MLB Player News

Belt went 3-for-5 with a home run, one RBI and two runs scored Sunday in the win over the Angels.

Belt has blasted a home run in back-to-back games and is slugging .576 in 17 games this season. It's unclear whether he'll be able to continue this recent power surge, but he figures to see plenty of opportunities to do so moving forward. The Giants take on the Nationals in a three-game set starting Monday.

Ozuna is not in the lineup Sunday against the Reds.

Ozuna, who has just one hit in his last 18 at-bats, will be given Sunday off for the second straight week. The sample size is still relatively small, but the former Marlin is off to a brutal start at the plate this season. His walk rate is down, his strikeout rate is up and he's hitting for considerably less power than he did in previous seasons. He'll hopefully begin heating up with the weather moving forward, but the early results are disappointing. Tyler O'Neill draws the start in left field Sunday.

Belt went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer against the Angels on Saturday.

Belt took start Garrett Richards deep in the second inning to record his fourth home run of the season. His current .519 slugging percentage is a relative surge in power and is the result of him pulling the ball in the air at a higher rate in the early going. It remains to be seen if this something he can carry forward, but if it is, he may be a good source of power tis year.

Pederson went 2-for-4 with a solo homer Saturday against the Nationals.

The Dodgers shifted around their lineup Saturday, moving Chris Taylor to second base, which gave Pederson a rare spot in the starting lineup. He took advantage of the opportunity, hitting his first home run of the season, coming off Stephen Strasburg in the second inning. Due to a lack of playing time, Pederson is only a viable option in exceptionally deep leagues despite his name value.

Carpenter will hit atop the order and play third base against the Reds on Saturday.

This marks the first time all season that Carpenter will serve as the leadoff hitter for manager Mike Matheny. He has typically been utilized out of the three hole, but was second in the order for Friday's series opener. Over 18 appearances in 2018, Carpenter is hitting just .177/.329/.323 with two home runs and 10 RBI.

McCutchen went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run to help the Giants to an 8-1 victory over the Angels on Friday.

It's been a slow start for the first-year Giant, who is still slashing just .213/.280/.373 despite getting his third long ball of the year. McCutchen has shown a propensity for bouncing back after rough starts in the past, so it's still too early to be reading much into the early-season struggles of a hitter who has a .290 average and an .863 OPS over the last decade. Cutch ended up slashing .279/.363/.486 after a similarly slow start last year.

Turner (wrist) progressed to hitting off a tee and played light catch Friday, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Turner started taking dry swings earlier this week and the progression to the tee indicates he has avoided a setback thus far. The 33-year-old has no official timetable for his return, but rejoining the Dodgers sometime in mid-May still seems possible.

Belt is out of the lineup Friday against the Angels, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

With southpaw Andrew Heaney taking the hill for Los Angeles, Belt will head to the bench for a night off. Buster Posey will move to first base to replace him, allowing Nick Hundley to log a start behind the dish.

Blackmon is batting third Friday against the Cubs, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

Blackmon has acted as the Rockies' leadoff hitter for much of the past few seasons, but he was moved to the three-hole recently to fill in for the suspended Nolan Arenado. With Arenado returning to the lineup Friday, manager Bud Black apparently liked what he saw from "Chuck Nasty" in the third spot in the order and will keep him there for now. This could be the start of a more longstanding change, which could result in more RBI opportunities for Blackmon, though his number of runs scored could take a dip now that he's not atop the order.

Belt went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in the Giants' 3-1 defeat to the Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Belt was the only Giant to get to Zack Greinke with his second-inning solo blast representing his team's only run of the contest. After a relatively quiet start to the season, it was Belt's second straight game with a long ball and he's now got a solid .255/.361/.471 slash line this season.