MLB Player News

Buxton was scratched from the lineup for Thursday's game against the Marlins due to right hip flexor soreness, Audra Martin of FanDuel Sports Network North reports.

It's unclear when exactly Buxton suffered the injury, as he homered twice in Wednesday's loss and has gone deep 12 times in his past 20 games. The severity of the issue isn't clear, but any issue is a concerning development given the outfielder's lengthy injury history.

Torrens is absent from the lineup for Thursday's tilt against the Tigers.

Torrens is set to serve as the Mets' primary catcher while Francisco Alvarez (knee) is sidelined, but he'll take a seat for Thursday's matinee after catching Wednesday night. Hayden Senger will be behind the plate and bat ninth as the Mets go for the sweep.

Pederson batted atop the order and went 0-for-4 in Wednesday's 6-5 win over the Diamondbacks.

Pederson batted leadoff for a second consecutive game, both against right-handers, while Brandon Nimmo followed him in the order. Prior to the last two contests, Nimmo has been the team's leadoff hitter in every game in which he's started. The Rangers haven't faced a lefty since manager Skip Schumaker tweaked the top of the order, but Pederson presumably wouldn't be in the lineup against southpaws given he's logged just five plate appearances against left-handers all season.

Ohtani (3-2) allowed four hits and two walks while striking out eight over seven shutout innings to earn the win over the Giants on Wednesday.

Ohtani's Cy Young-caliber season continues after a 105-pitch effort (71 strikes). It's his third scoreless outing of the season and the fourth time he's logged at least eight strikeouts. Through seven starts, he has a superb 0.82 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 50:11 K:BB across 44 innings. Ohtani is expected to get a full day off Thursday for the series finale versus San Francisco, but he should be back in the lineup as a hitter Friday as the Dodgers face his former team, the Angels, for a three-game series over the weekend. The 31-year-old has yet to get his bat going in May with a .150/.261/.250 slash line through 10 games as a hitter this month.

Buxton went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs and a walk in Wednesday's 9-5 loss to Miami.

Wednesday marked the 19th multi-homer game of Buxton's career. The Twins may not have many household names in their lineup, but Buxton has been a force for fantasy managers atop Minnesota's batting order this season. Over his last 26 games (114 at-bats), the star outfielder is batting .298 with 15 long balls, four doubles, 22 RBI and four stolen bases to raise his OPS for the year to .899.

Ohtani is starting as a pitcher Wednesday against the Giants but is not in the Dodgers' starting lineup as the designated hitter.

Per Sonja Chen of MLB.com, Ohtani could be available as a pinch hitter Wednesday but will only start as a pitcher. Although his batting stats this season have taken a noticeable hit -- particularly in May with a .532 OPS through 11 games -- Ohtani continues to be one of the best pitchers in baseball, with the right-hander sporting a 0.97 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 42:9 K:BB across 37 innings this season.

Stanton has not yet been cleared to ramp up his running after an MRI on his injured right calf did not show enough healing, Greg Joyce of the New York Post reports.

Stanton suffered a calf strain nearly three weeks ago, and his progress hasn't come as quickly as hoped. It could be a short window of time between when Stanton is cleared to ramp up his running and when he returns to the active roster, but until the former happens, his timeline remains murky. Spencer Jones has been getting playing time in Stanton's place after Jasson Dominguez (shoulder) joined Stanton on the injured list.

Torrens will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Tigers.

With Francisco Alvarez (knee) suffering a right meniscus tear in Tuesday's win and likely to miss at least a month, Torrens is poised to step in as the Mets' new No. 1 backstop. While serving in a part-time capacity through the first seven weeks of the season, Torrens has made a limited impact at the dish, slashing just .208/.255/.292 with no home runs, no steals, eight RBI and five runs over 52 plate appearances. Even with his playing time set to increase, Torrens isn't expected to warrant much fantasy attention outside of NL-only leagues or deeper mixed leagues that start two catchers.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani will be used only as a pitcher during Wednesday's game against the Giants, and the two-way star will remain out of the lineup for Thursday's series finale but will be available to pinch hit, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.

After Ohtani went 0-for-5 at the dish in Monday's 9-3 loss in the series opener, Roberts indicated that the four-time MVP would get a day off from hitting either Wednesday or Thursday. Though Ohtani broke out of an extended funk at the plate by going 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Tuesday's 6-2 loss, Roberts won't deviate from his plan to rest the 31-year-old superstar during the Giants series. In fact, Ohtani now looks set to be out of the hitting lineup for both of the final two games of the series, though he'll take his normal turn through the rotation Wednesday. While he hasn't lived up to his incredibly high standard as a hitter so far this season with a .797 OPS -- his lowest mark since the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign -- Ohtani is on his way to a career-best season as a pitcher. He'll head into his seventh start of the season having maintained a 0.97 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 42:9 K:BB in 37 innings.

Pederson batted leadoff and went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 7-4 victory over the Diamondbacks.

Pederson hit leadoff and the move paid immediate dividends, as he hit a home run on the second pitch he saw in the first inning. Brandon Nimmo, who left the game with an ankle injury, had previously been the Rangers' leadoff batter when healthy before batting second Tuesday. Pederson had reached base safely in the first four games of the team's current homestand, and manager Skip Schumaker explained pregame to Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that he was trying to get runners on base for Nimmo and "lengthen the lineup." It's unclear if Pederson will continue to hit atop the order.