MLB Player News

Carpenter went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in a win over the Giants on Sunday.

Carpenter put a bow on the scoring for the Cardinals with an impressive 425-foot shot right in the eighth, surprisingly his first homer of September. Carpenter has reached safely in six straight games, but he's slumped badly at the plate during the month to the tune of a .178/.315/.247 line across 89 plate appearances. While a .255 BABIP during that stretch could be partly to blame, a bigger culprit is the eight-point-plus bump in strikeout rate (20.8 percent to 29.2 percent) that Carpenter has seen compared to August.

Martinez is out of the lineup Sunday against the Indians, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Martinez will rest for the second Sunday in a row with the Red Sox having already secured their spot in the postseason and well on their way to clinching the best record in baseball. The slugger will most likely get another day off or two during the final week of the regular season, but it will be tough for fantasy owners to justify benching a player slashing .332/.415/.588 in the second half.

Pederson is on the bench Sunday against left-hander Joey Lucchesi and the Padres, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Pederson owns an excellent .412 average with a 1.382 OPS and five homers over his last 10 games. As usual, however, he'll remain in a platoon role Sunday, with Chris Taylor starting in left field versus a southpaw on the hill.

Choi (knee) is not in the lineup Sunday against the Blue Jays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Choi exited Friday's game with a sore left knee and will be held from the lineup for the second consecutive day. C.J. Cron will bat cleanup as the Rays' designated hitter for the series finale.

Brantley went 3-for-6 with an RBI in Saturday's 5-4 extra-innings win over the Red Sox.

After Francisco Lindor was intentionally walked to load the bases with nobody out in the 11th inning, Brantley calmly drove a 1-1 pitch from Drew Pomeranz to the warning track in left field for the walkoff win. The 31-year-old has returned to his pre-injury form in 2018, slashing .310/.364/.474 through 137 games with 17 homers, 75 RBI, 85 runs and 11 steals.

Pederson went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and two runs scored against the Padres on Saturday.

Pederson hit a leadoff home run against Jacob Nix for his 24th long ball of the season and later hit his 26th double, also against Nix. Pederson has swung a hot bat of late, smacking five homers and four doubles across his last 10 appearances. That's helped him to a .529 slugging percentage, which would be a career-best mark by 34 points.

Turner went 1-for-4 with two RBI, a double and a run scored Saturday against the Padres.

Turner recorded only one hit, but made it a timely one, driving in two runs with his 28th double of the season in the third inning. He's been battling a wrist injury across the last week, and it has seemingly affected his performance as he has managed only three hits across 15 at-bats in that span. However, he now has extra-base hits in back-to-back games

Cabrera (biceps) is optimistic he'll start to take part in baseball activities by mid-December with the ultimate goal of being ready for spring training, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Cabrera's season came to a close after undergoing season-ending surgery on his biceps tendon June 14. His rehab has been going well in Miami and barring any major setbacks, there's a good probability he'll be good to go when spring training begins.

Choi (knee) is out of the lineup Saturday against Toronto, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Choi was pulled from Friday's game with a sore left knee. The severity of the issue is not yet clear, but it will wind up costing him at least one start. Carlos Gomez will be the designated hitter Saturday.

Choi was removed from Friday's game against the Blue Jays due to a sore left knee, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Choi went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored prior to leaving the game with a knee issue. He'll be considered day-to-day until more information on his availability is revealed.