MLB Player News

Manager David Bell said Wednesday that Winker (ribs) has yet to resume baseball activities and remains "a couple weeks away" from returning from the injured list, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Winker is rehabbing in Cincinnati while the team is on a road trip, and it's unclear when he may be able to resume baseball activities. The 28-year-old landed on the shelf Aug. 16 with an intercostal strain, and given his current progression he may not rejoin the big-league roster before mid-September.

Belt will likely go on the bereavement list Friday, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Belt will miss all of the weekend series in Atlanta and possibly a few more games beyond that. The bereavement list's maximum stay is seven games, so he'll return no later than Friday, Sept. 3 against the Dodgers.

Blackmon is not in the lineup for Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Cubs.

Blackmon went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the afternoon contest and is now hitting .333 in his last 10 games. Sam Hilliard is starting in right field Wednesday night, with Garrett Hampson playing center.

Belt went 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI on Tuesday against the Mets.

Belt tallied hits in each of his first three at-bats, two of which went for home runs. He now has 19 long balls on the season, with eight having come since he was activated from the injured list Aug. 5. Despite the power surge, he's hitting just .226 in that span with only four hits that didn't clear the fence. Overall, Belt is hitting .247/.355/.556 across 262 plate appearances for the season.

McCutchen will sit Tuesday against the Rays.

McCutchen was also absent from Sunday's lineup, so it's possible he's dealing with an unreported injury. Odubel Herrera slides to left field in his absence, with Travis Jankowski starting in center.

Pederson will be on the bench Monday against the Yankees.

Pederson will hit the bench against lefty Jordan Montgomery, as he's done against four of the previous six southpaws Atlanta has faced. Guillermo Heredia starts in center field in his absence.

The Nationals claimed Ford off waivers from the Rays on Monday and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

Washington will likely stash the 29-year-old at Triple-A for at least the next week before potentially promoting him to the big club when rosters expand to 28 men Sept. 1. After submitting a 134 wRC+ across 163 plate appearances with the Yankees as a rookie in 2019 when injuries opened up playing time at first base and designated hitter, Ford has struggled to replicate that success over multiple stints at the big-league level in the past two seasons (.134/.250/.276 slash line in 156 collective PAs). With Josh Bell set to enter his final year of arbitration in 2022 and Ryan Zimmerman bound for free agency (and perhaps retirement) this winter, Ford will at the very least improve the organization's depth at first base heading into next season.

Soler went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a strikeout in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Orioles.

Soler struck out in his first at-bat Sunday, but he put Atlanta on the board with his solo blast in the top of the fourth inning. The 29-year-old has reached base safely in each of the last six games, and he's gone 7-for-23 with two home runs, two doubles, four runs, four RBI and five walks during that time.

Miller is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Padres.

Miller had been seeing steady at-bats at first base versus right-handed pitching of late, but he'll move into a bench role after the Phillies reinstated Rhys Hoskins (groin) from the 10-day injured list ahead of the series finale. While appearing in 17 games this month, Miller has made little impact at the plate, going 7-for-47 (.149 average) with two home runs.

McCutchen is not in the lineup for Sunday's series finale in San Diego, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The veteran gets a day off after going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts Saturday, lowering his average to .103 with 16 strikeouts in the last 10 games. Odubel Herrera is playing left field Sunday, with Travis Jankowski getting the start in center.