MLB Player News

Vargas was optioned to Triple-A Rochester following Wednesday's game against the Brewers, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Vargas was only with the big club for one game before being sent back to Rochester to clear room for Thursday's starter, Dietrich Enns. The 27-year-old owns a .244/.291/.432 slash line with eight homers in 176 at-bats for the Twins this season. He'll likely be back in the majors again sometime before the season ends.

Belt (concussion) is scheduled to visit doctors Friday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Belt, who was placed on the disabled list over the weekend after taking a pitch off his helmet against the Diamondbacks, said he is feeling better and is expected to rest some more before being reevaluated. He isn't planning to see a specialist at this point -- which is good news -- though he still remains without a timetable for his return. More should be known following Friday's checkup.

Blackmon went 3-for-6 with a solo home run during Wednesday's win over Cleveland.

Blackmon just continues to pad his statistics, and the outfielder is now up to an elite .333/.388/.616 slash line with 27 homers, 74 RBI, nine stolen bases and 102 runs. Playing his home games at Coors Field should help Blackmon avoid a slump down the stretch, too.

Winker is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Padres.

Patrick Kivlehan will take over in right field against lefty Travis Wood, pushing Winker to the bench following eight straight starts (all against right-handed pitching). Winker burst back onto the scene with homers in back-to-back games to begin August, but he's just 2-for-13 in his last four games. As a result of his recent skid, Winker has fallen to the bottom half of the batting order, but he should continue to play regularly, at least until Scott Schebler (shoulder) returns to action.

Vargas was recalled by the Twins on Wednesday, Brandon Warne of ZoneCoverage.com reports.

He takes the roster spot of Adalberto Mejia, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left arm strain Tuesday. Vargas has had hot stretches in the big leagues this season, but wasn't able to carve out an everyday role en route to hitting .244/.291/.432 before being sent down to Triple-A Rochester. The slugger hasn't fared much better in the minors, batting .221 with eight home runs over 42 games, but could provide a power threat at the designated hitter spot, as the Twins rank 23rd in home runs this year.

Brantley was placed on the 10-day disabled list Wednesday with a sprained right ankle, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

The All-Star outfielder heads to the DL with a right ankle injury for the second time in the last two months, though trainers have already deemed the sprain to be a mild one, so he could be back as soon as next weekend's series in Kansas City. Brantley, who suffered the sprain during Tuesday's game against the Rockies, is hitting .282 with 15 RBI since the All-Star break and likely gives way to Brandon Guyer or Abraham Almonte while he remains sidelined. Erik Gonzalez, another outfield option, was recalled from Triple-A to take his spot on the active roster.

Manager Terry Francona said Brantley has a mild sprained right ankle and will undergo treatment Wednesday, though a DL stint remains a possibility.

Brantley was lifted from Tuesday's game against the Rockies with the injury and a subsequent MRI revealed it wasn't too significant. Nonetheless, the outfielder missed time earlier this season with a similar injury, so trainers will see how it responds to certain medical evaluation before setting forth a firm recovery plan. The Indians have a wide range of options to replace Brantley should he land on the DL, including Brandon Guyer and Abraham Almonte. Cleveland will go with Almonte in left field for the series finale with Colorado on Wednesday.

Buxton went 1-for-4 with his 19th stolen base in Tuesday's win over Milwaukee. He's hitting .356 (16-for-45) in his last 14 games.

Buxton hit just .184 with a .524 OPS in June, and he's generally struggled to keep his batting average above .200. However, he's turned his season around since the start of July with an .812 OPS since July 1, despite missing two weeks with a groin injury.

Turner launched a pair of solo homers in four at-bats Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.

He's now left the yard in three straight games, a span in which Turner has gone 6-for-13 with four long balls, a double, five RBI and seven runs -- and a couple steals, too. That's a heck of an impressive run from a guy who was already easily pacing the National League in batting average. Turner's now pushed his OPS up to a sizzling 1.009, too -- only Bryce Harper, Paul Goldschmidt and Joey Votto are ahead of him in that category, and not by all that much.

Brantley avoided an Achilles injury, but he's scheduled for an MRI on his ankle Tuesday night, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Brantley initially thought it was his Achilles that got hurt, but luckily trainers ruled that out. Ankle injuries typically require less recovery time, but of course that depends on the severity, and that information should be available Wednesday morning. Brantley landed on the DL with a sprained ankle in mid-June.