MLB Player News

Cespedes is not in the lineup Monday against the Nationals, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

It's Cespedes' first time out of the lineup this season. The 32-year-old has three homers through 14 games, but the rest of his stat line is not living up to his lofty standards. He's striking out 40.6 percent of the time (fifth-highest among qualified players) en route to a .190/.266/.362 line. Michael Conforto will slide over to left field in his absence, with Juan Lagares starting in center.

Harper went 1-for-2 with three walks and a solo home run in Sunday's 6-5 loss to the Rockies.

Tyler Anderson gave him one hittable pitch in the first inning, and the Rockies were careful not to make that mistake again for the rest of the game. Harper leads the majors with seven homers through 16 games, and his 14 RBI and 15 runs are even more impressive considering how often he's been pitched around -- he also leads MLB with 20 free passes.

Carpenter went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in a 3-2 win over the Reds on Sunday.

Carpenter's early season contact issues continued Sunday, as he posted his sixth multi-strikeout game over the last eight. He's whiffed at least once in 11 of the last 12 contests overall, as well, leading to a 28.8 percent strikeout rate over his first 66 plate appearances. Given the relatively small sample, the fact that Carpenter has never posted a strikeout rate higher than 22.7 percent in his career and his unsustainably low .194 BABIP, the 32-year-old infielder's fortunes at the plate are bound to turn around soon, although to what extent remains to be seen.

Ozuna is not in the lineup Sunday against the Reds.

Ozuna went hitless Saturday for the first time since March 31, and his average currently sits at a solid .288 mark. He's knocked two homers and driven in 10 runs but has surprisingly only walked once this season after posting a 9.4 percent walk rate in 2017. With Ozuna on the bench, Harrison Bader will step in and man left field. The starter should be back in there Monday against the Cubs.

Winker (shoulder) is not in the lineup Sunday against the Cardinals.

Winker's sore right shoulder continues to bother him, so he'll take a seat for a third consecutive game. He remains a day-to-day case moving forward. Phillip Ervin draws the start in right field, batting eighth in his stead.

McCutchen went 1-for-2 with a solo home run and two walks Saturday against the Padres.

McCutchen managed to hit his second home run of the season in the fifth inning off left-handed pitcher Clayton Richard. He has gotten off to a slow start with his new club, now slugging just .357 for the season. He had a similarly slow start last season and rebounded to produce valuable numbers in June and July -- so it isn't time to panic yet.

Blackmon went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer against the Nationals on Saturday but also struck out three times.

The Rockies had trouble getting to Max Scherzer in this one, and outside of the home run, Blackmon was no different. This was his first game since Monday, so the strikeout-heavy performance could be a result of rust at the plate. Regardless, Blackmon now holds a 1.054 OPS on the season. He looks to be a staple around the top portion of the Rockies' lineup, though he could spend the next few days as the three-hitter (rather than leading off) in order to replace the suspended Nolan Arenado.

Turner (wrist) is able to catch soft tosses, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

It's a small sign of progress for Turner, who has been out since mid-March with a broken left wrist. He's able to catch light throws with his left hand, but he's yet to resume swinging, so his return date is likely still several weeks away.

Belt is not in the lineup Saturday against the Padres, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The day off will be Belt's fourth in the team's opening 14 games, leaving him on pace to start 116 times. It appears that the Giants want to give Buster Posey a fair amount of time at first base, as he'll start there for the third time this season Saturday. Belt is hitting well so far this year, with a .270/.400/.405 line through 45 plate appearances. A good deal of that early success is BABIP-related, though, as his BABIP sits at an unsustainable .429.

Ozuna went 2-for-5 with an RBI single and a run in a 5-3 win over the Reds on Friday.

Ozuna's average vaulted over the .300 mark with the multihit effort that extended his hitting streak to 12 games. The stretch covers the entirety of April thus far and also includes an impressive nine RBI. After going hitless over his first two games of the season, Ozuna has proven to be exactly what the Cardinals and fantasy owners were hoping for.