MLB Player News

Pederson is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Padres, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Pederson will remain on the bench for a second straight game with another left-hander taking the mound, this time in Joey Lucchesi. Tim Locastro will draw another start in center field in his stead.

McCutchen (elbow) will play right field and bat second against the Braves on Friday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

McCutchen will not be forced to miss any time after exiting Wednesday's contest following a pitch to his elbow in the bottom of the fourth inning. The outfielder received clean results from his MRI and should be fully operational moving forward.

Pederson is not in the lineup Thursday against the Diamondbacks, Pedro Moura of The Athletic Los Angeles reports.

Pederson has been swinging a hot bat as of late, hitting .351 with 10 RBI over the past 14 games. He'll head to the bench for a night off to avoid a lefty-on-lefty matchup with Patrick Corbin, allowing the recently promoted Tim Locastro to pick up his first start of the season in his stead.

Pederson started in center field and went 0-for-3 with a walk in Wednesday's 2-1 victory over Arizona.

Manager Dave Roberts stated that Alex Verdugo would receive the bulk of starts in the outfield while Yasiel Puig (ankle) is on the DL, but he has been able to keep Pederson's bat in the lineup against a trio of Arizona's right-handed starters through creative lineup shuffling. Despite his recent uptick in playing time, the 25-year-old will likely head to the bench for the Dodgers' next two games against southpaws.

Harper went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, three RBI and a stolen base in Wednesday's 9-3 win over the Pirates.

Manager Dave Martinez's decision to move Harper to the leadoff spot has paid immediate dividends, as the slugger went yard for the second straight game and 10th time this year. Wednesday's blast was also his first career leadoff homer, pushing his slash line back up to .268/.464/.598.

McCutchen was diagnosed with a left elbow contusion after X-rays came back negative, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

McCutchen was lifted from Wednesday's contest after getting hit in the elbow by a pitch, but it appears that nothing serious occurred as a result of the incident. Consider him day-to-day for now as he eyes a return to the lineup Friday following the team's off day Thursday.

McCutchen was removed from Wednesday's game against the Padres with an apparent injury.

He was hit on the elbow with a pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning. While he was originally able to stay in the game for the next inning, the veteran outfielder was replaced by Gregor Blanco prior to the fourth inning. Consider him day-to-day for now.

Harper will lead off and play right field for Wednesday's game against the Pirates.

Harper will remain in the top spot after going 1-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, two runs scored and a walk during Tuesday's contest as the leadoff hitter. It remains to be seen whether Harper will continue spending time in this position for the foreseeable future, but either way, the outfielder is a near lock to produce.

Carpenter went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's win over the White Sox.

Carpenter's home run -- his third of the year -- came in the ninth inning off White Sox closer Joakim Soria with the Cardinals trailing by one. It was Carpenter's first home run since April 10, and it was only his fourth multi-hit game this season. The 32-year-old is sporting an ugly .170 average, but is keeping his on-base percentage above .300 thanks to 19 walks on the year. Carpenter is a career .274 hitter, so the hits figure to come with a little patience.

Cespedes went 3-for-4 with a solo home run Tuesday against the Braves.

Cespedes was responsible for the only run the Mets were able to muster off Mike Soroka, who was making his major-league debut. It appears that he is suffering no ill-effects from a thumb injury that was expected to cause him to miss time. However, he didn't miss a game and continued to swing a hot bat, hitting his seventh home run of the season and extending his hitting streak to seven games.