MLB Player News

Ozuna was dropped to fifth in the order Monday against the Brewers, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.

He had been hitting cleanup all season, and while he has been a disappointment on the whole, this move comes at an odd time, as Ozuna is 10-for-18 (.556 average) over his last five games. Jedd Gyorko is starting at second base and hitting cleanup against lefty Brent Suter.

Harper went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Sunday's win over the Marlins.

He also struck out twice, however, the fourth straight game in which Harper has fanned multiple times. With three homers in the last six games and 16 on the year, the 25-year-old is still supplying his expected power numbers, but his unexpected contact issues have dragged his batting average down to .232. Harper is one tweak in his swing away from erupting, but his current form may present a window to trade for him at a slight discount.

Ozuna went 2-for-4 with a run in a win over the Pirates on Saturday.

Ozuna's emergence continues, as he's now rapped out multiple hits in four of the last five games and on eight occasions overall during May. Since May 2, the slugging outfielder has pushed his season average up 22 points to .265, a figure that still has plenty of room for improvement, but that is trending in the right direction.

Carpenter went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in a win over the Pirates on Saturday.

Carpenter got the Cardinals jump-started by leading off the game with a 417-foot shot to left, his third round tripper of May. The veteran has made significant strides at the plate during the latter half of the month, raising his season average 46 points to .206 since May 16 by slashing .390/.432/.707 over 44 plate appearances in a 10-game sample.

Cespedes (hip) could begin a minor-league rehab assignment near the end of the week, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.

Manager Mickey Callaway reported Sunday that Cespedes is a few days behind teammate Todd Frazier (hamstring) in his recovery timeline and that Frazier is expected to go out on a rehab assignment in the next few days. With that information, it sounds like Cespedes may begin his assignment by the end of the week and could rejoin the Mets during the late first or early second week of June if everything goes according to plan.

McCutchen went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Saturday's win over the Cubs.

McCutchen had gone 0-for-11 since returning from a minor knee issue May 22, so Saturday's healthy stat line should ease his owners' thoughts going forward. The 31-year-old is slashing .239/.346/.378 as he continues to try and climb out of his anemic start to the year. He has been able to provide decent counting stats (28 runs and 20 RBI) to help offset the negative value in average.

Turner went 1-for-3 with two walks and a solo home run in Saturday's 7-5 loss to the Padres.

It took him 11 games, but Turner finally launched his first homer after missing the first seven weeks of the season with a broken wrist. While his power stroke has been lacking, the 33-year-old still sports a solid .282/.364/.436 slash line, and he should continue to produce strong fantasy value hitting in the middle of the Dodgers' lineup.

Winker is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Rockies.

The 24-year-old will take as seat as interim manager Jim Riggleman goes with Adam Duvall and Brandon Dixon in the outfield corners against lefty Tyler Anderson. Winker is just 4-for-32 against left-handed pitching so far this season.

Ozuna, who was benched for the Cardinals' last game Wednesday for arriving to the ballpark late, went 2-for-3 with a double in his return to the starting lineup against the Pirates on Friday.

Ozuna's unfortunate case of oversleeping interrupted a two-game hot streak in which he'd gone 5-for-7 with an RBI, a walk and two runs. However, he was able to pick right up where he left off, posting a third straight multi-hit effort on what was an otherwise bleak night for the Cardinals offense. Ozuna has already raised his average 26 points to .260 during the three-game stretch, a sign he may finally be ready to start delivering on his considerable offensive upside.

Cespedes (hip) began his running program Friday, Tim Britton of The Athletic New York reports.

Cespedes took batting practice for the first time Friday since hitting the disabled list May 13 and appears to be ramping up his rehab work. The timetable for the 32-year-old's return and whether he needs a minor-league rehab assignment remains unclear, so Brandon Nimmo should continue to see an increased role for the Mets in Cespedes' absence.