MLB Player News

Ozuna banged out three singles and a double in five at-bats Thursday against Minnesota, driving in three runs and scoring another.

After cooling off for a while, Ozuna exploded in this series against the sad-sack Twins -- particularly in the last two games, in which he's provided six hits and five RBI. With the Marlins heading to hitter-friendly Arizona and scheduled to miss Zack Greinke, he's got a great chance to keep the hot streak going. The harsh reality that he simply isn't this good will come for him at some point, but until then, we may as well enjoy the ride as he cruises toward a likely spot on the National League All-Star team.

Carpenter exited Thursday's game in the eighth inning with a jammed finger, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

According to Goold, Carpenter jammed a finger during his last at-bat of the game Thursday and manager Mike Matheny was uncertain about his ability to make a throw when the Cardinals took the field for the bottom of the eighth. Greg Garcia came on as Carpenter's replacement at second base. If Carpenter is held out of the lineup for Friday's series opener against the Pirates, Garcia or Jedd Gyorko could take over at second base.

Belt went 1-for-3 with a home run in Wednesday night's 2-1 victory over the Red Sox.

Belt splashed an 0-1 pitch into McCovey Cove for the 69th by a Giants player and first since he did so in September 2014. His blast off a David Price's hanging curveball was Belt's seventh of the season. The first baseman is on pace to challenge the 20-homer mark, a feat he has yet to accomplish in his five MLB seasons.

Ozuna went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI in Wednesday's road loss to Minnesota, ending an eight-game skid in which he'd gone just 2-for-26 (.077).

Even that slump couldn't take too much of the shine off the big stats Ozuna's delivered for the Marlins and fantasy owners this year. That said, there's reason for fantasy owners to exercise caution with -- or even sell high on -- the 25-year-old outfielder. Aside from a slight spike in fly-ball rate (which does lend itself to an increase in homers), there's little in Ozuna's statistical profile to suggest that he's grown into a different player from the one who hit .265/.311/.416 over his first three MLB campaigns. That .365 BABIP will continue falling down to normality, leaving us with more or less the same Ozuna that we've come to know in past seasons.

Pederson is out of the lineup against the Rockies on Wednesday.

Pederson will sit for the second time in this three game series as Scott Van Slyke will start in right field Wednesday. With the Rockies pitching left-hander Chris Rusin, manager Dave Roberts only placed one left-handed hitter (Adrian Gonzalez) in the starting lineup. Pederson will likely be back in the lineup against the Giants on Friday.

Stanton went 0-for-5 with one RBI in his return to the lineup Tuesday.

The slugger's struggles continue as his season line has dropped to .197/.310/.439 through 48 games. The power numbers are passable (12 homers and 28 RBI over 173 at-bats), but it is difficult to characterize Stanton's first two months as anything other than a disappointment. Of course, we've seen him break out of similar slumps in the past with unparalleled hot stretches, so owners need to stay patient and let the perennial All-Star figure things out at the dish. Cutting down on his current 34.5 percent strikeout rate, which easily represents the worst rate of his career, would be a great place to start.

McCutchen went 2-for-8 with a double in Tuesday's twin bill against the Mets. He also struck out four times.

McCutchen is wearing a guard to protect his thumb, but it's obvious he's less than 100 percent at the plate. In a perfect world, the team would rest the center fielder for at least a couple games. Starling Marte's absence from the lineup makes that scenario unlikely, however. McCutchen has struck out two times in each of the last four games and holds a .759 OPS -- the lowest mark of his career.

Turner hit a three-run homer, his fourth, in a 1-for-3 game in Tuesday's win over the Rockies.

It has been looking for much of the season like Tuner's 16 home runs in 2015 were a fluke. Tuesday night's performance doesn't fix that problem, but Turner has shown solid plate discipline (9.7 percent walk rate, 16.1 percent strikeout rate). Power can be streaky, and if he finds a quick hot streak soon, he can return to the form he showed in 2015. But Turner has just a .409 career slugging percentage, and it is probably wishful thinking to believe he can get back to the .490+ level he was at in 2014 and 2015 for the Dodgers.

Blackmon is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Dodgers.

The Rockies are facing lefty rookie Julio Urias on Tuesday, so manager Walt Weiss will use this opportunity to get right-hander Ryan Raburn a start in the outfield. Gerardo Parra will take Blackmon's place in center field Tuesday while DJ LeMahieu moves up to the leadoff spot against Urias.

Stanton is back in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Twins.

After getting the day off for Sunday's series finale against the Mets, Stanton will return to the lineup for Tuesday's tilt in Minnesota. Stanton has faced some difficult struggles at the plate over the last month, slashing .118/.230/.263 with 37 strikeouts in that span, but he'll have an opportunity to break out of that slump when he faces left-hander Pat Dean on Tuesday. Despite his struggles, Stanton is still slashing a more-than-respectable .267/.389/.567 against southpaws on the year.