MLB Player News

Cubs outfield prospect Jorge Soler was benched Sunday for failing to run out two balls during Saturday's game.

Class-A Daytona manager Dave Keller said Soler sat "because within the philosophy and the work ethic that we are trying to create in this organization -- and that we are trying to get our players to understand -- work ethic, energy, determination, playing hard and running hard is part of the whole program."  Soler is expected to return to the team's lineup Monday. 

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen has returned to the club's lineup Monday against the Brewers.

McCutchen has been scuffling to begin the year, hitting just .216/.286/.375 in 88 at-bats. After starting 24 this year, McCutchen was not in the club's lineup Sunday. He'll face Yovani Gallardo Monday. 

After pulling Matt Carpenter for a pinch hitter in the ninth inning Saturday, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Carpenter needs to communicate with him about nicks and bruises, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Carpenter was dealing with some oblique soreness, though downplayed the issue. Matheny saw Carpenter trying to stretch the injury in the on-deck circle, and decided to pull him from the game. Matheny also expressed a desire for Carpenter to be up front with him about minor nicks and bruises, saying he doesn't need to push through anything to keep his roster spot.

Carpenter was able to play Sunday, but did not register a hit. His oblique soreness is not thought to be an issue going forward. 

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter, who left Saturday's game with an oblique injury, endured a quiet performance Sunday afternoon against the Pirates.

Carpenter went 0 for 4 with a strikeout in a 9-0 defeat. He is hitting .375 with two doubles, five runs scored, a home run and an RBI in his last four games played. He is hitting .273 with three home runs and eight RBI in 88 at-bats.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton bashed two homers and finished with four RBI during a 6-4 victory over the Cubs on Sunday. Stanton, who also drew a walk and scored three times, finished 3 for 3 with a two-run homer in the first inning and a solo shot in the eighth.

It was the seventh time in his brief career he has hit multiple homers in a game and gave him three overall -- his season total -- in the past two outings. Stanton, last year's National League slugging leader (.608), waited 65 at-bats before hitting his first homer Saturday.

"It was just a matter of time," manager Mike Redmond said. "This guy is a special player. He's a game-changer."

Exactly one year after making his much-heralded major-league debut, Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper declined to reflect on his early accomplishments that have supported his billing as one of the most enticing prospects in history. Instead, the 20-year-old and reigning NL Rookie of the Year Award winner looked to the future.

"I haven't really thought about it. I'm the type of person that puts everything behind me and just looks ahead," he told MLB.com. "I live for that moment right then and there. Don't look back, try to get better every day, try to be the best that I can and play the game the right way."

No other Nationals player in history has registered as many homers (nine) or RBI (18) as Harper during the month of April. He also entered play Sunday with a .373 batting average, sparking talk that he could become the first 20-year-old since Al Kaline in 1955 to capture the batting title.

"I don't see why not," hitting coach Rick Eckstein said. "I don't always measure success by your batting average, but I measure it by other qualities. Everything that he shows -- he shows the ability and feel for the game and feel for his body in making adjustments."

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter made it into the starting lineup Sunday against the Pirates after leaving Saturday's game with an oblique injury. Carpenter has been heating up at the plate, batting .500 (6 for 12) with one home run, one RBI and two doubles in his last three games.

"I felt good, so I'm back in there," Carpenter said, per MLB.com. "Obviously, I felt something [on Saturday], and it was an awkward swing. I was stretching the rest of the game, but I didn't think it was anything serious. I felt pretty good about it."

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter said he was pulled from the ninth inning of Saturday's game against the Pirates because of an oblique injury, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"It tightened up on me a little bit," Carpenter said. "There in the ninth inning it was more of a precautionary move to make sure, to get me out of there in case I took a swing and it got worse. That's basically it."

Carpenter has been swinging a hot bat after ending a lengthy slump. He's hitting .500 (6 for 12) with one home run, one RBI and two doubles in his last three games after batting .108 (4 for 37) in his previous 10 games.

Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter was removed from Saturday's game against the Pirates after feeling some tightness in his left side. Carpenter felt his left side tighten up on him during his seventh-inning at-bat against reliever Tony Watson.

Carpenter, who was 1 for 4 with a run scored prior to leaving the game, was pulled as he came to bat in the ninth inning. He tried to downplay his injury following the loss.

"Obviously, I've had some history and got hurt with it last year," Carpenter told MLB.com. "I think that was the main thing. They knew that I've had that injury before and they wanted to make sure it wasn't too serious. It was more a precautionary move more than anything else. I went into the training room, checked it out and I think we're going to be fine."

Without much protection in the lineup, Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton has struggled to find a comfort level this season. His strikeout rate is 30.4 percent, his highest since he was a rookie, and he entered play Saturday without a home run before slugging one an estimated 472 feet.

For a player with Stanton's prodigious power, we knew it would not be long until he put one into the seats. Even so, there have been concerns about his approach, given how few hittable pitches he has been seeing. Stanton's line drive rate is 9.8 percent, an indication that he is struggling to square up the ball.

Stanton's career line-drive percentage is 18.0, so we think he will be able to make adjustments and get going. Stanton is the only threat in Miami's lineup, but he is also simply too talented to keep struggling like this no matter how pitchers are approaching him. Fantasy owners got a loud reminder of why they drafted Stanton Saturday, and they simply have to keep riding him until he pulls out of this.