MLB Player News

Pederson went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and two runs scored against the Giants on Thursday.

Four games into the season, we've seen a pretty familiar version of Pederson -- one who's off to a strong start and is showing his power bat, but has also struck out seven times in 16 at-bats. The enticing potential for a power-speed combo will keep him in fantasy lineups, but he's going to struggle with batting average again if he can't start making more contact.

Winker went 2-for-4 for Triple-A Louisville in his season premiere Thursday.

Winker slashed .282/.390/.433 with 13 home runs, 55 RBI and eight steals in 123 games at Double-A last season. Winker possesses an advanced approach at the dish, though he does not project to be a huge producer of either home runs or steals.

Turner is out of Thursday's lineup against the Giants.

This is just a standard day off for Turner, who has four hits in his first three games, including two doubles. Enrique Hernandez will get the start at third base and hit seventh against righty Jake Peavy.

Stanton slugged a two-run home run in Tuesday's extra-innings loss to the Tigers.

He also drew a walk over five plate appearances in the Marlins' season opener. Stanton gave the team a shot in the arm Tuesday and they eventually tied things up before losing the game in extras. Stanton showed no signs of rust despite missing the final 88 games of the 2015 season and remains a constant threat to leave the yard.

Ruf is in the lineup Wednesday versus the Reds, batting fifth and playing first base.

The 29-year-old ceded the start on Opening Day to Ryan Howard with righty Raisel Iglesias on the mound, but Ruf will garner the start Wednesday with the left-handed Brandon Finnegan going for Cincinnati. He dominated left-handed pitching last season, posting a 1.107 OPS against them in the 2015 campaign, so he'll look to continue that trend this season as he platoons with Howard at first base.

Blackmon is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Diamondbacks, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

With lefty Patrick Corbin taking the ball for Arizona, the Rockies will give Blackmon the day off after going 0-for-4 with a strikeout Tuesday. Brandon Barnes will take his spot in center field and bat eighth in the rubber match.

McCutchen went 3-for-5 with a double Tuesday against St. Louis.

He was thrown out at the plate on a curious call. McCutchen tried scoring from second base on a single to right field with no outs. The Pittsburgh coaching staff promised to be more aggressive following the loss of home run hitters Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker, but may have gone a little overboard sending Cutch. For his part, McCutchen is seeing the ball well and looking to carry over his strong spring into regular-season action.

Harper went 1-for-3 Monday with two walks and a solo home run, his first of the season.

He now has four career homers on Opening Days, which is remarkable considering he's only played in four of them. Harper's 2015 MVP campaign was extremely impressive, but he could put up even better numbers this season if players like Anthony Rendon can stay healthy and provide Harper with more RBI opportunities.

Pederson smacked a pair of doubles with an RBI an a run, but also struck out twice among his five at-bats in Monday's season-opening blowout of the Padres.

Pederson's whiffing problems were well documented last year, but doubles were not a big part of his repertoire -- he had seven more homers (26) than two-baggers (19). His combination of power, walks and strikeouts plays in formats that don't dock you for the strikeouts, especially because the nearly 24-year-old Pederson certainly has the legs to do a better job stealing bases than he did last year.

Turner rapped out two doubles and scored two runs in Monday's 15-0 thrashing of the Padres.

It seems clear by now that we can count on Turner to hit for average and score runs, but what's questionable is whether he can maintain last season's power surge -- if he'd had 600 at-bats, he had the on-pace numbers for 25 homers. Hitting out of the third spot in the order, as he did here in the opener, he'll at least be in the middle of whatever the Dodgers can do on offense -- which might be quite a lot.