MLB Player News

The Nationals are targeting July 1 as a potential return date for injured outfielder Bryce Harper, NatsInsider.com reports.

"We don’t know yet, but I’d like to see him back by the 1st of July," manager Matt Williams said Wednesday. "I think that would be a good target, but we just don’t know. It depends on how everything else goes."

Harper has begun preliminary on-field work the past two days as he recovers from a torn ligament in his thumb suffered in late April. He has yet to receive clearance to catch the ball or take swings.

A right knee laceration has landed Phillies minor league outfielder Darin Ruf on the Triple-A disabled list.

Ruf was demoted from Philadelphia to Lehigh Valley on Sunday.

Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez went 1 for 4 with a three-run home run in his team's 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays Tuesday.

Martinez delivered his shot in the bottom of the ninth inning to bring his team within two, but that was as close as they would get before the Blue Jays finished off the win. He has hit .262/.324/.492 with three home runs and 14 RBI in 61 at-bats.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt will be able to remove his cast for good Friday, a big step in his recovery from a fractured left thumb.

Belt will have X-rays taken in the thumb before he is cleared to move on his recovery, but could be able to begin baseball activities if he is. He has so far been limited to swinging off a tee with his right hand, but the San Francisco Chronicle reports he could be back two weeks after he is cleared to move forward.

Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna has hit .314 over his last 10 games, with three homers and seven RBI. He has three two-hit games in that span and has upped his average to .265/.313/.449.

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter went 0 for 4 in Monday's loss to the Royals, snapping his 14-game hitting streak. He also lost a 28-game streak of reaching base at Busch Stadium, according to MLB.com.

Carpenter is hitting .286/.372/.368 in 231 at-bats, with one homer and 18 RBI.

Dodgers infielder Justin Turner was one of the few bright spots in his team's 5-3 loss to the Pirates on Sunday.

Turner singled in a run in the second and took starter Edinson Volquez deep for a solo home run in the fourth inning. He finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored and two RBI. He has homered three times over the past nine games. He is hitting .262 with three homers and 12 RBI in 107 at-bats.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen cranked out three hits, including his fifth home run of the season in his team's 5-3 with over the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

McCutchen doubled in the opening frame, homered in the third and doubled again in the sixth. He finished 3 for 4 with three runs scored and one RBI. It was his first home run since April 23, ending a 32-game drought. He is hitting .307 with five homers and 24 RBI in 202 at-bats.

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games after going 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored in Sunday's 6-4 win over the Rockies. Brantley upped his average to .307/.370/.505 with 40 RBI in 212 at-bats.

The Phillies have optioned outfielder Darin Ruf to Triple-A Sunday.

Ruf received just 10 at-bats in the majors, hitting .100. There was some talk about him potentially working his way into a platoon role, but the team had other plans.