MLB Player News

Carpenter is back at first base and hitting third Sunday against the Rockies.

Stuck in a tough May, Carpenter was given the day off Saturday but will be back in his regular role for the series finale. He's 1-for-3 against opposing starter German Marquez in his career.

Ozuna went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's loss to the Angels.

The homer, a ninth-inning shot off Los Angeles closer Bud Norris, was Ozuna's 12th of the season but his first in 16 games. The 26-year-old now has a .311/.385/.559 slash line and is on pace to establish new career highs in all three categories.

Harper is not in the starting lineup Sunday against the Padres, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post reports.

Harper will take a seat for the series finale, joining the bench along with Jayson Werth, Matt Wieters and Daniel Murphy. It will be Harper's first day off since May 6, costing fantasy owners a favorable matchup against soft-tossing right-hander Jhoulys Chacin.

McCutchen went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, a double and three RBI during Saturday's extra-innings win over the Mets.

Currently sporting a disastrous .212/.286/.385 slash line through 199 plate appearances, McCutchen is struggling to find the form that made him a fantasy superstar earlier in his career. He's providing respectable counting starts with seven homers, 23 RBI, 21 runs and five stolen bases, but he also has just eight multi-hit games all season. It's worth noting that McCutchen finished 2016 well with a .284 batting average and .852 OPS over the final two months, so perhaps another midseason turnaround is ahead.

Cespedes (hamstring) was scratched from Saturday's rehab start with High-A St. Lucie after experiencing quad soreness while running the bases and will not take at-bats until Tuesday, Matt Ehalt of The Record reports.

It's the last thing the Mets wanted to hear regarding the slugger, who missed 14 games with a quad injury last season. Cespedes will stay in St. Lucie until he's cleared to return to regular activities, but it seems he won't be returning to the big leagues for at least another week or so. Expect a new timetable on his recovery to be released after a couple days of rest.

Carpenter is not in the lineup Saturday against the Rockies, Jim Hayes of Fox Sports Midwest reports.

Carpenter will head to the bench for the first time in May after slashing .221/.371/.506 with six homers through the first 21 games of the month. Jedd Gyorko will slide over to start at first base in his stead, opening up a spot for Jhonny Peralta to start at the hot corner.

Manager Dave Roberts said Turner (hamstring) will need a short rehab assignment, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

While no date has been set for his rehab assignment or his return to the big club, the Dodgers are hopeful he'll be able to rejoin the team before the end of next week's road trip, which ends June 4 against the Brewers. A clearer timetable should become available once his rehab game is scheduled.

McCutchen went 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts Friday against the Mets.

The Pirates kept him out of the starting lineup Wednesday and Thursday in hopes of rebooting his season, but the initial results look pretty much the same. He struck out on three pitches in the ninth inning against reliever Fernando Salas and his 91 mph fastball. Manager Clint Hurdle moved McCutchen down to sixth in the batting order in hopes of taking some pressure off, but the outfielder is now slashing .167/.207/.256 with a 4:18 BB:K in his last 78 at-bats.

Stanton went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run in Friday's win over the Angels.

The first-inning blast off Jesse Chavez traveled an estimated 460 feet and caromed off the batter's eye in straightaway center field, giving the Marlins slugger 12 homers on the year and his first since May 8. Stanton may not have been putting the ball over the fence but he has been hitting, compiling a .317/.359/.467 slash line in those 15 games.

Blackmon went 4-for-4 with a walk, a triple, a home run and three RBI in Friday's 10-0 win over the Cardinals.

The homer was his 12th of the season and helped spark an eight-run rally in the eighth inning that put the game out of reach. Blackmon now has a career-high 1.007 OPS, and his 45 RBI leads the majors -- an impressive feat for a leadoff hitter.