MLB Player News

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.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is hitting second Thursday.

Harper's spot in the batting order has been the topic of discussion in Washington thus far. In the first two games, Harper batted lower in the lineup, which caused a bit of a stir. For game three, he's penciled into the two-spot. He's also able to play in his second consecutive game after taking a knee to the head Monday. Harper will take on Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler. 

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton belted his first home run of the season Wednesday against the Rockies. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Stanton took a 92 mph heater from Jordan Lyles out to the opposite field for a two-run blast. He finished the game strong, walking in the eighth, and hitting a RBI single in the ninth. Stanton finished 2 for 4, with 3 RBI during the game. He's gotten off to a nice start, collecting four hits in his first three games this season.

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is on the field for pregame warmups Wednesday, meaning that he likely passed concussion-symptom testing during batting practice, Comcast SportsNet Washington reports.

Harper was closely monitored by the team during batting practice after getting into a collision running the bases in Monday's debut. He passes two concussion tests Monday and appears to be fine moving forward.

The Giants' Brandon Belt was one of my preseason breakout picks, so I wouldn't dare discount what he's already accomplished this season, hitting two home runs in two games. I'm especially encouraged by the one he hit off left-hander Wade Miley Tuesday considering he hit only three off lefties last season.

But the real test will come when he returns home to AT&T Park, where he hit only six of his 17 home runs last season. We already know he can slug it on the road. With the technology available to us in these modern times, we can surmise that only one of his two home runs so far in 2014 would have left AT&T Park, the other thwarted by that dastardly gap in right-center field.

Of course, in his last 200 at-bats, both home and away, Belt has nine home runs, which would put him on pace for more than 25 over a full season. And 25 for a player capable of hitting .300 is a big deal in and of itself. I mean, that's Freddie Freeman territory, provided he's playing every day.

So in a roundabout way, I guess I'm saying I'm encouraged by Belt's strong start, but I don't consider it validation just yet. Then again, I wouldn't be shy about acquiring him if the right offer came along. The floor for him seems pretty high.