MLB Player News

Carpenter went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer and a walk Friday against the Pirates.

Carpenter hit his 16th homer to extend the Cardinals' lead to four runs in the second inning of a divisional win. He's been struggling for much of August, and while he owns a somewhat-passable .448 slugging percentage, his .249 batting average is a negative for fantasy managers.

Martinez has been scratched from Friday's lineup against Minnesota with an illness, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

This will be the first game Martinez has missed in a solid August, in which he owns a .250/.364/.518 line with eight RBI and as many extra-base hits. Look for him to return to the lineup shortly; in the meantime, Brandon Drury will replace him in the lineup.

McCutchen went 3-for-4 with a double during Thursday's contest against the Cardinals.

He recorded his 11th three-hit game of the season and his first since late July. The center fielder is now slashing .291/.384./.515 and has convincingly bounced back to his pre-2016 levels. Perhaps most surprising is the fact that he is 10-for-13 on stolen-base attempts, proving the preseason talk of his demise as a base-stealer to be premature.

Blackmon went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, two RBI and two runs scored during Thursday's loss to Atlanta.

With 28 homers, 76 RBI and 111 runs, Blackmon is closing in on posting career-best marks in all three categories. Additionally maintaining his .335/.396/.620 slash line would also result in career highs in all three columns. Considering he has three home games ahead, it wouldn't be surprising to see a few personal bests achieved over the weekend.

Belt (concussion) is set to begin light conditioning work Friday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

This is a significant step for Belt as he works his way back from a concussion that has kept him out since early August. Friday marks Belt's first workout since the concussion, according to Pavlovic. Considering that cardio work is a large indicator of a player's recovery progress, Friday's workout should shed some light on Belt's status moving forward.

Winker is not in the Reds' lineup Thursday, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

With Jon Lester toeing the rubber for the Cubs, Winker will give way to Phillip Ervin in right field. Winker has acquitted himself well when in the lineup, though, knocking a .280/.357/.420 output across 56 plate appearances this month that includes his first two major-league home runs.

Martinez went 2-for-4 with a solo homer Wednesday in Houston.

Martinez has turned into an-all-or nothing slugger since being traded to Arizona in mid-July, mashing eight home runs in 24 games en route to a .595 slugging percentage but batting just .238. He also struck out once in this one, giving him 20 whiffs in the past 17 games.

Pederson is out of Wednesday's lineup against the White Sox, Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLA.com reports.

He takes a seat with lefty Carlos Rodon on the mound. Chris Taylor gets the start in center field and Enrique Hernandez starts in left field as the Dodgers flood the lineup with right-handed hitters.

Martinez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Tuesday's 9-4 loss to the Astros.

Martinez has recorded just one hit in eight at-bats against his former team through the first two games of the series, but his struggles in making consistent contact have been a regular issue since the Diamondbacks first acquired him in July. While Martinez has lived up to expectations in the power department with seven home runs and a .563 slugging percentage in 80 at-bats with the team, he's hitting only .225 with a 30.1 percent strikeout rate during that time. That's certainly not what the Diamondbacks had anticipated from Martinez after the outfielder hit .314 while striking out in only 24.2 percent of his plate appearances with the Tigers prior to the trade.

Stanton went 2-for-4 with a walk, a solo home run and a second run scored in Tuesday's 9-4 loss to the Giants.

He's now homered in six straight games, giving him a league-leading 44 on the season and leaving him two games shy of the major-league record of eight straight held by Ken Griffey Jr., Dale Long and his own manager, Don Mattingly. Stanton's 1.022 OPS also places him fifth in MLB, while his 94 RBI have him currently in third place behind Nolan Arenado and Nelson Cruz.