MLB Player News

For just the third time this season, Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson is not in the starting lineup. Pederson has been slumping lately at the plate, hitting just .154 with seven punchouts in his last seven games. So manager Don Mattingly has decided to give the youngster a rest for Saturday's matchup with the Rockies.

Enrique Hernandez will fill in at center field and bat leadoff on Saturday. 

Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner drove in two runs on Friday, leading his team to a 6-4 victory over the Rockies.

Turner singled in the opening frame and ripped a two-run double off Colorado starter Eddie Butler in the second inning. He finished 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored and two RBI. He is hitting .302 on the year, with five homers, 15 RBI and a .380 on-base percentage in 28 games played.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper hit his eighth home run in his last nine games during Friday's 10-0 win over the Padres.

Harper hit the two-run home run off Shawn Kelley in the fourth inning. He finished the game 3 for 4 with two RBI. His 13 home runs lead the National League.

 Harper is now 17 for 32 in his last nine games with 18 RBI. He has raised his batting average from .245 to .317.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton hit two home runs during Friday's 5-3 loss to the Braves.

Stanton hit his first home run in the third inning off Julio Teheran and he connected off Cody Martin in the seventh inning. Both home runs were solo shots. Stanton finished the game 2 for 4 with two RBI.

Stanton is 5 for 11 with three home runs and six RBI in his last three games.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt connected on his first home run of the season during Friday's 10-2 win over the Reds.

"I had forgotten what that feels like," he said, per MLB.com. "It's been a while."

Belt hit the three-run home run in the first inning off Jason Marquis. Belt finished the game 3 for 5 with four RBI. He also hit a double during the game.

He is now hitting .291 on the season. Before Friday's three-hit game, Belt had been 1 for 13 in his last three games.

Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning to help send Friday's game with the Cubs into extra innings. 

McCutchen reached base five times, going 2 for 4 with three walks. He's now hitting .238 with four home runs and 22 RBI.

Left fielder Corey Dickerson was not in the Rockies lineup for Friday's game, just the fourth time this season he'll miss a start. 

Charlie Blackmon moves over from center field, playing left for the second time this season. Drew Stubbs gets his ninth start in center, replacing Blackmon. 

Would the Dodgers consider shopping third baseman Juan Uribe? It may not be out of the question, once new Cuban-import Hector Olivera passes his upcoming physical and finalizes his contract. With Olivera on board, the Dodgers will have a surplus of quality third basemen, with the aformentioned Olivera and Uribe, along with Justin Turner and Alex Guerrero.

As CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman notes, Guerrero can opt-out of his current contract at the end of the season if he is dealt, making a deal unlikely. The Dodgers would like to hang on to Turner thanks to his versatility. So of the quartet, Urbie seems the likliest to be dealt (that's if the Dodgers decide to make any deals).

Uribe, who is batting .247 in a part-time role in 2015, is scheduled to be a free agent after the season, so any team looking for a short-term piece at third base could look to the Dodgers for a possible fit. 

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper is one of the hottest hitters in the game through the early portion of the season, leading the majors in walks (30) and runs (29), and ranking second in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (1.119), home runs (12) and RBI (31).

Washington hitting coach Rick Schu said he's never seen a run like Harper in his 34 years in baseball. Yet somehow, the 22-year-old Harper doesn't appear to be too surprised by his red-hot power surge to start the season, per the Washington Post.

"I've done it before," Harper said. "I'm not saying that to be cocky at all, but I'm saying that I want to do that again. I don't want that to be the last time I do it.

"This is what I was like in high school and college," Harper said. "That’s what people don’t understand. I was healthy. Staying healthy is what I need to do. This is the type of player I need to be and the type of player I want to be. Everybody talks about how I'm doing this different or I'm doing that different. There's nothing different. It's staying healthy and staying in the lineup. Truly.

" ... I know it is way different here than in college and high school but if you look at all the stats I had in college and high school, they were absurd because I was in the lineup every single day. I played every day. I played year-round. I had the reps, I had the stuff, and I was never hurt. I was never hurt at all."

Harper had two four-homer games while at the College of Southern Nevada, where he hit 31 homers in one 66-game season in 2010. Harper notched his first three-homer game earlier in May, and is hitting .500 (14 for 28) with 12 runs scored, three doubles, seven homers, 16 RBI and seven walks over his last eight games played.

He's also showing more patience at the plate. Last season he drew 38 walks in 395 plate appearances (100 games). This season he has an MLB-best 33 walks in 156 plate appearances (36 games).

Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen is back in the starting lineup for Friday's matinee against the Cubs. McCutchen was given a day of rest on Thursday, though he did pinch-hit late in the game.

He is taking his normal place in the No. 3 spot in the lineup, with the hot-hitting Jung Ho Kang moving up to the fifth spot in the order for the first time this season.