MLB Player News

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has been scorching hot to start the season, a trend his continued Tuesday in a 7-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Belt opened the game with his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot to give the Giants a lead they would never relinquish. He ultimately went 2 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored in the win.

Belt is hitting .343 through eight games, with five of his 12 hits going over the wall. He has driven in nine runs and scored nine more, though he has yet to walk while striking out 10 times. 

Considering he was owned in just 2 percent of leagues to begin the season, Charlie Blackmon was about the last player you'd expect to lead all hitters in Head-to-Head scoring in Fantasy Week 1 (March 30-April 6). But lead them he did, so now here we all are trying to make sense of it.

During his brief stints in the majors and throughout his minor-league career, one thing he's always been able to do is hit for average. He created some skeptics with his poor plate discipline last year, but it was a bit out of character for him, as he's shown by striking out only once so far this year. Even if he never walks a ton, his batting average should allow him to score a decent number of runs batting atop the Rockies lineup, and 20-25 steals are perfectly attainable for him in a table-setter role. Though nobody considers him a power hitter, he performed on about a 35-double, 12-homer pace in 82 major-league games last year, which was in line with his minor-league norms.

I don't think he's the kind of player you'll start every week and wouldn't stress about clearing roster space for him in shallower Head-to-Head points leagues, but trading off some of the speed for a little more power, I could see him contributing at about the same level as Brett Gardner, which would make him a clear-cut mixed leaguer. Just because you wanted Corey Dickerson to beat him out this spring doesn't mean he isn't valuable in his own right.

Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg did not have an update Tuesday on the status of outfielder/first baseman Darin Ruf, who is on the disabled list with an oblique injury. Ruf remains at the team's spring complex in Florida.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is off to a torrid start, batting .345 with two home runs, three doubles and 12 RBI in seven games.

Stanton has been among the best power-hitting outfielders in the majors for a few years, but Marlins manager Mike Redmond went on MLB Network Radio Tuesday morning to explain why Stanton is locked in offensively at the beginning of the season.

"He's really confident right now, but he doesn't feel the pressure to do everything. Now we have guys that can help him," Redmond said.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt continued his torrid start to the season with a solo home run off Zack Greinke in a 6-2 defeat to the Dodgers on Sunday.

Belt took Greinke deep in the sixth inning for his fourth home run of the season. He added a single and finished 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. He is hitting .323 (10 for 31) with four homers and seven RBI in his first seven games.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is not in the team's starting lineup Sunday.

Harper will get a rest after collecting three hits in 21 at-bats to open the year. He expressed his frustrations following the team's Saturday night loss to the Braves. Harper should return to action Monday.

Second baseman Matt Carpenter was pretty much the entire Cardinals offense Friday against Pittsburgh.

Carpenter drove in both runs with a home run in the fifth inning against Pirates starter Gerrit Cole. He had already led off the game with a single and finished with two of his team's six hits to elevate his batting average for the season to .286.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen drove in two runs Friday against the Cardinals.

McCutchen didn't get things going until the bottom of the sixth inning. He singled off Shelby Miller after a four-pitch at-bat. In the bottom of the eighth, McCutchen hit a triple, which plated both of his RBI.

McCutchen finished the contest 2 for 5, with 1 run scored and 2 RBI.

Though Rockies manager Walt Weiss told MLB.com he is still planning on rotating his various outfield options in and out of the lineup, that was before Charlie Blackmon's huge performance Friday against the Diamondbacks.

Blackmon made his third start in five chances and made the most of it, going 6 for 6 with five runs driven in and four scores in a 12-2 win. He had three doubles and a home run, his first of the season.

Blackmon is now hitting .563 though five games, with nine hits, six RBI an four extra-base hits in 16 at-bats, while striking out just once.   

Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler will get a MRI on his injured hamstring, according to ESPN.

Soler left Thursday's game with the injury. He's been assigned to the team's Double-A club in Tennessee to begin the season.