MLB Player News

Choi received a second cortisone injection in his sore right knee Tuesday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

The Rays remain optimistic that nothing is structurally wrong with Choi's knee, and manager Kevin Cash suggested that the first baseman could be ready to ramp up his activity as soon as Wednesday. Despite the positive news, Choi still appears unlikely to be available for Opening Day, though he'll likely only require a brief stint on the injured list to begin the season.

Rooker is in the mix to start in left field after Alex Kirilloff was sent to the minors, Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Rooker started in right field in Tuesday's spring training loss to Pittsburgh and went 0-for-3. He's hitting .320 (8-for-25) with a home run this spring.

The Twins haven't revealed their plans, but a platoon of Jake Cave and Rookier, with Luis Arraez also getting some starts, seems like the most likely strategy until Kirilloff is recalled for everyday duty. Rooker will likely be in the mix given his strong spring; he's shown he's healthy after his 2020 season ended in mid-September due to a fractured right forearm that required surgery, and he's one of the few right-handed bats among the outfielders likely to make the final roster.

Martinez went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in Tuesday's spring game against Atlanta.

Martinez has extra-base hits in each of last two Grapefruit League games and is 11-for-41 with a .652 OPS over 14 spring contests. He's looking to bounce back from a miserable 2020 when he posted a .680 OPS over 54 games.

Lewis was scratched from the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks after running into the wall Monday against the Dodgers, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

The Mariners reportedly aren't concerned about any particular injury with Lewis but still wanted to give him a day to recover. Sam Haggerty will slide to center field in his absence, with Jake Fraley entering the lineup in right.

Brantley went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI in Monday's spring game against the Mets.

Brantley's batting a middling .235 (8-for-34) this spring, but he leads Houston with seven RBI. Since joining the team, Brantley has been a clutch performer, as he's hit .347 (60-for-173) and knocked in 83 runs with runners in scoring position since 2019. Brantley will be Houston's everyday left fielder while batting third or fourth, where RBI opportunities should be plentiful.

Jimenez went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and three RBI in Monday's spring game against San Francisco.

The home run was Jimenez's second of the Cactus League. The young slugger has found his swing over the last week, going 7-for-17 with three extra-base hits and nine RBI over the last four games.

Reyes has appeared in 10 Cactus League games entering Monday, going 9-for-28 with four extra-base hits and a 1:11 BB:K.

Reyes' strikeout rate is up a little bit this spring, but he's providing plenty of power to compensate for it, slugging three home runs and a triple thus far. The burly 25-year-old even contributed a stolen base, though fantasy managers shouldn't count on him running once Opening Day arrives, given that he has zero career regular-season steals. The power is real, though, and Reyes has the ability to challenge for the MLB home-run crown if he's able to do a better job of consistently squaring up on the ball in 2021. Due in large part to a career-high 50.3 percent groundball rate, Reyes left the yard only nine times in 59 games last season, a disappointing output for a player who slugged 37 homers the year prior.

Ohtani tossed four innings in Sunday's Cactus League contest against San Diego, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. He also hit leadoff and went 2-for-2 with a walk.

Ohtani doesn't typically pitch and hit in the same game, though manager Joe Maddon left the possibility of him doing so in the regular season open, calling Sunday's scenario an "experiment" to see how Ohtani feels and pointing out that NL pitchers do it all the time, per Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. The two-way phenom is slashing an absurd .636/.654/1.182 with four homers this spring and hit 102 mph on his fastball Sunday, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, so it's certainly tempting for the Angels to try to get as much out of both his bat and his arm as possible.

Choi (knee) is not expected to be ready by Opening Day, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

Choi hasn't been officially ruled out, but the team is planning on him missing the start of the season. Yandy Diaz, Mike Brosseau and Yoshi Tsutsugo could see more time at first base in his absence.

Lewis is 5-for-11 with three doubles, a home run, three RBI, a walk and three runs across his last three Cactus League games, pushing his spring average to .303 (10-for-33).

Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports Lewis was already drawing accolades from manager Scott Servais after the first game Thursday, with the Mariners' skipper noting the slugging outfielder had "looked as good as he has all spring" in that contest. Lewis subsequently continued his hot hitting the next two days, supporting the notion the 25-year-old may have his timing at the plate close to regular-season form at this point.