MLB Player News

Harper was removed from Thursday's contest due to groin tightness, Dan Kolko of MASN reports.

The young superstar was lifted from the game in the seventh inning in favor of Chris Heisey, and although it wasn't revealed at the time, the Nationals seemed to just be playing things safely with Harper while they held the lead. Consider Harper day-to-day for now, with more details on his availability moving forward likely coming as Friday's start time approaches.

Harper was lifted prematurely from Thursday's game against the Diamondbacks, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports.

It's currently unclear what forced Harper out of the game after just seven innings. He was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run before Chris Heisey took over for him in right field. More should be known about his status after the game.

Cespedes (hamstring) could miss a longer period of time than initially hinted, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports.

It's a bit of guesswork on Heyman's part, but he is often tuned in to such things, especially in his native New York market. Though he's rehabbing at the Mets' Port St. Lucie camp, Cespedes told him "this one hurts" around when the injury first occurred. Per Heyman, it was a bit of a departure from how Cespedes typically responds to questions about physical issues. Cespedes' fantasy owners may be without the stud slugger for at least another few weeks, but more information should be relayed in the near future. Of course, given the negativity surrounding this team's medical staff recently, it may be a convoluted process.

Ozuna went 2-for-4 with a walk and a solo home run in Wednesday's win over the Rays.

The fourth-inning blast was the second longest homer ever clubbed at Tropicana Field, hitting the Rays' 2011 wild card banner hanging high above the second deck in left-center. Ozuna now has eight home runs and 23 RBI in 26 games to go along with a cool .300/.360/.570 slash line.

Blackmon went 2-for-5 with an RBI double, another two-bagger and two runs in Wednesday's 11-3 win over the Padres.

The productive leadoff man was at it again Wednesday, posting his third multi-hit effort in the last four games and vaulting his average back over .300 in the process. Outside of a forgettable 0-for-6 day against the Diamondbacks on Sunday, Blackmon has hit safely in 16 other games since April 14, while his 25 RBI lead the Rockies and are fourth-most in the NL.

Pederson (groin) will be activated from the disabled list Friday, MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports.

Pederson's groin injury was never considered serious, so he will be activated prior to Friday's matchup against the Padres. Owners will want to make sure the young slugger is in their lineup for what should be a good matchup against the right-handed Jhoulys Chacin.

McCutchen went 1-for-5 with a two-run homer Wednesday, accounting for all the Pirates' runs in a 4-2 loss to Cincinnati.

McCutchen is a remarkable case of consistency not adding up to significant potency, as he's now reached base safely in 22 straight games, and yet he's hitting just .256 in that span (and .235 for the year). That said, he's walking plentifully and all five of his home runs have come in the course of this streak. McCutchen's BABIP is awfully depressed at .240 right now, and even if it rebounds only to somewhere around last season's .297 rather than his career .330 mark, that'll return his average into more-than-respectable territory. His speed has faded, so its important for McCutchen to hit for average to differentiate himself from the crowd of outfielders with 25-homer pop.

Torrens is 1-for-12 with one RBI and four strikeouts in 13 plate appearances this season.

Torrens has only started one game and is the third catcher on the roster behind Austin Hedges and Hector Sanchez. He has entered as a pinch-hitter 10 other times, but has not excelled in those situations. Barring an injury to Hedges or Sanchez, or a sudden explosion at the plate, it's likely Torrens will remain in his current role.

Carpenter went 2-for-4 with a double and a run in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Brewers.

Carpenter is now 5-for-11 with three doubles, a home run, four RBI, three runs and a pair of walks over a modest but encouraging three-game hitting streak. The 31-year-old is sporting a 16.5 percent walk rate that's his highest since his initial 19-plate appearance big-league cup of coffee in 2011, but is striking out at a career-high 23.7 percent clip while making contact a career-low 71 percent of the time.

Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's loss to the Rays.

The homer was his first in eight games, giving him seven on the year, and Ozuna is starting to heat up again, reaching base eight times in his last four contests to push his slash line back up to .293/.353/.554. The 26-year-old is well on his way to a breakout season.