MLB Player News

Belt (appendicitis) will begin taking swings Monday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Belt has been out since June 2 after undergoing an appendectomy. If he's able to take swings without any pain, it's reasonable to expect him to rejoin the Giants shortly thereafter. We should receive an update on his condition following Monday's workout.

Carpenter, who went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and two runs in a win over the Reds on Saturday, has five of his homers on the season over his past 18 games entering Sunday.

Carpenter began to awaken offensively a few games prior to that stretch, but he'd still come into a May 21 game against the Royals having left the yard on just three occasions over his first 162 plate appearances (40 games), despite a 44.7 hard-contact percentage. He's managed to boost that already impressive number even further to 54.5 percent over the aforementioned 18-game span, and just as important, he's increased his flyball rate 12.5 points to 56.6 percent. The combination of the two has helped lead to the power surge, and it's also boosted Carpenter's season slugging percentage from a middling .351 to .433.

Ozuna, who went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's win over the Reds, has already doubled his season homer total in the first eight games of June.

Ozuna actually began heating up May 21 with a 2-for-3 effort against the Royals, a game into which he'd limped with a .234 average. That figure has bumped up an impressive 47 points since that contest, but his power numbers finally started taking off in the early going this month. Ozuna had actually been making hard contact at a career-best rate for most of the season, but he'd also been hitting the ball on the ground at a slightly higher clip than prior years as well. The latter trend has been reduced during his early-June tear. Partly by boosting his already-impressive hard contact rate even further to 60.7 percent, he's already knocked three out of the yard over his first 33 plate appearances of the month heading into Sunday.

Turner (wrist) is not in the lineup Sunday against the Braves, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

After missing the past three games with a wrist injury, manager Dave Roberts stated Saturday that the third baseman would be back in the starting lineup Sunday. The skipper has apparently changed his mind and decided to withhold Turner from the lineup in the series finale. Turner will, however, be available to pinch hit and is expected to start Tuesday against the Rangers, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

McCutchen is not in the lineup Sunday against the Nationals, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

McCutchen will be stationed on the bench in what appears to be a routine day of rest for the red-hot right fielder. McCutchen has notched multi-hit performances in five of his last six starts and is slashing an elite .364/.348/.705 over his past 10 games. Mac Williamson starts in right field Sunday with Hunter Pence manning the other corner-outfield spot.

Reyes is not in the lineup Sunday against the Marlins.

Reyes' plus-power has certainly been on display in his first month in the big leagues, as the right fielder has slugged six homers in his first 72 plate appearances. He is, however, striking out in nearly 39 percent of his at-bats and holds a lowly .221 average and .264 on-base percentage. He'll give way to Hunter Renfroe in right field.

Choi was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs on Sunday.

Choi will head back to the minors to make room on the roster for Brandon Woodruff to be recalled to take the mound Sunday against the Phillies. Choi went just 3-for-15 during his recent stint in the majors, but he provided the go-ahead, pinch-hit grand slam in Saturday's win over the Phillies.

Martinez went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 4-2 win over the White Sox.

The back issue that kept him on the bench Friday doesn't appear as though it'll be a long-term concern given Martinez's performance upon his return. His 21 homers put the 30-year-old two ahead of Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Jose Ramirez for the big-league lead.

Choi hit a grand slam in his lone plate appearance against the Phillies on Saturday.

Choi quickly fell behind in the count 0-2 before working it full and the tucking the home run just inside the left-field foul pole. The 27-year-old rejoined the Brewers ahead of their road trip that featured games at the White Sox and Indians, going 2-for-14 with seven strikeouts. Choi is unlikely to remain on the major-league roster for long, with Brandon Woodruff set to be recalled ahead of Sunday's start and Eric Thames (thumb) also nearing a return from the disabled list.

Cespedes (hip) was removed from his rehab game Saturday due to right quad tightness, James Wagner of The New York Times reports.

The Mets are calling it precautionary, but it's concerning nonetheless that Cespedes is experiencing another lower-body issue on just the second day of his rehab assignment. He will be reevaluated Sunday. At the very least, Cespedes will have a few days tacked onto his rehab before returning to the Mets.