MLB Player News

Brantley isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Royals, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brantley has been in a slump recently, as he's gone 0-for-11 with a run, four walks and a strikeout across the last three games. He'll get a chance to reset Wednesday while Aledmys Diaz starts in left field and bats second.

Cabrera isn't starting Wednesday against the Cardinals.

Cabrera hit his 500th career home run Sunday and went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Tuesday's series opener against the Cardinals. However, Jonathan Schoop will start at first base and bat third Wednesday.

Stanton went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 5-4 win over the Braves.

After homering Monday against the Braves, Stanton victimized Atlanta yet again with a solo shot off Charlie Morton in the second inning. After hitting .214 in July, the supersized slugger is hitting .320 in August. He has also hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games.

Belt went 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI on Tuesday against the Mets.

Belt tallied hits in each of his first three at-bats, two of which went for home runs. He now has 19 long balls on the season, with eight having come since he was activated from the injured list Aug. 5. Despite the power surge, he's hitting just .226 in that span with only four hits that didn't clear the fence. Overall, Belt is hitting .247/.355/.556 across 262 plate appearances for the season.

Cabrera went 2-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Tuesday's win over the Cardinals.

Cabrera hit career home run No. 500 on Sunday and followed with No. 501 a game later. The Tigers did pinch run for the veteran after he walked in the eighth inning, and that could become a regular occurrence now that he's reached the long ball milestone. Cabrera should still start most days and get the opportunity to build on his 14 home runs for the year, which is the most he's hit in a season since 2016.

Manager Rocco Baldelli said Tuesday that Buxton (finger) will play in "at least a couple more games" at Triple-A St. Paul before being activated from the injured list, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Buxton is 1-for-5 with a home run and two RBI through two games with the Saints and is expected to play a full nine innings Tuesday. The 27-year-old is also slated to play a full game Wednesday as he ramps up the rehab assignment, and he could rejoin the Twins for this weekend's three-game series against the Brewers.

McCutchen will sit Tuesday against the Rays.

McCutchen was also absent from Sunday's lineup, so it's possible he's dealing with an unreported injury. Odubel Herrera slides to left field in his absence, with Travis Jankowski starting in center.

Choi was placed on the injured list as expected Tuesday with a left hamstring strain, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Choi left Sunday's game against the White Sox with what was originally called hamstring tightness, but the diagnosis has since been updated to a strain. He's expected back within two weeks and could return after the minimum 10 days, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports. Nelson Cruz was activated from the COVID-19 injured list and could be used as the first baseman in Choi's absence during the Rays' two-game series in Philadelphia.

Canha went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in a loss to the Mariners on Monday.

The veteran outfielder extended his career-best stolen-base tally to 12 while reaching safely for the third straight game. Canha also snapped an ugly four-game streak of multiple strikeouts, part of a late-August skid that's seen him hit just .111 (3-for-27) over his last seven contests.

Ramirez (knee) will begin a rehab assignment Tuesday with High-A Lake County.

Sidelined since Aug. 11 with a sore right knee, Ramirez should be in store for a relatively brief rehab assignment before perhaps rejoining Cleveland over the weekend. Once Ramirez is back in the fold, Oscar Mercado could lose hold of an everyday role in the Cleveland outfield.