MLB Player News

Martinez went 4-for-5 with two homers, four RBI and two runs scored in Tuesday's 5-0 victory over the Mets.

After having just one hit over his previous four games, Martinez showed why the Dodgers signed him over the offseason. He showed off his vintage power, spraying homers to dead center and the opposite field in back-to-back at-bats. With Trea Turner and Justin Turner no longer on the team, Los Angeles will certainly be looking to Martinez as a centerpiece of the lineup going forward.

Ohtani went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a stolen base in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Yankees.

Ohtani wasted no time making an impact Tuesday. He took a hanging breaking ball from Clarke Schmidt and sent it out over the right-field wall in a hurry to give the Angels a 2-0 lead. It was his fourth home run of the season and put him up to 11 RBI. The 28-year-old has been seeing the ball well over the first few weeks and is now slashing .300/.382/.533 to go with a 0.86 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 27:13 K:BB through 21 innings.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said Rooker was removed from Tuesday's 4-0 loss to the Cubs after feeling tightness in his hamstring, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Though Kotsay described Rooker's removal as precautionary, the 28-year-old is still being viewed as day-to-day and seems likely to sit out Wednesday's series finale versus Chicago. Rooker walked in his lone plate appearance before departing Tuesday, bringing his slash line to .324/.395/.676 for the season.

Winker (oblique) is back in the lineup Tuesday against the Mariners.

Winker will serve as the Brewers' designated hitter and bat second versus the Mariners and right-hander Logan Gilbert. He was scratched from Sunday's series finale against the Padres due to right oblique tightness and also sat out Monday's series opener in Seattle.

Astros general manager Dana Brown told reporters before Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays that Brantley (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday, Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest reports.

Brantley is facing live hitting, and he's progressed enough to begin squaring off against Triple-A pitchers starting this weekend. The outfielder will likely need a week-plus of action before joining Houston, as he missed all of the spring while recovering from surgery to repair his right shoulder labrum. Assuming no setbacks, he should be a regular for the Astros near the start of May.

McCutchen is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Rockies.

This appears to be a routine day of rest for the veteran McCutchen, who slugged a solo homer in the Pirates' rout of the Rockies on Monday and is slashing .302/.418/.528 on the year. Canaan Smith-Njigba is starting in right field Tuesday and Carlos Santana is taking a turn as the designated hitter.

Ohtani's next scheduled start has been moved up to Friday against the Royals, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Ohtani was was originally scheduled to pitch again Sunday against the Royals, but after throwing just 31 pitches Monday because of weather against the Red Sox on Monday, the right-hander will get bumped up a couple extra days. Ohtani has been outstanding over his four starts with a 0.86 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 27:13 K:BB over 21 innings.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that he expects Stanton (hamstring) to be sidelined for around six weeks, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

After Stanton landed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, initial projections called for him miss 4-to-6 weeks, and Boone's comments suggest the Yankees are already bracing for the 32-year-old to trend toward the longer end of that timeline. While Stanton is on the shelf, Josh Donaldson could receive the bulk of the opportunities at designated hitter after he likely returns from a hamstring injury of his own within the next few days.

When asked if Ohtani's next pitching start could get moved up after the two-way star tossed only 31pitches against Boston on Monday, Angels manager Phil Nevin said, "We'll talk about it," Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Ohtani completed two innings against the Red Sox before a rain delay that lasted nearly 90 minutes. Nevin opted not to risk an injury to his star hurler by putting him back on the mound, so his outing was over after just 31 pitches. It stands to reason that Ohtani won't need as much time as usual to recover between starts, though Nevin's comments suggest that Angels aren't yet certain whether they'll push his next appearance up.

Atlanta claimed Solak off waivers from the White Sox on Tuesday and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Solak will now join his fourth organization in less than two months after his brief stint with the White Sox was preceded by stops with the Reds and Mariners. The 28-year-old showed promise during his first taste of MLB action back in 2019, but he's posted a rough .246/.317/.354 batting line in 839 big-league plate appearances since the beginning of the 2020 campaign.