch at-bat against Jered Weaver. On the final pitch of the at-bat, Carter belted an 87 mph cutter out to left for the solo shot. He added a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning. This time, Carter took a 91 mph fastball out to right.

Carter finished 3 for 4, with two runs scored and three RBI.