MLB Player News

Pederson (groin) is scheduled to begin a minor-league rehab assignment Monday, David Vassegh of 570 LA Sports reports.

This will mark Pederson's first game action since landing on the disabled list last week. If all goes well with his rehab assignment, the Dodgers are optimistic the 25-year-old will be able to rejoin them for this weekend's series in San Diego.

Belt is not in the lineup Monday against the Dodgers, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

With Clayton Kershaw headed to the mound for the Dodgers, Belt will head to the bench as Mike Morse fills in at first base while Gorkys Hernandez takes over in left field. This comes as no surprise, given that Belt is just 3-for-51 (.059) with 27 strikeouts in his career against Kershaw.

Harper went 2-for-4 with two walks, a solo home run and four runs scored in Sunday's 23-5 rout of the Mets.

He crossed the plate an incredible 32 times in April, setting a new MLB record for that particular month by shattering the previous mark of 29 set in 1997 by Larry Walker. Harper's nine homers, 26 RBI and .391/.509/.772 slash line are pretty good, too. With the Nats' offense firing on all cylinders right now, expect the 2015 NL MVP to continue piling up stats.

Turner went 3-for-4 with his 11th double of the season in Sunday's 5-3 win over the Phillies.

Turner's hitting streak is up to a career-high 16 games now, and all he's done in the season's first month is hit. He's up to a .404 average with one homer and 12 RBI in 99 plate appearances and has already recorded four three-hit games in the first month. Although the power numbers aren't there yet, Turner looks completely healthy after offseason knee surgery.

Belt went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Padres.

Belt has been one of the better hitters in San Francisco's struggling lineup to begin the season, but his slash line is now down to .250/.373/.467. The left-handed slugger was facing a left-handed pitcher, so we'll give him a pass here. He has the ability to reach the 20-homer mark for the first time in his career if he can loft more balls in the air. Consider him a lower-tier corner infielder in most deep mixed affairs.

Carpenter went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a run and three RBI during Sunday's loss to Cincinnati.

With nine RBI through his past four games, Carpenter is doing his best to put his quiet start to the season behind him. Additionally, moving to the heart of the Cardinals order should provide the veteran a shot at posting a career-high mark in the RBI column without sacrificing too many runs.

Pederson (groin) will begin a rehab assignment with High-A Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday or Thursday and will likely be activated from the 10-day disabled list Friday, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group reports.

It appears Pederson won't have to miss more than the required 10 days following his groin injury that landed him on the DL on April 24. So long as he suffers no setbacks during his minor-league rehab assignment, he'll be activated prior to Friday's game against the Padres.

Turner is not in the starting lineup Saturday against the Phillies, Eric Stephen of True Blue LA reports.

It appears to be a routine day off for Turner, who has started the last eight games for the Dodgers. The third baseman is off to a great start on the season, batting .381 with 10 RBI and a .947 OPS. Chris Taylor will start at the hot corner in his absence.

Turner went 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBI in Friday's win over the Phillies.

The red-hot third baseman extended his current hitting streak to 14 games, raising his batting average to .381 in the process. It's even more impressive when you consider that he suffered a hand injury during the streak, but returned and didn't skip a beat. Turner has yet to hit a home run this season, but his 10 doubles have kept his slugging percentage (.500) slightly above last year's mark (.493) when he hit a career-high 27 homers. While he may not reach that figure again this season, the home runs will surely be on their way as long as he continues to make hard contact 30.7 percent of the time.

Cespedes' hamstring strain is not considered serious and the Mets are hopeful that he will be able to return when first eligible on May 8, James Wagner of The New York Times reports.

General manager Sandy Alderson did not provide the grade of Cespedes' hamstring strain, but he said the ultrasound did not reveal any significant damage. While it is encouraging to hear that Cespedes may only miss 10 days, each ensuing hamstring injury further solidifies the fact that this is something that may plague him at times throughout the rest of his career. Michael Conforto figures to start almost every day in left field while Cespedes is out.