MLB Player News

Mariners infield prospect Brad Miller has been thriving since his promotion to Triple-A Tacoma. Miller has a .368/.422/.596/1.018 slash line through 13 games since being promoted from Double-A Jackson.

He also has one triple, two doubles, three home runs and 17 RBI for Tacoma. In 55 games, Miller is batting .314 with a .505 slugging percentage, two triples, nine doubles, nine home runs and 42 RBI.

Miller is considered the Mariners' sixth-best prospect by MLB.com.

Marlins manager Mike Redmond said outfielder Marcell Ozuna is expected to move to center field when right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) comes off the disabled list. Stanton could be back in the lineup Monday.

Marlins manager Mike Redmond said outfielder Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) could be back Monday because first baseman Casey Kotchman is unavailable due to sore ribs. Stanton is 0 for 12 with four strikeouts through four rehab games for Class A Jupiter.

Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna collected three hits Saturday against the Mets, producing multiple hits for the third time in five games. Ozuna has hit safely in 21 of his last 24 games, batting .337 (32 for 95).

He also has two triples, seven doubles, 11 RBI and 12 runs in his last 24 games. However, hasn't homered since hitting his first career home run May 4. Ozuna's home run drought has reached 30 games.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Sunday the team has "no worry" about outfielder Bryce Harper, who won't be able to come off the disabled list after a minimum stay because of a knee injury. He will visit with Dr. James Andrews Monday, but Rizzo said that's standard protocol to receive a second opinion, according to MASNsports.com.

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is a little behind in his rehab due to rainouts and likely won't return to the Miami roster until Tuesday or Wednesday, the Palm Beach Post reports Saturday. 

Stanton began his rehab assignment for a hamstring strain Tuesday and has gone 0 for 6 in his first two games with Class A Jupiter. He hit .227 with three homers and nine RBI before the injury.

Marlins manager Mike Redmond said Friday there is a possibility Giancarlo Stanton will be activated from the disabled list before Monday's game at home against the Brewers, according to The Palm Beach Post.

"He is moving around great in the outfield," Redmond said.

Stanton began his rehab assignment Tuesday and has gone 0 for 6 in his first two games with Class A Jupiter. He hit .227 with three homers and nine RBI before the injury.

With another two hits and a homer Thursday, the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter now ranks second among all second basemen in standard Head-to-Head leagues, ahead of consensus first-rounder Robinson Cano. He's batting .446 with a 1.160 OPS during a 15-game hitting streak and .335 with a .908 OPS overall.

If you're the beneficiary in your league, I know what you're thinking: He can't be this good, can he? You may put on a brave face and drop a few I-told-you-sos on the message board, but deep down, you're wondering if now is the time to deal him.

I'd stay the course. True, a .330 batting average is an unreasonable expectation for a player who's never done it before, and no, I don't expect Carpenter to finish the year ahead of Cano. But nothing he's doing is out of character for him. He's not coming off an unprecedented power surge. He doesn't have a disproportionate number of walks or an unrealistic number of stolen bases. He's just taking his pitches, making consistent contact and driving the ball into the gaps. It's what he does.

Whenever you catch a player at the tail end of a hot streak, you can expect his numbers to regress, but Carpenter's won't regress enough that you'll regret holding on to him.

Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes homered twice Thursday against the White Sox, the second time in the last three games he has done so.

Cespedes hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and another in the sixth, his only two hits in the game. He finished 2 for 4 in a 5-4 win in 10 innings.

Cespedes now has 13 home runs on the season, good for seventh in the American League. He has already homered four times in six June games after hitting five in May and four in April. 

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is set to visit Dr. James Andrews Monday to get a second opinion on his knee, as the swelling and inflammation haven't improved.

As a result, Harper is unlikely to come off the disabled list June 11, when he is first eligible, according to Nationals manager Davey Johnson.

"He's probably not going to be available to come off when he's supposed to come off," manager Davey Johnson told the Washington Times Thursday. "We haven’t been real successful with our treatment here. He constantly gets treatment here, but we've got to get that inflammation out of there."

Harper has tried to run in a pool, and even that low-impact workout caused the swelling to worsen, prompting the decision for a second opinion.

The initial diagnosis is that Harper has no structural damage in his knee, just a swollen bursa sac. The team continues to maintain that a surgical repair would be a "last resort," and Harper has said that he will not consider a cortisone shot in the knee.

"I don't want to put any of that stuff in my knee, in my body," Harper said. "I think that that would do some damage to my knee and I’m not going to do that at 20 years old."