MLB Player News

Martinez exited Saturday's game with an apparent leg injury, MLB.com's Jason Beck reports.

Martinez appeared to injure his leg making a play in the field in the first inning of Saturday's contest. According to Beck, Martinez charged for a fly ball and hobbled to the dugout after making the catch. Alex Presley has come on to replace Martinez in the lineup. More information on Martinez's status should be available later in Saturday's game.

Ozuna went 2-for-3 with a walk and a three-run homer, his third blast of the spring, in Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals.

Ozuna is hitting .294 with a .618 slugging percentage in 34 spring at-bats, although his 1:8 BB:K suggests he's still got some work to do to get ready for Opening Day. The 26-year-old posted career bests in walk rate (7.1 percent) and strikeout rate (18.9 percent) last year, however, and further development of his plate discipline could allow him to take his game to the next level in 2017.

Vargas has just three at-bats for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic and was just 1-for-13 in MLB spring training before leaving for the tournament.

Vargas was the leading candidate for the starting DH job in Minnesota as spring training began, but he's struggled while Byungho Park has been hot (hitting .357 with three home runs). Still, it's probably too early in the spring to read too much into the competition since Vargas has hardly played (surprisingly losing playing time with Puerto Rico to T. J. Rivera). The battle for Minnesota's starting DH job will likely be decided late in spring training once Vargas returns from the WBC.

Brantley (shoulder) will play in a minor league game Saturday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

After two days off, Brantley will test his shoulder out again for five innings. Cleveland is taking it slowly with Brantley, but he is on pace to get back into Cactus League action before spring training ends, and as such there's a good chance Brantley suits up for Cleveland on Opening Day.

Cabrera (back) is expected to miss the rest of the World Baseball Classic, Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY reports.

With Venezuela sitting at 0-2 in Pool F, the team is already all but eliminated from the tournament, as it would need an almost impossible combination of results and run scoring in order to win a tiebreaker and advance to the semifinals. As such, Cabrera will take it easy with the back injury, which is still expected to be minor, just to ensure that he will be ready for Opening Day with the Tigers.

Ramirez was optioned to minor league camp Friday, Mike Wilner of Sportsnet.ca reports.

A knee injury put Ramirez on the shelf last year just one game into his tenure in the Blue Jays' organization -- he came over from Pittsburgh in the Francisco Liriano deal. Ramirez hit .306/.354/.401 with two homers and seven steals (17 attempts) in 98 games with Double-A Altoona before the trade. The 22-year-old figures to return to Double-A to begin the 2017 season.

Jimenez was reassigned to minor league camp Friday, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The Cubs' top prospect impressed this spring, slashing .321/.355/.607 in 16 games at just 20 years old. Jimenez is still likely a few years away from the majors, but the organization believes he is advanced for his age.

Harper went 1-for-3 with his sixth home run of the spring, a solo shot, in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Mets.

Zack Wheeler was the victim this time out, as Harper re-established his lead in the spring home run race. He now has an absurd .966 SLG through 29 at-bats, and Harper would seem to be more than ready for Opening Day to arrive.

Cabrera's back discomfort, that prompted him to be removed from Thursday's World Baseball Classic contest, isn't a cause for concern for the Tigers, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports. "I just got a text from Omar (Vizquel, Venezuela's manager) this morning saying his back tightened up and he's fine. Don't think it's anything more than that," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said, who was uncertain whether Cabrera would play in Team Venezuela's Saturday contest.

Though it's worth noting, this story at first glance doesn't appear to jeopardize Cabrera's fantasy value. Of course, diligent drafters should watch closely as their big day approaches.

Cabrera (back) was pulled from Thursday's game against the Dominican Republic for precautionary reasons, MLB Network's Jon Morosi reports.

Hernan Perez came on to take over for Cabrera at first base in the sixth inning after the veteran slugger experienced some back tightness. Fortunately, manager Omar Vizquel told Morosi that the move was precautionary, so there's hope that Cabrera's back issue won't put him on the shelf for long. More information on Cabrera's status figures to be released Friday.