MLB Player News

Cespedes is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Cespedes has been hot at the plate recently -- collecting eight hits over his last three contests -- but he'll get the day off after starting 20 of New York's first 21 games in August. The Mets will send out an outfield trio of Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto and Juan Lagares in his absence.

Carpenter is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Padres.

Since the beginning of August, Carpenter has posted a bleak .197 batting average. However, he's still been finding ways to get on base, as he's put together a .384 on-base percentage in that time. He'll get the night off while Jedd Gyorko covers first base.

Turner is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Pirates, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Turner's performance Tuesday was out of character, as he went 0-for-5 at the plate. He'll be withheld from the lineup Wednesday for the first time since Aug. 2 while Logan Forsythe fills in at the hot corner and Chase Utley heads to second base.

Belt (concussion) is still 2-to-3 weeks away from being activated from the disabled list, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Belt has yet to make much progress recovering from a concussion that landed him on the disabled list on Aug. 5. With Belt out for the foreseeable future, Ryder Jones is in line to receive regular starts at first base for the Giants.

Harper has seen improvement in his bruised knee and was walking with less of a limp Tuesday but isn't ready to resume baseball activities, Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post reports.

Until he's able to begin doing agility drills and swing a bat, there won't be any sort of concrete timetable for Harper's return to action. Given the Nats' big lead in the National League East, they have no reason to rush their star right fielder back, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see him back in the lineup sometime in September -- with just enough time to shake off any rust before the playoffs begin.

Osuna homered in each half of Tuesday's doubleheader sweep of the Phillies, going a combined 3-for-8 with two walks, three runs scored and four RBI over both games.

He now sports a .300/.390/.529 slash line in August with five home runs, 11 runs and 16 RBI in 19 games. Ozuna's breakout shows no signs of fading, and his ability to keep slugging and offering support for Giancarlo Stanton will go a long way towards determining whether the Marlins stay afloat in the NL wild-card chase.

Martinez went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer against the Mets on Tuesday.

He started the Diamondbacks off on the right foot with the first-inning blast against fill-in starter Tommy Milone, though Martinez proceeded to strike out in two of his three remaining at-bats. While the slugger's hitting just .233 since coming over to Arizona before the trade deadline, his power certainly hasn't suffered -- this marks his 10th homer in 29 games with his new club -- and the average will surely improve in due time.

Cespedes knocked three singles, drew a walk and scored a run over the course of four plate appearances Tuesday against Arizona.

He's put together a lovely four-game stretch, racking up nine hits in 15 at-bats (.600), and while Cespedes' power stroke didn't make an appearance in this one, he's been recovering on that front as well after a 33-game span from late June into early August saw him homer just twice. We've seen Cespedes explode down the stretch before, and while he might not be quite so motivated this time with the Mets not jockeying for playoff position, a strong end run would make his fantasy owners feel better about the Cuban's injury-shortened 2017 campaign.

Stanton went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run in Sunday's win over the Mets.

His seventh-inning shot off Jacob deGrom proved to be crucial and provided the Marlins with insurance runs they would need after the Mets answered back with three runs in the eighth. Stanton now has a league-leading 45 homers on the year, including an incredible 12 in 18 games thus far in August.

Cespedes went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two RBI and two runs in Sunday's loss to the Marlins.

Six of his 16 homers on the season have come in August as Cespedes has been trying to make up for the time he lost to injury earlier in the year. Expect the 31-year-old to continue providing big numbers over the final weeks of 2017.