MLB Player News

Carroll will start in center field and bat seventh in Wednesday's game in St. Louis.

The struggling Carroll received a day off in Tuesday's 14-1 win over the Cardinals while St. Louis started lefty Steven Matz, but the star outfielder will check back into the starting nine in the bottom third of the order Wednesday versus right-hander Kyle Gibson. It's the first time this season that the 23-year-old hasn't hit first or second for Arizona. Carroll takes season-long .215/.324/.269 slash line into play Wednesday.

Alexander (hamstring) will start at shortstop and bat second in Wednesday's game against the Cardinals.

Alexander didn't play in either of Arizona's last two contests after leaving Sunday's 5-3 win over the Giants with right hamstring cramping, but he'll be back in action for the series finale in St. Louis. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo will tinker with his lineup and move Alexander up to the two hole after the rookie had batted no higher than sixth in any of his previous 13 starts.

Sanchez went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 2-1 loss to the Pirates.

Sanchez was responsible for the Brewers' lone run Tuesday with a 432-foot blast off Bailey Falter to lead off the eighth inning. It's the second long ball of the year for Sanchez -- the 31-year-old backstop has primarily served as a bench option in the early going, backing up William Contreras with Rhys Hoskins serving as Milwaukee's primary DH. Sanchez is slashing just .167/.211/.361 with three RBI and two runs scored through his first 38 plate appearances.

McCutchen went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Tuesday against the Brewers.

McCutchen has hit atop the Pirates' order in consecutive games and has led off each contest with a homer. He now has three long balls on the season and is potentially getting out of a slump that resulted in him hitting just .173 across his first 14 games of the campaign. It's unclear whether McCutchen has taken over leadoff duties for good, but the Pirates have shifted Oneil Cruz down the lineup as a result.

Corbin came away with a no-decision in Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Dodgers, allowing three hits and three walks over 5.1 scoreless innings. He struck out three.

The 34-year-old lefty put together his best performance of the young season, tossing 50 of 86 pitches for strikes and exiting with a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Nationals' bullpen quickly coughed it up. Corbin remains winless in 2024 with an 0-3 record, and his 6.51 ERA, 1.81 WHIP and 18:11 K:BB through 27.2 innings don't offer much fantasy appeal even as a streaming option. He'll try to keep building momentum in his next start, which lines up to come this weekend in Miami.

Hernandez went 1-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and a stolen base in Tuesday's 4-1 win over the Nationals.

The veteran outfielder crossed the plate multiple times for the first time in April, while the steal was his second of 2024. Hernandez got off to a quick start to his Dodgers tenure but has cooled down of late, slashing .226/.328/.321 over his last 15 games with only one homer, five RBI, seven runs and a 32.8 percent strikeout rate.

Phillips gave up a hit and three walks in a scoreless ninth inning Tuesday to record his sixth save of the season in a 4-1 win over the Nationals. He struck out two.

The right-hander threw only 16 of 32 pitches for strikes in a shaky appearance, but Phillips got a bit lucky when Luis Garcia was caught in a rundown between third base and home plate rather than scoring on a CJ Abrams single. Phillips then erased a bases-loaded jam by fanning Jesse Winker to end the game. The Dodgers' closer had issued only one free pass in his first 8.2 innings this season, so the sudden control issues aren't a concern just yet. Phillips has yet to blow a save chance in 2024 while posting a 0.93 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 11:4 K:BB through 10 appearances.

Paxton came away with a no-decision in Tuesday's 4-1 win over the Nationals, allowing one run on five hits and three walks over 4.2 innings. He struck out only one.

The veteran southpaw needed 89 pitches (52 strikes) to record his 14 outs, but Paxton wouldn't have gotten a win even if he had completed five innings as the Dodgers didn't take the lead until the eighth. He's issued at least three free passes in three of his four starts so far in 2024, and while his 2.61 ERA looks good on the surface, Paxton's 1.55 WHIP and 11:17 K:BB through 20.2 innings are very worrying. He'll try to sharpen his control in his next outing, a homecoming of sorts for Big Maple this weekend in Toronto.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said after Tuesday's 14-1 win over the Cardinals that he expects Kelly (shoulder) to miss at least one month after landing on the 15-day injured list, Theo Mackie of The Arizona Republic reports. "We're not looking in terms of weeks as what we had hoped for," Lovullo said of Kelly's timetable for a return from a teres major strain in his right shoulder. "So I think the next step up is a month, more than that."

Kelly had rolled to a 2-0 record, 2.19 ERA and 0.93 WHIP over 24.2 innings through his first four starts of the season before he was scratched ahead of his most recent turn in the rotation this past Sunday against the Giants upon experiencing shoulder discomfort during a throwing session. He was sent in for two MRIs in recent days, and although both confirmed that Kelly had sustained a teres major strain, Lovullo noted that the Diamondbacks don't yet know if the strain is of the Grade 1, 2 or 3 variety. Lovullo added that Kelly will receive "a couple other opinions" on his injury before a firmer timeline and a treatment method is established, but the skipper said that the right-hander won't need surgery even while the "concern [level] is yet to be determined." In any case, Kelly's fantasy managers can probably feel comfortable ruling him out for all of May, and it could be difficult to justify stashing the 35-year-old if his timeline for a return ultimately gets pushed back further.

Contreras admitted after Tuesday's loss to the Diamondbacks that his left hand "doesn't feel good" but is "nothing that will keep me away from the game," Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Contreras missed four games earlier this month with an injury that was suffered back on April 3. He homered in his first plate appearance for the Cardinals' lone run Tuesday before eventually exiting after the fifth inning in the blowout loss. Manager Oliver Marmol said the lopsided score was the bigger reason for Contreras' departure, and the catcher seems adamant that he will continue to play through the injury. Contreras is slashing .326/.426/.500 in 13 games since getting hurt, so while it's clear he's not 100 percent, it does not appear to be affecting his offensive performance.