MLB Player News

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.

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.