MLB Player News

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper took batting practice Thursday, according to The Washington Post.

Harper is recovering from thumb surgery. He reportedly looked good during the session, hitting a ball out to left and almost taking another shot to the upper deck in right. Manager Matt Williams has said he expects Harper back July 1.

As expected, Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton did not miss a beat after leaving the game Wednesday with a wrist injury sustained when he collided with the wall trying to make a play. He is in the lineup for the Thursday night clash against the Mets.

Dodgers infielder Justin Turner will not return to the starting lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rockies.

Turner has been out of the starting lineup since last Thursday, though he's been able to pinch hit three times since that day, including Tuesday night. He'll target the team's weekend series against the Padres to rejoin the starting lineup after dealing with a calf injury this week.

Second baseman Matt Carpenter was pretty much the entire offense for the Cardinals in a Wednesday loss to the Mets.

Carpenter set a tone that his teammates did not follow with a home run leading off the first inning. He doubled and scored in the ninth, but St. Louis fell short.

The big game was the first in a while for Carpenter, who was in a 2-for-22 slide heading into the game.

Mike Redmond indicated that he might have kept Giancarlo Stanton in a tighter game Wednesday despite a wrist contusion, but a four-run deficit motivated him to remove his slugger. Stanton had an unfriendly encounter with the outfield wall in the top of the first, though he showed no ill-effects when he slammed a home run in the bottom of the inning for the Marlins.

"I saw him kind of grimace after his first at-bat but then he hit the home run so I wasn't too concerned," Redmond told the Palm Beach Post. "As the game went along and it continued to get a little sore, at that point, being down 5-1, I just wanted to make sure we got him out of there. We need this guy for the long haul. He wanted to stay in but I'm thinking about tomorrow and the next day."

Stanton is all but set to play Thursday.

The removal of Marlins sizzling slugger Giancarlo Stanton from the game Wednesday with a wrist contusion appears to have been merely precautionary. He is expected to return to the lineup Thursday against the Mets, per the Miami Herald.

Stanton slugged a solo home run in the first inning of the loss to the Cubs. He has three homers in his last six games.

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton was removed in the seventh inning of the Wednesday afternoon game against the Cubs with a wrist contision likely sustained when he crashed against the wall in the first trying to snag a Chris Coghlan double.

Stanton, who didn't allow the wrist injury to bother him when he slugged a home run in the bottom of the first, is considered day-to-day.

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter is not in the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the Mets.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Tuesday that he has seen Carpenter fighting fatigue lately, MLB.com reports. Carpenter has started 69 of his team's first 70 games and played three innings in his only other time out of the starting lineup. The major-league leader in plate appearances, Carpenter has hit .283/.373/.370 with two home runs, 25 RBI and two stolen bases in 276 at-bats.

Dodgers infielder Justin Turner remained out of the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the Rockies.

Turner hasn't started since June 12 due to a calf injury, though he's been able to make a couple pinch-hit appearances during that stretch. He has hit .295/.346/.417 with three home runs, 19 RBI and two stolen bases in 139 at-bats.

Nationals manager Matt Williams said outfielder Bryce Harper (thumb) took batting practice Tuesday for the first time since undergoing surgery in late April, per The Washington Post. Williams reiterated July 1 as the best-case scenario for Harper's return.