MLB Player News

Belt is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Blue Jays, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Belt rejoined the lineup Tuesday after missing a pair of contests due to a knee injury, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout in his first game back. There has been no news suggesting the first baseman suffered a setback Tuesday, so it appears the Giants are simply easing him back into action. Pablo Sandoval is starting at first and hitting cleanup in place of Belt.

Carpenter, who went 1-for-5 with an RBI double, a walk and a run in a win over the Braves on Tuesday, will remain in the leadoff spot for the time being despite his season-long struggles, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. "He's got the right approach for it," manager Mike Shildt said. "He's an All-Star-caliber player, an MVP-caliber player. He understands what that looks like. We all want to see the results, including him, [be] more consistent."

Carpenter's season line remains a middling .201/.319/.338 through 182 plate appearances, but the Cardinals' skipper appears set to stick with the veteran at the top of the order for the time being. While Carpenter has been a notoriously slow starter in several seasons during his career and most recently dug himself out of a similar hole in 2018, he has experienced some regression in key areas thus far this season. Langosch notes the infielder's barrel rate is down from last year's 13.7 percent to 8.3 percent, while his hard-contact rate is down a full 10 percentage points to 34.7 percent.

Ohtani (elbow) extended his throwing distance to 115 feet prior to Wednesday's game against the Twins, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Just as the Angels suggested would be the case when he was activated from the 10-day injured list last week, Ohtani's throwing program won't impact his availability to make regular starts at designated hitter. He'll be included in the lineup as the No. 3 hitter Wednesday after collecting five hits between the first two games of the series. Ohtani should continue to gradually stretch out his throwing distance off flat ground before advancing to mound work later in the summer.

Jimenez (ankle) went 1-for-4 with a run scored for Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday.

Jimenez served as the designated hitter in the first game of his rehab assignment for the Knights. The White Sox will keep him down on the farm for the rest of the week, and have Jimenez get reps in the outfield before activating him off the IL.

Vogelbach went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a victory over Oakland on Tuesday.

Following a 3-for-22 homerless slump, Vogelbach has now homered in two straight games to raise his total to 11 on the year. He tends to sit versus left-handed pitchers but still offers plenty of value as a power source in a platoon role.

Pederson went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in a win against San Diego on Tuesday.

The third-inning blast off rookie sensation Chris Paddack put the Dodgers on the board in a game they went on to win 6-3. Despite hitting only .220 this season, the atypical leadoff man is now tied for fourth in the majors with his 13 home runs. Incredibly, the 13 homers represent half of his overall season hit total (26).

Reyes went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and two runs in the Padres' 6-3 loss to the Dodgers on Tuesday.

Reyes clubbed his 12th homer of the season in the first inning and later added his sixth two-bagger of the year, both of which came off Clayton Kershaw. He's in a nice groove at the dish, with three multi-hit performances in his last six games. Reyes cranked three homers in that span, raising his slash line up to .273/.303/.591 through 132 at-bats.

Blackmon went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run Tuesday against the Red Sox.

Blackmon took Brandon Workman deep in the eighth inning to tie the game at four. It was his ninth home run of the season and fifth in his last nine contests. While still not running, Blackmon's power has rebounded after a slow start to the campaign as he has a .580 slugging percentage across 187 plate appearances.

Ohtani went 3-for-4 with an RBI in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Twins.

While he's now hitting .321 (9-for-28) since coming off the IL, it was Ohtani's baserunning blunders that decided the game for the Angels. The second-year player got thrown out trying to go first to third on a single in the sixth inning, helping to snuff out the team's only rally of the night, then got gunned down at the plate to end the eighth on a play that also resulted in Minnesota catcher Mitch Garver suffering an ankle injury. TOOTBLAN's aside, Ohtani will remain a key part of the Angels' offense as the regular DH.

Martinez went 2-for-5 with a solo home run Tuesday against the Rockies.

Martinez took Kyle Freeland deep in the third inning to record his eighth home run of the season. After a slow start in terms of power production, Martinez has now accounted for half of his home runs in the past six games. As a result, his season-long line has improved to .316/.393/.523 across 178 plate appearances.