MLB Player News

McCutchen went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Tuesday against the Brewers.

McCutchen has hit atop the Pirates' order in consecutive games and has led off each contest with a homer. He now has three long balls on the season and is potentially getting out of a slump that resulted in him hitting just .173 across his first 14 games of the campaign. It's unclear whether McCutchen has taken over leadoff duties for good, but the Pirates have shifted Oneil Cruz down the lineup as a result.

Rockies manager Bud Black said Tuesday that Bryant (back) is not participating in baseball activities and won't be reinstated from the 10-day injured list when first eligible Wednesday, Patrick Lyons of JustBaseball.com reports.

There apparently isn't much concern about the back strain being a serious issue since Bryant hasn't been sent for medical imaging, but the lower-back strain will still keep him sidelined for the near future. The 32-year-old doesn't have an official timeline for his return and should be considered out indefinitely until he resumes baseball activities.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Monday that Carpenter received a platelet-rich plasma injection for his strained right oblique, Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The Cardinals will have Carpenter rest for the next three days to allow the injection to take effect. If all goes well, Carpenter will resume hitting on the field later this week, and then face a high-velocity pitching machine before he starts getting at-bats in a game setting. Heading into the season, Carpenter didn't look as though he would be in store for much of a role before being placed on the 10-day injured list April 4, but he could have an opportunity to see reps at designated hitter if Nolan Gorman (.610 OPS, 38.1 percent strikeout rate in 84 plate appearances) and Alec Burleson (.549 OPS in 52 plate appearances) fail to show improvement in the weeks to come.

McCutchen went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's win over Milwaukee.

McCutchen received his first start in the leadoff spot Monday night and made the most of it. He opened with a 414-foot home run off Joe Ross, spurring the Pirates to victory. The 37-year-old added two singles later in the game for his first three-hit effort of the season. McCutchen has started 10 of the last 13 games, batting .231 (9-for-39) with two homers, seven runs and four RBI.

The Padres placed Machado on the paternity list Monday.

Machado could miss up to three games while awaiting the birth of his child. He's slashing .260/.324/.417 with four home runs and 12 RBI over 105 plate appearances to start the season. The Padres recalled infielder Matthew Batten from Triple-A El Paso in a corresponding move, and Jurickson Profar is serving as San Diego's designated hitter Monday against the Rockies while Machado is away from the team.

Ozuna went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer and a walk in Sunday's loss to the Rangers.

Ozuna drilled a three-run shot off Michael Lorenzen in the opening frame to give Atlanta an early lead. He's picked up right where he left off from last season with his hot bat and currently leads the league with nine home runs and 27 RBI to go along with a slash line of .338/.404/.713.

Ohtani went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk in Sunday's win over the Mets.

Ohtani opened up the scoring with a two-run blast off Adrian Houser in the third inning for his first round tripper since April 12. Ohtani has notched at least one hit in all but three games so far this season. He's slashing .368/.431/.663 with five homers, 13 RBI, 19 runs and a 12:20 BB:K in 109 plate appearances. Ohtani currently leads MLB with a .368 average and 63 total bases.

Schwarber went 1-for-1 with three walks, a home run, two RBI and three runs scored during Sunday's 8-2 win over the White Sox.

Schwarber reached base in each of his first four at-bats, culminating with a solo shot in the sixth, then drove in his second run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, posting the final tally of an 8-2 triumph for the Phillies. Schwarber had been hitless in five of the previous six games coming into Sunday but each of his last three hits have now cleared the fence. The slugger lifted his average to .217 on the day and now has six homers and 11 RBI on the season.

Soler is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

It's the first day off of the season for Soler, who has gone 5-for-16 with a solo homer during a modest four-game hit streak. Wilmer Flores will bat third as the designated hitter Sunday.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Sunday that Martinez (back) could join the big club as soon as Friday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

The veteran slugger is scheduled to play with Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday and Wednesday, which could be the final hurdle before being cleared for his Mets debut. Martinez played in two minor-league games in early April before the back issue surfaced, but he's just about MLB ready after receiving an injection and ramping his baseball work back up over the past couple weeks.