MLB Player News

Alvarez (hand) will take batting practice on the field Friday for the first time this spring, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Alvarez has been hitting in the batting cage without issue for several days and is ready to test his sore hand out on the field. Assuming things go well, he should be ready to play in games soon. There's been no indication from the Astros yet that Alvarez could be in danger of not being ready for Opening Day, but the window for the slugger to get ready is closing.

Turner (face) will take batting practice on the field Friday and could return to Grapefruit League action Monday if all goes well, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.

It had been suggested Turner could return to games over the weekend, but it appears that timeline has been pushed back a tad. He'll have missed two weeks of action if he returns Monday following a hit-by-pitch to the face that required 16 stitches. Turner should be fine for Opening Day.

Buxton played in a minor-league game Thursday in Twins camp, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

It was the first live action of the spring for Buxton, who has been brought along slowly by design after yet another injury-plagued campaign in 2022. The dynamic 29-year-old outfielder currently carries a clean bill of health and is hoping to show improved durability in 2023. When healthy last year, he delivered a strong .833 OPS with 28 home runs and six stolen bases in 92 games.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Turner (face) is scheduled to take batting practice Friday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Assuming Turner is able to track the ball well during his upcoming BP session, he could be cleared to rejoin the Red Sox's Grapefruit League lineup as soon as Saturday or Sunday for what would be his first game action since he exited a March 6 contest after being struck in the face by a pitch. Turner was fortunate to avoid a concussion or any facial fractures, but he required 16 stitches to seal a laceration on his face and also experienced significant swelling. The Red Sox will likely ease Turner back into the spring lineup at designated hitter before having him play third base.

Rooker is hitting .391 (9-for-23) with five doubles, two RBI, eight walks, a hit-by-pitch, a stolen base and six runs across 11 Cactus League games.

The 28-year-old was claimed off waivers in November after being designated for assignment by Kansas City, and he's now making a strong case for an Opening Day roster spot as a reserve outfielder. Rooker boasts a 1.172 OPS in Cactus League play and impressively laced a pair of two-baggers off the White Sox's Dylan Cease and reliever Joe Kelly on Tuesday, the latest installment in a spring that Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports has been an extension of a very strong minor-league body of work in both the Padres and Royals organizations in 2022. "Rook's having a good spring," manager Mark Kotsay said. "These at-bats today were great. He hits the ball hard. He's done a nice job of taking some great at-bats. He's taking advantage of this opportunity right now."

Cabrera's participation for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic will be limited by the Tigers, Marly Rivera of ESPN.com reports.

Rivera notes that the specific limitations are yet to be determined but could involve Cabrera being limited to just one plate appearance per game. Cabrera is 1-for-9 at the plate so far during WBC play.

Angels manager Phil Nevin said Monday that Ohtani's final appearance as a pitcher in the WBC would come in the quarterfinals, but Ohtani subsequently indicated that such a decision hasn't yet been made, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports.

The report comes by way of Japanese journalist Naoyuki Yanagihara of Sports Nippon Newspapers. Ohtani is expected to pitch for Japan against Italy in a quarterfinal matchup early Thursday morning, and if that is indeed his final outing on the mound in the WBC, it would prevent him from throwing in a potential championship game in Miami on Tuesday, March 21. From a scheduling standpoint, Nevin's direction makes sense, as Ohtani typically pitches on five days of rest, and there would be four days between Japan's quarterfinal contest and the championship game (if the team makes it that far). Given Ohtani's response to word of Nevin's comments, however, it may not be set in stone that the star hurler would be kept off the mound in a potential title game.

Horwitz was optioned to minor-league camp Monday, KKeegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Horwitz is currently playing for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and will report to the backfields of Dunedin when the tournament concludes. The 24-year-old infielder/outfielder registered an .843 OPS with 12 homers over 114 games between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo during the 2022 season.

Turner (face) said Monday he could return to Grapefruit League games later this week, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Turner managed to avoid serious injury when he was hit in the face by a pitch a week ago and was cleared to resume baseball activities over the weekend after having his stitches removed. At this point, it appears Turner should be fine for Opening Day.

Brantley (shoulder) rejoined the Astros at spring training Monday, but manager Dusty Baker said it "will be close" whether the veteran outfielder is ready to go for Opening Day, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brantley's status for Opening Day was already in question while he continues to recover from the surgery he underwent last August to repair the labrum in his right shoulder, and it didn't help his cause that his rehab program was essentially put on hold when he stepped away from the team just under two weeks ago to tend to a family matter. Now that he's back at camp, Brantley is expected to steadily increase his baseball activities, but he still may have an uphill battle to get fully ramped up by the time Houston opens its season March 30 versus the White Sox. When Brantley is healthy, Baker said that the 35-year-old is expected to serve as the Astros' No. 2 hitter while likely sharing time at designated hitter and in left field with Yordan Alvarez (hand).