MLB Player News

Brantley, who was activated from the DL on Saturday, is not in the lineup against the White Sox.

He has been out since Aug. 8 with an ankle injury, but is apparently not quite ready to return to the starting nine. Brantley is presumably available off the bench, while Lonnie Chisenhall gets the start in left field.

Buxton is out of Saturday's lineup against the Tigers, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

The Twins will give Buxton the day off for the second time in the last three games, which suggests he might be dealing with some general soreness and they want to get him as fresh as possible for the wild-card game. Zack Granite is starting in center field and leading off.

Ozuna is out of Saturday's lineup against the Braves, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Despite being scorching hot at the plate (.458/.527/.708 with three home runs over his last 48 at-bats), Ozuna will take a seat in the penultimate game of the year. Derek Dietrich will start in left field and hit sixth.

Cabrera (back) is out of the lineup Saturday against the Twins.

He will miss his sixth straight game with a back issue, and at this point it would be surprising if the Tigers brought Cabrera back for the season finale Sunday. Efren Navarro will start at first base and hit cleanup.

Brantley (ankle) was reinstated from the disabled list prior to Saturday's game against the White Sox.

Brantley will only have a few days to push for a spot on the ALDS playoff roster, and it remains to be seen whether he will be able to take the field for either of this weekend's contests, although the team is hoping to get him in there. The outfielder has been out since Aug. 8 while recovering from an ankle injury and has only played in 88 games this season to go along with just 11 in 2016. Brantley is slashing .299/.358/.445 with nine home runs and 52 RBI in 2017.

Cabrera (back) remains out of the lineup Friday.

Cabrera has not played since tweaking his back last weekend, and he will not start Friday for the fifth straight game. Cabrera has not officially been shut down for the season, but with just two games to go after Friday's, it would not be surprising if that ultimately happens.

Harper is in the lineup but will likely only play six or seven innings during Friday's game against the Pirates, The Washington Post's Jorge Castillo reports.

In addition, manager Dusty Baker stated that Harper is unlikely to play all nine innings of any game this weekend while he continues to work his way back from a knee injury. Harper was activated from the disabled list Tuesday, and played two straight games before taking the day off for Thursday's series opener.

Stanton went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs scored during Thursday's win over Atlanta.

Baseball fans and fantasy owners have wondered for some time what Stanton was capable of in a healthy season. The answer is a historic campaign. Stanton is now up to 59 homers, 129 RBI and 121 runs with a .280/.376/.636 slash line, and he has three more games on the schedule to beef up his numbers.

Carpenter (shoulder) has been shut down for the remainder of the season, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.

The Cardinals were officially eliminated from postseason contention Thursday, and with that, Carpenter will shut it down and look ahead to 2018. He has been playing through chronic shoulder pain for a while and the team will check in on the condition of his shoulder with another MRI on Friday. Carpenter said he's confident that he will be able to avoid surgery.

Cabrera (back) is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.

Cabrera will miss a fourth straight game following his removal from Saturday's contest with a back injury, which wound up being revealed as a pair of herniated discs. There has been no word on his status, so he will remain day-to-day for the time being while John Hicks draws the start in his stead.