MLB Player News

Winker is out of the lineup Sunday against the PIrates, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Winker will head to the bench after starting in each of the Reds' past seven games, opening room in the lineup for Adam Duvall. With Cincinnati 20 games under .500 entering play Sunday and seemingly prepared to give its younger players extra opportunities, the 24-year-old Winker seems likely to hold down a full-time role the rest of the season.

Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer against the Cubs on Saturday.

Ozuna took Kyle Hendricks deep in the first inning, recording his 10th home run of the season. He has now homered in three consecutive games and has six home runs in June. Through May, his slugging percentage was at just .337, but his scorching hot June performance has brought that mark up to .444, in line with his career mark.

Cespedes (hip) is currently not participating in baseball activities but is expected to resume his rehab Monday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Cespedes has been on the disabled list with the hip flexor strain since mid-May and was pulled from his minor-league rehab appearance last Saturday. The 32-year-old was set to fully restart his rehab work after suffering the setback, and the timetable for his potential return is currently unclear.

The Giants activated Belt (appendicitis) from the 10-day disabled list Saturday, Chris Haft of MLB.com reports.

Belt makes his return to the Giants on Saturday as expected and should slot back in as the team's everyday first baseman. The 30-year-old hit the disabled list June 2 after getting his appendix removed and was initially expected to miss three weeks, but losing Evan Longoria to a fractured hand earlier this week may have prompted a quicker return.

Carpenter went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk and two RBI in Friday's loss to the Cubs.

Carpenter hit a solo home run -- his ninth of the year -- off Jon Lester in the sixth and later slashed an RBI single off reliever Anthony Bass in the seventh. This was Carpenter's third multi-hit performance in his last five games, bringing his line to .237/.340/.433 on the year. The 32-year-old had an incredibly slow start to the year (hitting below .200 up until May 20), but he's steadily gotten more hits to fall over the past month.

Belt (appendicitis) will be activated Saturday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Belt insists he is fully recovered from his appendectomy, but the Giants will activate Pierce Johnson instead Friday to keep their bullpen fresh. Belt owns a .307/.403/.547 batting line and will be in the lineup daily upon his return.

Reyes is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Braves.

Reyes will take a seat Friday as Brandon McCarthy takes the mound for the Braves. The 22-year-old has been better after a rough first couple weeks in the majors, but he still has a 38.1 percent strikeout rate and a .225/.262/.475 slash line with six home runs in 80 at-bats.

Ozuna, who was responsible for both of the Cardinals' runs in a loss to the Padres on Wednesday with his fifth home run of June, now has a seven-game hitting streak and is hitting .400 for the month.

Ozuna seems seriously intent on making up for lost time. He'd started to hear rumblings about his lack of power as May came to a close and he still only had three homers on his ledger. The slugging outfielder has hit safely in 11 of his 12 games this month, racking up six multi-hit efforts in the process. One of the keys has been Ozuna's ability to consistently put the ball in the air with plenty of velocity and distance, which has been evidenced by his 26.3 percent HR/FB rate and 54.8 percent hard contact rate over his last 49 plate appearances.

McCutchen went 3-for-7 with a two-run home run and two runs scored Thursday in the Giants' 16-inning victory over the Marlins.

Cutch left the yard on a first-inning hanging breaking ball from Dan Straily, launching it into the left field stands. He also cleared the fences Wednesday and has done so five times in his past 11 games. In that stretch, he's 18-or-49 (.367) with 12 RBI and 11 runs scored. McCutchen looks like he's firmly curing his early-season power woes.

Belt (appendicitis) could return as early as Friday, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Manager Bruce Bochy recently stated that Belt would return during the Giants' upcoming homestand, which begins Monday and runs through June 28. However, with Evan Longoria set to miss extended time after suffering a fractured fifth metacarpal during Thursday's game, the Giants may choose to bring Belt back sooner than originally planned. Nothing has been confirmed at this point, and the Giants may still choose to play it safe and stick with their plan to send the first baseman on a rehab assignment before bringing him back.