MLB Player News

McCutchen, who will bat third Wednesday afternoon, has 12 hits in 25 career at-bats against Cardinals starter Michael Wacha.

McCutchen is playing with a chip on his shoulder right now. He made several strong plays while patrolling center field for the first time in 2017 on Tuesday. Given his career numbers against Wacha and a nine-game batting streak, McCutchen makes for an interesting choice Wednesday.

McCutchen will return to playing center field following Starlin Marte's 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, Bob Nightengale of the USA Today reports.

The move back to center field should be fairly natural for McCutchen, as he'd spent his entire career at the spot prior to the 2017 season. However, whether or not McCutchen continues playing center field once Marte is eligible to return remains to be seen. Although his line is just .250/.291/.423 for the season, McCutchen has recorded a hit in eight consecutive games and notched six RBI over that span.

Carpenter (finger) is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Pirates.

The club has held true to its word that Carpenter wouldn't be rushed back into the lineup, as he's sitting out for the second day in a row. Jose Martinez will get the nod to start at first base instead of Carpenter on Tuesday. Consider Carpenter day-to-day heading into Wednesday's outing against Pittsburgh.

Carpenter's finger injury is lingering and he is questionable for Tuesday's game against the Pirates, Brian Stull of WGNU 920AM reports.

Manager Mike Matheny said he would have no qualms playing Jose Ramirez at first base again, so the Cardinals won't be rushing Carpenter back to action. Consider Carpenter day-to-day for now, but there's no expectation that this injury will force a stint on the disabled list.

Pederson is out of the Dodgers' lineup Monday against the Diamondbacks, MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports.

With Los Angeles facing Arizona lefty Robbie Ray, Pederson will sit for the second time in three days. Enrique Hernandez will start in center field and hit sixth in his place.

Carpenter was removed from Monday's lineup against the Pirates due to swelling in his lacerated finger, Jenifer Langosch of the MLB.com reports.

Carpenter suffered the laceration after hit was hit by a ground ball in Sunday's game against the Yankees. His absence from the lineup will depend on how quickly he can get the swelling to go down.

Ozuna went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Sunday's win over the Mets.

He also climbed the wall in left field in the fifth inning to rob Wilmer Flores of extra bases and preserve what was at the time a no-hit bid by Dan Straily. Ozuna's now slashing a spectacular .404/.453/.745 through 12 games with five homers and 18 RBI.

Harper finished 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI during Sunday's 6-4 win over the Phillies.

Harper launched a two-run homer in the third inning before going deep with two men on to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. It had been six games since Harper drove in a run, but this performance vaulted him into a tie for second in the big leagues with 12 RBI to go along with four home runs and 12 runs scored.

Blackmon went 1-for-4 with a leadoff home run in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Giants.

Blackmon's franchise-record 23rd leadoff home run helped the Rockies plate three runs in the first inning off Jeff Samardzija. It was the 30-year-old's third home run of the season and ninth RBI in 61 plate appearances. Blackmon is off to a bit of a slow start (.232), but he was an early-round pick for a reason. He has the ability to produce across all categories and resides in the best hitting park in baseball. The numbers will look better eventually.

Winker was optioned to Triple-A Louisville on Sunday, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports.

Winker was brought up by the Reds as a short-term fill-in for one of their final bench spots. During this short stint, the outfielder went 1-for-2 at the plate with a double in two pinch-hit appearances. This definitely won't be the last we see of Winker this season, but fantasy owners will have to wait a bit longer to see consistent production in the majors.