MLB Player News

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.

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter struck out three times in his first three at-bats Thursday in Cleveland. Then he made up for it with one swing in the eighth inning.

"I was able to lay off a couple tough sinkers by (Marc) Rzepczynski and get one up in the zone and put a good swing on it," Carpenter said after the game, per MLB.com.

Carpenter blasted a two-run homer just over the outstretched glove of Michael Bourn in right-center to turn a potential 1-0 loss into a 2-1 lead that stood up. He has six home runs and 23 RBI on the year.

His .612 slugging percentage ranks sixth in the majors.

Attention major-league umpires: If Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper feels you're talking down to him, he'll let you have it. 

In Wednesday's 9-6 win over the Diamondbacks, Harper was tossed after a debatable check swing. Harper felt he checked but umpire Rob Drake called him out on strikes. Harper felt Drake should have checked with the third base umpire about the play. 

“‘You’re gonna have to check it," Harper said he told Drake, according to The Washington Post. "He said, ‘You’re really gonna act like that?’ I didn’t like that comment from him. I don’t like getting talked down to by an umpire. I respect the umpires as much as I can but to tell me I’m going to act like that I gave him a piece of my mind.”

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen is not in Thursday's lineup against the Phillies. More than likely, this is just a day off for the veteran. 

After a cold start in April, McCutchen has seen his batting average rise as he's recorded hits in seven of his last eight games. 

Outfielder Gregory Polanco is back in the lineup and hitting first. First baseman Pedro Alvarez is hitting fifth. Third baseman Jung Ho Kang is hitting sixth and catcher Chris Stewart is batting ninth. 

Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson and shortstop Enrique Hernandez both hit home runs in Wednesday night's 5-4 loss to the Marlins. 

Both hit their home runs in the fifth inning. Hernandez hit a two-run homer and Pederson hit a solo shot. The Dodgers scored three runs in the inning. 

For Pederson, that's his 10th homer of the season. Hernandez hit his first of the year. 

With Charlie Blackmon receiving a night of rest, the Rockies inserted Corey Dickerson in the leadoff spot for Wednesday's contest against the Angels, per the Denver Post.

Dickerson is hitting .313 (31 for 99) with five homers and 16 RBI over 27 games. He will bat leadoff for just the second time this season.

Colorado is an underdog (+155) against Los Angeles in Anaheim.

Pirates slugger Andrew McCutchen had claimed throughout the first month of the season that his problems at the plate were the result of a faulty swing rather than a faulty left knee.

Perhaps he is proving himself right.

McCutchen has finally broken out with 10 hits in his last 26 at-bats, including a two-home homer Tuesday night against Philadelphia. It marked his first home run to center this season.

"I said that when things aren't going well that it has nothing to do with my knee," McCutchen told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "It just had to do with the fact that I wasn't playing like I should be playing. It was just a matter of time. When things get going, they're going to get going."

McCutchen hit .194 in April for only the  second sub-.200 month in his career. His average has crawled up from .185 to .229 since May 5.

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper and manager Matt Williams were both tossed by home plate umpire Rob Drake in the seventh inning of Wednesday's game against Diamondbacks.

Harper was ejected after he struck out on a check-swing to end the top of the seventh. Williams was also tossed after arguing with Drake. Harper doubled in the second inning and finished 1 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout. He is hitting .308 on the season with 12 homers and 31 RBI.