MLB Player News

Manager Mike Matheny reported Tuesday that the MRI on Carpenter's injured shoulder did not reveal any significant damage, FOX Sports Midwest reports.

Initial tests on Carpenter's shoulder provided good news, as the Cardinals' first baseman seems to simply be dealing with inflammation in his ailing shoulder. He'll see another doctor Wednesday and may soon receive a cortisone shot, but it appears that Carpenter is no worse than day-to-day.

Carpenter underwent an MRI on his injured right shoulder Tuesday, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

Carpenter has been plagued by shoulder pain this season and has now missed three of the team's past four games with the ailment. He's undergoing testing on his shoulder Tuesday to determine the best course of action moving forward, and the results of his MRI should be revealed shortly. He remains a day-to-day case.

Carpenter (shoulder) is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Padres.

Jose Martinez is filling in at first base with Harrison Bader leading off. Carpenter was removed from Monday's game with shoulder tendinitis and later revealed that he's been dealing with nagging pain in the shoulder for some time. The issue is affecting both his throwing and hitting. To this point, the Cardinals have not given any indication as to when Carpenter may return to action.

Pederson was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

The Dodgers did not bring Pederson back right away when rosters expanded, choosing instead to continue his reclamation project in the minors for a while longer. He's back now, but Pederson failed to get going with Oklahoma City, and as a result of his prolonged struggles, figures to play a marginal role off the bench over the remaining weeks. Cody Bellinger is starting in center field Tuesday with Adrian Gonzalez at first. Chris Taylor and Alex Verdugo both figure to remain involved in center as well.

Vogelbach was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on Tuesday.

Tacoma's season ended Monday, freeing Vogelbach up to return to the majors for the first time since May. The 24-year-old put together a fine season at Triple-A after coming over from Chicago at last year's trade deadline, but his opportunities figure to be limited with Yonder Alonso and Danny Valencia forming a capable platoon at first base and Nelson Cruz serving as the primary DH. Vogelbach figures to compete for a starting job in spring training.

Goins is not in the starting lineup Tuesday against the Red Sox.

Goins will head to the bench for a breather after starting 15 straight games, going 17-for-54 (.315) over that stretch. Prospect Richard Urena will draw the start at shortstop in his place, batting ninth.

Harper (knee) played catch from about 30 feet Tuesday, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

This was a very minor catch session, but it was the first time Harper has played catch since the injury. He also walked the stadium stairs with team trainers, which, according to Zuckerman, is the most exercise Harper has done in a while. The pessimistic comments from the team last week about Harper being "a long ways from running" still carry weight, but it seems like he is making very gradual progress.

Soler was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday.

As expected, Soler will get another shot with the big club after struggling to a .154/.245/.275 line during a pair of stints (29 games) with the Royals earlier in the season. He's compiled a more respectable .267/.388/.564 line with 24 homers in 74 games for Omaha, so he could see a good amount of playing time down the stretch as the Royals look to give him another look against big-league pitching.

Martinez hit four home runs in five at-bats Monday against the Dodgers, driving in six runs in a 13-0 rout.

Most incredibly, he didn't hit one 'til the fourth, as Arizona's offense was a bit slow to get in gear despite the lopsided score -- but Martinez took the game over in the late innings, as he proceeded to homer in the seventh, eighth and ninth. The slugging right fielder joined an exclusive club in the process, as he's just the 18th hitter in MLB history (and the first Diamondback) to deliver a four-homer game. Through just 97 games split between the Tigers and D-backs, he's hit an incredible 34 home runs and racked up 79 RBI; that's a 162-game pace for 56 and 131. Eight of those homers have come in his last eight games, and he's been raising his batting average over that span too, going 12-for-30 (.400).

Carpenter, who left Monday's game with shoulder tendinitis, said he has been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury for some time and that "every throw hurts and most swings," Fox Sports Midwest reports.

At this point, we should probably expect Carpenter to play through the pain and put off any surgery or other rehab efforts until after the season. Carpenter has an excellent .241/.376/.436 batting line this season, but he's at just .200/.348/.347 over the past 28 days, according to Baseball-Reference. Even if Carpenter is able to take the field down the stretch, he may be too hurt to contribute.