MLB Player News

Cespedes (heel) played catch in the outfield with the Mets prior to Monday's game, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

He joined up with the team in Miami to be evaluated by the training staff. Cespedes has been playing catch for a couple of weeks and, if his testing went well, could be cleared to begin taking some light swings with a bat. The 33-year-old has no timetable for his return and is still a long way from being cleared to run, perhaps the most important step in his rehab, but the club still hopes he'll see game action sometime in 2019.

Belt went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and three RBI to help the Giants to a 4-2 victory over the Dodgers on Monday.

The veteran first baseman provided most of the offense for San Francisco in this contest with a solo homer off Joe Kelly before driving in two more to account for three of his team's four runs in the game. Belt was just 1-for-11 on the season coming into the game, so it was good to see him break out as he looks to rebound coming off an injury-shortened 2018 campaign that saw him post a .756 OPS over 399 at-bats -- his lowest mark since 2014.

Turner is back in the lineup for Monday's tilt against the Giants.

Turner received a maintenance day Sunday, but he's back in action, hitting second for the opener of the Dodgers' series against the Giants. The 34-year-old veteran went 3-for-5 with five RBI in his last start, so he'll look to keep the momentum going against San Francisco lefty Drew Pomeranz.

Pederson is not in the lineup Monday against the Giants, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

The Dodgers want to stack right-handed hitters against southpaw Drew Pomeranz, so Pederson will give way to Chris Taylor in left field for Monday's series opener. Pederson is off to a hot start at the plate, going 7-for-15 (.467) with a trio of homers, five RBI, eight runs scored and a 4:2 BB:K through four games.

Winker is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Brewers.

Winker will hit the bench for the second time in as many games, with both absences surprisingly coming against right-handed pitchers (Trevor Williams and Zach Davies). The expectation heading into the season was that the lefty-hitting Winker would at least be a full-time regular versus righty pitching, but the back-to-back benchings suddenly makes his role more of a question mark. Matt Kemp will man left field in Winker's stead once again.

Harper went 2-for-3 with a solo homer, a double and two walks in Sunday's victory over the Braves.

Harper's bat is heating up already, as his OPS sits at 1.649 through his first three games with his new team. The home run, his second of the year, came off Shane Carle in the seventh inning and gave the Phillies a three-run lead.

Carpenter went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a double and a walk Sunday against Milwaukee.

Carpenter doubled to right field in the first inning but was stranded following three straight strikeouts by his teammates. He would later extend the Cardinals' lead to two runs in the fifth inning with a solo blast to center. The veteran third baseman finishes the first series of the 2019 campaign 4-for-16 with two extra-base hits and three runs scored (four games).

Turner is not in the lineup Sunday against the Diamondbacks.

Turner started each of the Dodgers' first three games and appears to be receiving a routine day of rest. He just enjoyed a strong performance Saturday in which he recorded three hits, drove in five and scored three runs. Max Muncy will take over at third base and bat fourth.

Ozuna went 2-for-4 with a run in a loss to the Brewers on Saturday.

Ozuna has followed up his late-spring improvement at the plate with a three-game hitting streak to open 2019. The veteran outfielder is reportedly feeling better than he has in years as a result of offseason shoulder surgery, so a return to the type of power numbers he generated in his final Marlins campaign two seasons ago (career-high 30 doubles and 37 home runs) may be in the works.

Harper went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo homer in Saturday's win over the Braves.

It took until his sixth at-bat, but Harper finally opened his Phillies account in emphatic fashion, launching a second-deck bomb off lefty Jesse Biddle in the bottom of the seventh. His late arrival to camp naturally raises concerns about a slow start to the season, but April has historically been Harper's best month, so his bat may not take long to heat up.