Pederson is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Cubs.

The Cubs are sending southpaw Justin Steele to the hill, so the left-handed hitting Pederson will begin the first game of the second half on the bench. Randal Grichuk will handle designated hitter duties.

Triple-A Iowa placed Mervis on its 7-day injured list July 4 with an apparent hand injury, Tommy Birch of The Des Moines Register reports.

The Triple-A club hasn't provided official word on the nature of Mervis' injury, though Birch notes that the first baseman is suspected to be dealing with a broken hamate bone. Since being optioned to Iowa on May 4 after an abbreviated stint with the Cubs, Mervis was slashing .215/.286/.424 with eight home runs and a 26.7-percent strikeout rate over 37 games.

Pederson is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.

As usual, the lefty-hitting Pederson will retreat to the bench while the Blue Jays bring a southpaw (Yusei Kikuchi) to the hill. Ketel Marte will replace Pederson as the Diamondbacks' designated hitter.

Ramirez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Brewers.

The right-handed-hitting Ramirez drew the start at designated hitter in Saturday's 6-5 win while the Brewers brought lefty Dallas Keuchel to the hill, but Ramirez will hit the bench for Sunday's series finale. Ramirez, who owns a .576 OPS since being promoted from Triple-A Rochester on June 24, should continue to serve as a short-side platoon player for the Nationals.

McCutchen (hamstring) will serve as the Pirates' designated hitter and leadoff batter in Sunday's game against the White Sox.

McCutchen will return to the lineup after he was removed in the ninth inning of Saturday's 6-2 win with what the Pirates labeled as left hamstring discomfort. Even though the Pirates could have kept McCutchen out of the lineup in their final game before the All-Star break to give the veteran some extended time to rest up, he'll be ready to go Sunday, which suggests his removal from Saturday's contest was precautionary.

Martinez isn't in the starting lineup for Sunday's matchup versus Colorado.

He'll begin the final game before the All-Star break on the bench while Pete Alonso gets a day out of the field as the Mets' designated hitter. Martinez went hitless while striking out five times in eight at-bats over the first two games of the series and is batting just .194 with a home run, four RBI and a 37.2 percent strikeout rate across 11 contests in July.

Blackmon went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in a loss to the Mets on Saturday.

Blackmon brought the Rockies to within a run with his two-run blast in the fifth frame, but that was the last time Colorado was able to score. The homer was Blackmon's second in as many games since he returned from a hamstring injury that resulted in him sitting out three matchups. The veteran outfielder had gone deep just twice over his previous 26 games prior to leaving the park in back-to-back contests.

McCutchen was removed from Saturday's game against the White Sox due to left hamstring discomfort.

McCutchen had gone 2-for-4 with a run scored before his hamstring forced him out of Saturday's game in the ninth inning. The Pirates have officially labeled him as day-to-day, and he may sit out Sunday's game in order to get some extra rest heading into the All-Star break.

Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base in Saturday's 11-9 extra-inning loss to the Tigers.

Ohtani tripled and scored a run in the first inning and hit the 200th home run of his career in the fifth. He later added an RBI groundout in the sixth and then walked, stole second and scored again in the eighth. With one game to go before the All-Star break, the lefty slugger ranks in the top five in baseball in batting average (.314), home runs (29), runs scored (75), and stolen bases (23) while ranking sixth in RBI with 69.

The Reds transferred Martini (thumb) from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Saturday.

Martini underwent thumb surgery earlier in the week, and Reds manager David Bell said at the time that the 34-year-old would be out until at least September. His move to the 60-day IL confirms as much, as Martini isn't eligible to be activated until Sept. 6. The move also frees up a spot on Cincinnati's 40-man roster for right-hander Tony Santillan, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Louisville.