MLB Player News

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter should take advantage of his platoon splits in Week 5 (April 29-May 5), as the team is set to take on five right-handed starting pitchers.

Carpenter has an .830 on-base plus slugging percentage in his career against righties, a trend that has so far held up this season. Carpenter's OPS is .350 points higher against right-handers this season, a feature that has piqued our Scott White's interest. White considers Carpenter to be worth starting in Fantasy Week 5 in his Hit Parade column, as they get set for series against the Reds and Brewers.  

Barring any setbacks, Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (hand), is expected to be activated off the 15-day disabled list Sunday, MLB.com reports Friday.

Cespedes, who is currently on a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento, is slated to play in the field Friday. If all goes well, he will serve as the designated hitter Saturday before rejoining the team for their series finale Sunday afternoon against the Orioles.

Cespedes is batting .250/.298/.450 with three home runs and seven RBI over his first 40 at-bats. 

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper will undoubtedly set many franchise records before he is done, and he notched one of his first Thursday against the Reds. Harper slugged his eighth home run of the season, giving him the franchise mark for longballs in April. He went 2 for 3 in the game with a walk, while driving in one and scoring once on his solo home run. The Nationals won the game, 8-1.

Harper is batting .364 with an 1.113 on-base plus slugging percentage, and he has driven in 16 home runs in 22 games.

Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera pushed his hitting streak to nine games Thursday against the Royals. Cabrera is batting .405 (15 for 37) with one home run, two doubles and nine RBI during the streak.

Athletics left fielder Yoenis Cespedes started his rehab assignment Thursday at Triple-A Sacramento as he works his way back from a hand injury. He is eligible to be activated from the disabled list Sunday, when it appears he will join the A's.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen went hitless for the fourth time in the last six games on Wednesday night against the Phillies. He went 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout in a 5-3 win.

McCutchen has gone just 3 for 22 in his last six contests and has seen his average drop from .273 to .234 during that span.

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley picked up two base hits on Wednesday afternoon during a loss at Chicago. Leading off, Brantley scored once in the game. 

The speedster went 2 for 4 in the contest and is batting .265. He's recorded at least one hit in four straight games and is 6 for 18 (.333) over that stretch with three runs scored. Brantley has yet to steal a base this season. 

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter went 3 for 4 with two runs atop the lineup in Tuesday's win over Washington.

With Jon Jay out, Carpenter was given leadoff duties and performed admirably. He doubled twice to go with a single to push his line to .276/.345/.461.

Even though we are nearing the end of the first month of the season, players have accumulated a small enough number of at-bats that a few hits could still make a huge difference to their stat line. Brandon Belt provides a classic example of this phenomenon.

Returning from a three-day absence from the Giants' starting lineup on Wednesday, Belt is primed to improve upon his modest start to the season. He is currently batting just .222, even though he has been smacking line drives at a high rate. Of the 16 liners he has smashed, only nine have become base hits. That number of line drives typically produces two or three additional hits, and if you add three hits (some of which could be for extra bases) to Belt's stat line, his average stands at .270 instead.

If you're thinking about dropping Belt, give him another chance. Not only did he deal with an illness early in the season, but he appears to have suffered from some bad luck at the plate as well.

After going 3 for 3 in a pair of appearances off the bench the last two days, Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is back in the lineup Wednesday against Arizona, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Belt hit a walk-off RBI single Monday night and a game-tying two-run home run in the ninth inning Tuesday night. He's still hitting just .222/.261/.317, but the three hits rose his OPS a whopping 117 points from where it was April 19, his last start (.461 to .578).

Joaquin Arias moves back to the bench as a result.