MLB Player News

McCutchen isn't in the Pirates' lineup for Saturday's contest against Miami, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

McCutchen will get a breather Saturday despite the Marlins sending the left-handed Ryan Weathers to start on the mound. The 37-year-old is 0-for-9 to begin the season, and his absence will give Edward Olivares a chance to start at DH and bat fourth.

Pederson went 4-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Friday's win over the Rockies.

Making his Diamondbacks debut after taking a seat Opening Day against lefty Kyle Freeland, Pederson immediately made an impact. He ripped a double in the first inning followed by an RBI single in the third. Three of his four hits registered over 98 mph off the bat, including a pair over 100 mph. Arizona has the depth to sit Pederson against lefties often, but his ceiling against righties will keep him relevant in most fantasy formats.

Garver was scratched from the Mariners' lineup before Friday's game against Boston due to back spasms, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.

Garver is officially listed as day-to-day, so his back shouldn't keep him out for very long. The 33-year-old veteran went 1-for-4 with a double in his Mariners debut Thursday and will operate as Seattle's primary DH this season.

Garver was scratched from the Mariners' lineup ahead of Friday's game against the Red Sox, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

It's unclear at this stage why Garver was taken out of Friday's lineup. Mitch Haniger will serve as Seattle's DH against Boston, moving Luke Raley to right field while Dominic Canzone fills the opening in left.

Rooker is not in the Athletics' lineup Friday against the Guardians.

Rooker was the Opening Day designated hitter but struggled at the plate, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Switch hitter Abraham Toro will draw the start at DH on Friday against Guardians left-hander Logan Allen.

The Mets optioned Martinez to Triple-A Syracuse on Monday.

Since Martinez didn't sign with the Mets until last week, he didn't have sufficient time to complete his hitting progression in spring training, so he'll be left off the 26-man active roster ahead of Friday's season opener versus the Brewers. The Mets haven't indicated if Martinez will immediately report to Syracuse for the start of its season Friday, or if he'll continue to see live at-bats at the Mets' spring training facility in Florida. Either way, Martinez will join the Mets and serve as their everyday designated hitter once he spends around 10 days in the minors compiling at-bats, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Morel went 2-for-5 with a triple and a run scored in Thursday's 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Rangers.

Morel had a good game but almost had a great game, as he narrowly missed a grand slam on a long foul ball in the top of the 10th inning with the contest tied 3-3. The 24-year-old batted cleanup, and he should have the opportunity to post strong numbers this season from the middle of Chicago's lineup, particularly in the power department.

Morel will serve as the Cubs' designated hitter and cleanup batter in Thursday's season opener versus the Rangers.

The Cubs gave Morel plenty of run at third base this spring in hopes that he would capture that job. While he still figures to be used plenty at the hot corner, it displays some lack of trust in Morel's defense on manager Craig Counsell's part that he's not playing the field Opening Day. Fantasy managers mostly care that he's just in the lineup, of course, and that he's hitting cleanup shows faith in his bat.

Pederson is out of the lineup Thursday's game against the Rockies.

Southpaw Kyle Freeland will start Thursday's game on the mound for Colorado, sending the lefty-hitting Pederson into the dugout. Blaze Alexander will serve as the Arizona's designated hitter, making his MLB debut while Pederson sits.

The Blue Jays selected Vogelbach's contract from Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday.

Vogelbach managed to squeeze onto the roster even as the Jays have Justin Turner at designated hitter and Vladimir Guerrero at first base. His best chance at playing time would be if Turner winds up being used at third base more than expected, but realistically Vogelbach is looking at a bench role.