MLB Player News

Manager Andy Green said Saturday that Dickerson (back) could return by mid-June so long as he avoids any setbacks in his rehab, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Dickerson progressed to cardio work and weight lifting last month and recently resumed some baseball activities, although it's not entirely clear what all he's doing at the moment. He was diagnosed with a disc protrusion in his back during spring training, but surgery was deemed unnecessary.

Pederson is not in the lineup Saturday against the Rockies, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports.

With Tyler Anderson, a southpaw, taking the mound for the Rockies, Pederson will head to the bench. The Dodgers will send Enrique Hernandez to center field in Pederson's place. Look for Pederson to return to action for Sunday's series finale against Colorado.

Blackmon isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Dodgers, Jake Shapiro of BSNDenver.com reports.

Blackmon had a great game Friday, as he went 2-for-4 with a triple and a run. However, he'll sit out of Saturday's outing while Gerardo Parra starts in center field. Blackmon will likely return Sunday versus the Dodgers.

Jimenez (shoulder) was assigned to High-A Myrtle Beach and is starting at DH and hitting cleanup Saturday.

The Cubs' top prospect missed the first 35 games of the season with a bone bruise in his right shoulder, but will make his Carolina League debut versus Lynchburg this weekend. Jimenez has huge long-term upside in the batting average and power categories, profiling as a prototypical middle-of-the-order corner outfielder.

Harper agreed to a one-year contract with the Nationals on Saturday worth $21.65 million, Jon Heyman of FanRagSports.com reports.

Harper has been a major catalyst for the Nationals throughout his tenure in the big leagues, so Washington decided to reward him for all his efforts with the biggest contract for an arbitration-eligible player in history. On top of that large sum of money, he'll also get an additional $1 million if he wins the MVP award in 2018. With this out of the way, Harper can focus on continuing to tear apart the league with the 1.213 OPS he's posted this season.

Miller is out of the lineup Saturday against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

He is in a pretty big funk to start the year, hitting .195/.342/.317 with two home runs and three steals in 152 plate appearances. While it is not encouraging to see him benched for the second time in three games, it makes sense to sit the lefty-hitting second baseman against dominant southpaw Chris Sale. Daniel Robertson will start at second base and hit second.

Cespedes (hamstring) has begun limited baseball activities, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.

The Cuban slugger has been out since late April after re-injuring his hamstring running out a double, but it seems like he's making progress in his recovery from that incident. It's unclear when the Mets plan to get him back into game action, but the timing of that step should become clear in the next week or so as Cespedes progresses further.

Martinez is batting sixth and playing right field in his season debut Friday against the Angels.

After rehabbing a foot injury for the first month and a half of the season, Martinez will finally take back over in right field for Detroit. He went just 4-for-23 during his rehab assignment, but he did hit a home run in his final tuneup Thursday. He'll hit sixth for the time being, but he could move up in the order if Justin Upton starts to struggle.

Winker enters play Friday hitting .271/.360/.318 with no homers and no stolen bases. His sort of offensive stat line at Triple-A is incredibly unique, Zach Buchanan from the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

As Buchanan elaborates, Winker's lack of slugging prowess is not ideal given that he's not a plus defender in the outfield either. The presumption going into this season was that Winker would ultimately supplant Scott Schebler in the outfield, but he doesn't appear especially close to that promotion.

Brantley (ankle) is back in the lineup Friday against the Twins.

Brantley injured his ankle last weekend but it seems four full days of rest -- including Thursday's team off day -- provided sufficient maintenance. He is slated to return to left field and the three-hole to face right-hander Ervin Santana, and while Brantley has enjoyed limited success against Santana in the past (8-for-33), he is beating up on right-handed pitching to the tune of a .297/348/.547 line this season.