MLB Player News

Harper went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 2-0 win over the Orioles.

His third-inning shot down the left-field line gave Max Scherzer and Sean Doolittle all the offense they would need in the combined shutout. Harper now has 18 homers on the year including five in his last nine games, and his .297 batting average (11-for-37) over that stretch suggests he's beginning to shake out of his slump.

The Reds' four-man outfield rotation has come to an end, with Winker moving to the bench on a regular basis, C.Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports. Winker entered Wednesday's play hitting .245/.354/.325.

Interim manager Jim Riggleman believes that the rotation has hurt the offensive performances off all four Reds outfielders, and emphasized some of the previous offensive contributions of Adam Duvall and Scott Schebler as a rationale for choosing to play them over Winker. Duvall has been suggested as a trade target, but to have any leverage to trade him, the Reds need to play him and see him produce, so in the long run that still may be a path for Winker to gain playing time. Also in defense of the decision, Winker's power has once again disappeared -- he has just one homer in 178 plate appearances this season.

Turner is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies.

Turner will head to the bench for what appears to be a maintenance day after starting eight straight games. Breyvic Valera is starting at third base and hitting seventh in his stead. Turner is hitting just .255/.327/.383 through 13 games this season.

Ozuna was removed from the starting lineup prior to Wednesday's tilt against the Brewers due to a jammed finger, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.

The injury appeared to occur during Tuesday's game on a play at second base. He was slated to start in left field and bat fourth, but Tyler O'Neill has since replaced the 27-year-old in the lineup. Ozuna will be available off the bench if needed, and he'll be considered day-to-day moving forward.

Carpenter went 1-for-3 with two RBI from a bases-loaded walk and a solo home run in a win over the Brewers on Tuesday, while also drawing a second free pass.

At one point earlier this month, Carpenter's season line stood at a dreadful .140/.286/.272. All three figures have seen massive boosts in recent weeks, with the 168-point increase in his slugging percentage (.272 to .440) being the most dramatic. Carpenter sports a blistering .404 average, .528 wOBA and 65.8 percent hard contact rate in the 58 plate appearances encompassing his last 13 games, a stretch during which he's racked up 13 extra-base hits (nine doubles, four home runs) and eight RBI.

Reyes went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's win over the Marlins.

Reyes had mashed 14 home runs in just 36 games with Triple-A El Paso before being called up, and he's now left the park in back-to-back contests with the big-league club. The 22-year-old is still hitting just .189 and has struck out in six straight games (38.5 percent strikeout rate), but should still see a path toward fairly regular at-bats in San Diego's outfield for the time being with both Franchy Cordero (forearm) and Wil Myers (oblique) on the disabled list.

Harper was 3-for-5 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 3-2 win over Baltimore.

The 25-year-old started the scoring in the top of the first inning with the solo shot to right field, and added a pair of singles off Orioles starter Dylan Bundy in the third and fifth innings. Harper is not consistently finding hits and has now drawn only eight walks in May, after having 37 in April. Harper has an unbalanced .209/.277/.527 slash line in 91 at-bats in May, but does still have eight home runs (and 17 home runs for the season).

Pederson went 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Monday's 5-4 win over the Phillies.

Pederson has been relegated to a pseudo-fourth outfielder role despite center field opening up following Chris Taylor's move to shortstop to fill in for Corey Seager (elbow). Instead, Cody Bellinger has been seeing the majority of starts in center with Max Muncy getting starts at first against righties. The latter has performed adequately in the role, so Pederson will have to improve on his .248/.343/.397 slash line if he wants to play himself into a regular role.

Reyes went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 7-2 loss to the Marlins.

Reyes has struggled to the tune of a .176/.222/.353 slash line in a semi-regular role since being called up May 14. On a positive note, the slugging rookie has hit two homers and taken his first two walks over his last five contests. With Franchy Cordero (forearm) hitting the disabled list and Wil Myers (oblique) still not back from his DL stint, there is an opportunity for the 22-year-old to prove he is ready for the majors. He will have to fend off the recently activated Hunter Renfroe for at-bats, but the latter's struggles against righties in his young career could lead to a platoon situation in the interim. Being on the strong side of a platoon would be the best-case scenario for Reyes, otherwise a four-man outfield rotation between he, Renfroe, Travis Jankowski and Manuel Margot could ensue.

Carpenter went 2-for-4 with a solo homer in Monday's loss to the Brewers.

Carpenter cut the Brewers' lead to 4-3 with his solo shot -- his sixth of the season -- off Brent Suter in the fifth inning, though it ultimately wasn't enough to help the Cardinals take the series opener. He also laid down a bunt single in the third inning. Carpenter has now collected multiple hits in three straight games and is hitting .291/.364/.582 across 22 games this month, raising his average from .170 to .221 over that stretch.