MLB Player News

Blackmon (groin) will sit for the third straight game Monday against the Padres, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

Blackmon exited Friday's game against the Reds with a mild groin strain and hasn't been in the lineup since, though he did appear off the bench in both weekend contests. That suggests he could return to the lineup soon, but it's Yonathan Daza who will remain the starter Monday.

Belt (side) isn't starting Monday's game against the Reds, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Belt will be out of the lineup for a third straight game as he continues to battle side tightness. He underwent an MRI on Monday that came back clean, and he's considered day-to-day, Kerry Crowley of The San Jose Mercury News reports. Darin Ruf will start at first base and bat fourth.

Pederson isn't starting Monday's game against the Nationals.

Pederson went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Sunday's win over the Tigers. Kris Bryant will start in left field while Matt Duffy starts at third base.

Lewis went 2-for-2 with an RBI single and two walks in a win over Cleveland on Sunday.

Lewis opened the scoring for either side with his timely first-inning knock, extending his on-base streak to four games in the process. The 25-year-old outfielder has quickly boosted his on-base percentage 59 points to .352 during that span, and he owns a .313/.431/.396 slash line over 58 plate appearances in May.

Stanton was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left quadriceps Monday.

Stanton's numbers are as strong as ever this season, as he's hitting .282/.347/.534 with nine homers and an incredible 65.9 percent hard-hit rate, but injuries are unfortunately never very far away for the slugger. He missed the entirety of the weekend series against the Orioles and will now be out for at least another week. Whether or not he'll be able to return after a minimum-length stay remains to be seen, though Stanton's health track record doesn't give much cause for optimism. Miguel Andujar could be the primary beneficiary of his absence, as he's started in the outfield in each of the last two games, with Aaron Judge serving as the designated hitter.

Ohtani went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run and a strikeout in Sunday's 6-5 win over the Red Sox.

Ohtani went hitless in his first four at-bats Sunday, but he blasted a go-ahead home run with two outs in the ninth inning of the contest. Ohtani has gone 4-for-13 with two home runs, a double, three RBI and six strikeouts in the last three games.

McCutchen went 1-for-5 with a solo home run and two strikeouts in Sunday's 10-8 loss to the Blue Jays.

McCutchen went hitless in three at-bats Saturday, but he bounced back with a solo shot in the sixth inning of Sunday's matchup. The 34-year-old is now slashing .223/.352/.400 with six home runs, 18 runs and 17 RBI this year.

Choi went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Sunday's win over the Mets.

Choi spent the first weeks of the season on the injured list and was on the bench Saturday, so this was his 2021 debut, and it couldn't have gone much better. The first baseman should be a regular name in the Rays' lineup going forward as long as he remains healthy, and he will look to bounce back from a poor 2020 season in which he hit only .230 with three homers, 16 RBI and a .741 OPS across 145 plate appearances.

Carpenter is slashing .100/.280/.100 with only two singles and five walks over the 25 plate appearances covering his 12 game appearances in May.

The struggling veteran had shown a burst of life by homering in back-to-back games as a pinch hitter to close out April, but that proved to be just a flash of success that quickly vanished. Carpenter has drawn only four starts during the current month, and with good reason -- he currently seems incapable of snapping out of a funk that dates back to the beginning of the 2020 campaign. Carpenter's .111 BABIP certainly isn't helping, but both a 54.1 percent flyball rate and career-worst 32.5 percent strikeout rate are equal culprits. Ironically, Carpenter's most impressive performance to date in May came on the mound Saturday night against the Padres -- the 35-year-old fired 1.1 scoreless innings during which he allowed just a pair of singles to close out the blowout loss.

Ramirez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 7-3 loss to Seattle.

Ramirez went yard in the ninth inning for Cleveland's last run. The outfielder has one homer, three RBI, four runs scored and three doubles in 32 plate appearances. He's done enough in limited action to begin to carve out playing time, mostly at the expense of Jordan Luplow so far.