MLB Player News

Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera said his abdominal injury will not be an issue during the playoffs, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Cabrera has been dealing with the injury during September. He's hitting .348/.442/.636 in 555 at-bats. 

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Wednesday that third baseman Miguel Cabrera has been "playing in a lot of pain," ESPN reports.

"He's not 100 percent," Leyland said. "He's been playing in a lot of pain. He's a real tough guy. I think if anybody knew the pain he's playing in, they probably wouldn't believe it."

Cabrera dealt with multiple injuries over the second half of the season while hitting .316/.411/.565 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI in 193 at-bats after the All-Star break. He hit .365/.458/.674 with 30 home runs and 95 RBI in 362 at-bats during the first half of the season.

The Mets are expected to retain infielder Justin Turner, the New York Daily News reports. 

Turner hit .280/.319/.385 this year, his final pre-arbitration season. Turner is not expected to haul in a contract worth more than $1 million in arbitration, however, so the Mets can afford to keep him around as a utility man for at least one more year.

Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen became the first Pittsburgh player in history to reach base safely in each of his first four postseason plate appearances Tuesday night in the wild card win over the Reds.

McCutchen went 2 for 3 with two walks in the game as he scored a run in the 6-2 win to put the Pirates into the National League Division Series against the Cardinals. It was Pittsburgh's first playoff win since 1992.

The 26-year-old MVP of the Pirates hit .317 this season with 21 homers, 84 RBI and 27 stolen bases over 583 at-bats. He finished sixth in the NL in runs with 97 and fourth in walks with 78.

Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes expects to start on Friday in Game 1 of Oakland's American League Division Series matchup with Detroit, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Cespedes is expected to play the outfield after being limited to DHing down the stretch of the regular season. 

Cespedes said he felt better after taking batting practice Tuesday. After his first two rounds of batting practice, Cespedes had not hit one out of the park. He began warming up after that and ended up taking a couple pitches deep before the session was over. 

Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is planning to be in the outfield for the playoffs, according to CSN.

Cespedes has been dealing with an injured elbow, and has been limited to serving as the designated hitter recently. He was able to take batting practice Tuesday after resting his elbow for a few days. He said he would be in the outfield if he had to throw left-handed. Cespedes is a righty. 

In 529 at-bats, Cespedes hit .240/.294/.442. 

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper told the Washington Post he does not plan to have surgery on his left knee this offseason. Harper struggled with knee and hip issues for much of the season, but he says he just needs rest.

"I really don’t see (surgery),” Harper told the Post. “It’s more trying to take the time off and let everything settle down. Everything is just swollen and things like that. I really don’t see going under the knife or anything like that."

Harper played in 118 games this season, hitting .274 with 20 home runs, 58 RBI and 11 stolen bases.

Yoenis Cespedes was out of the Athletics' starting lineup for the second game in a row, as Brandon Moss served as the team's designated hitter for Sunday's series finale in Seattle.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the organization wants Cespedes to rest his right shoulder, which has felt sore since Friday's game, so that he will be ready for the American League Division Series. Cespedes did not hit or throw on Saturday, so the team does not have a clear sense of how much time he will need to recover.

Mets infielder Justin Turner returned from a hamstring injury Wednesday and went 5 for 11 over a three-game spain before recording an out as a pinch-hitter Saturday.

Turner entered Thursday's game as a pinch runner in the third inning before staying in to play third base, where he played complete games on Wednesday and Friday. He played first base Saturday after his pinch-hit appearance. Turner has hit .281/.321/.387 with two home runs and 16 RBI in 199 at-bats.

Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter has been among the best in the league at his position this season, but with top prospect Kolten Wong appearing close to joining the major-league team on a regular basis, the Cardinals could shift Carpenter to a new position in 2014, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

"The answer is," general manager John Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch Friday after a question about Carpenter's future position, continuing after a pause, "I don’t think I need to answer that. The good news is we have some flexibility."

Carpenter leads all major-league second baseman in batting average (.321) and on-base percentage (.395). He leads all players in runs scored by a wide margin, with his 126 runs placing him 18 ahead of the player in second place (Mike Trout).