MLB Player News

Buxton will sit Saturday against Arizona, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Buxton has avoided the injured list all season, though it's taken frequent rests for that to happen. He'll sit here after starting five consecutive games, the second-longest run of starts he's had all year. Nick Gordon (hamstring) will get the start in center field.

Mercedes was claimed off waivers by the Giants on Saturday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Mercedes made a brief splash at the start of last season as a 28-year-old rookie, but his overall .271/.328/.404 slash line in 68 games was merely good for a 101 wRC+, a number which isn't good enough for a player who shouldn't feature anywhere other than designated hitter. He's spent all of this season with Triple-A Charlotte, where he's hit .230/.376/.425 in 25 games. The Giants are quite good at building a roster that gets the most out of a set of imperfect players, but whether or not they'll eventually carve out a meaningful role for Mercedes remains to be seen.

Vogelbach will sit Saturday against the Giants.

Vogelbach hits the bench against lefty Alex Wood, though he'd started against three of the previous four left-handers the Pirates faced, so it's not clear that he's slipping back into a platoon role. Michael Chavis will serve as the designated hitter Saturday, with Yu Chang taking Chavis' usual spot at first base.

McCutchen isn't starting Saturday's game against the Reds.

McCutchen will get a rare day off after he went 4-for-9 with three runs, an RBI, three walks and a strikeout over the last three games. Christian Yelich will serve as the designated hitter while Jonathan Davis enters the lineup in center field.

Harper will sit Saturday against the Nationals due to an infected blister on his left hand, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Harper finds himself on the bench for the second game in a row, as he sat for the nightcap of Friday's doubleheader. That may have been a scheduled game off, but Saturday's absence doesn't seem to have been planned. The issue apparently flared up overnight, so Harper will sit for at least one game while taking antibiotics to treat the issue. The Phillies have an off day Monday, so it's possible he sits Sunday as well in order to get three straight days to heal. Nick Castellanos will take his designated hitter spot while Matt Vierling starts in right field.

Winker will sit for the first half of Saturday's doubleheader against the Angels,.

The Mariners will likely give many of their regulars a rest in one of the day's two games. The Angels are sending out southpaws (Patrick Sandoval and Jose Suarez) in both contests, so it likely didn't matter much which game Winker would sit for. Dylan Moore will take over in left field.

Pederson is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Pirates, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Pederson started in the last four games and went 3-for-10 with a homer, two runs, two RBI, two walks and four strikeouts. However, Luis Gonzalez will shift to left field while Darin Ruf starts in right against southpaw Jose Quintana.

Belt isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Pittsburgh, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Belt went 3-for-6 with a solo home run, a double, two walks and a strikeout over the last three games but will retreat to the bench with left-hander Jose Quintana on the mound for the Pirates on Saturday. Wilmer Flores is starting at first base and batting second.

Stanton isn't in the lineup Saturday against the Blue Jays.

Stanton started in the last seven games and hit .182 with two homers, a double, six runs, six RBI, seven walks and two strikeouts. He'll get a breather while Aaron Judge serves as the designated hitter with Marwin Gonzalez entering the lineup in right field.

Blackmon went 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, two runs scored and a walk in Friday's victory over the Padres.

Blackmon's two RBI came on a triple in the first inning, where he sent Yonathan Daza to the plate and a sixth-inning single that scored Connor Joe. The veteran outfielder picked up two runs of his own, both of which came thanks to C.J. Cron homers. Blackmon has been swinging a hot bat lately, picking up a hit in 10 of his last 11 games, including six multi-hit games. Although his season batting average sits at .267, Blackmon is slashing .329/.365/.543 in June.