MLB Player News

The Twins announced that Buxton was removed in the third inning of Sunday's game against the Brewers due to a non-COVID-19-related illness, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Fantasy managers who worried about what might have caused Buxton's early departure can rest easy knowing that the outfielder wasn't pulled due to any injury. While Buxton missed out on a few at-bats as a result, he still turned in a big season-opening series for the Twins, going 3-for-8 with two home runs, a double, three RBI, two runs and a stolen base. The Twins moved him up to the No. 3 spot in the order Sunday, and Buxton -- once healthy -- looks like he could occupy a spot in the heart of the lineup while Minnesota waits for Josh Donaldson (hamstring) to return from the 10-day injured list.

Buxton was removed in the top of the third inning of Sunday's game against the Brewers due to an unspecified injury, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. He recorded a double in his lone at-bat before departing.

Brent Rooker came off the bench to pinch-hit for Buxton when his turn in the lineup came up, but an official explanation for the outfielder's removal hasn't been provided. Buxton tormented Brewers pitching during the three-game series, going 3-for-8 with a pair of home runs, two walks and a stolen base in addition to the double. Expect the Twins to provide an update on Buxton's condition later Sunday.

Astros manager Dusty Baker said he expects Brantley (wrist) to avoid the injured list, but the outfielder may not be ready to rejoin the lineup until Tuesday versus the Angels, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Baker said that Brantley "dodged a major bullet" when he was struck on the wrist by a pitch in Saturday's win over the Athletics, as the 33-year-old was able to avoid any structural damage. He'll be held out of Sunday's series finale, however, and based on Baker's comments, Brantley doesn't seem likely to make it back Monday for the first of two games versus the Angels. The Astros play only five games during the upcoming week, so fantasy managers may be best off keeping Brantley out of their lineups with the knowledge that he'll likely miss at least one of those contests.

Brantley (wrist) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Athletics, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Brantley will get some additional time off to recover after he was removed from Saturday's 9-1 win with a sore right wrist. Fortunately for Brantley, initial X-rays on his wrist returned negative, so he'll be considered day-to-day heading into a two-game set with the Angels that begins Monday. Chas McCormick will pick up a start in left field in place of Brantley on Sunday.

Pederson is 0-for-6 with a walk and five strikeouts through his first two games.

Pederson had a great spring training, registering a .378/.431/1.000 slash line in 18 games, but that hasn't translated to a fast start to the regular season. It is of course a very small sample size, and the 28-year-old outfielder has been a streaky performer in the past, so the hits could start coming soon.

Stanton is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.

Aaron Judge will get a turn at designated hitter in place of Stanton, who manager Aaron Boone said is receiving a routine rest day, per Marly Rivera of ESPN.com. According to Rivera, Boone indicated that he hopes to avoid playing Stanton in five games in a row early on during the season, and the skipper viewed Sunday's contest as a good opportunity to build in a breather for the slugger. Stanton, who is expected to start in all three games of the Yankees' upcoming series with Baltimore, went 0-for-8 with two walks and three strikeouts over the team's first two contests of the season.

Winker (illness) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cardinals.

Winker was removed from Saturday's 9-6 win after feeling under the weather, so he's presumably just getting a day off to recuperate from the ailment. Tyler Naqun will man left field and hit leadoff in Winker's stead.

Cabrera is out of the lineup for Sunday's series finale with Cleveland after he developed cramps in Saturday's 5-2 win, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

The Tigers are presumably just exercising some caution with Cabrera, who will most likely be back in the lineup for Monday's series opener versus the Twins. Robbie Grossman will serve as Detroit's designated hitter Sunday, while Harold Castro picks up the start at first base.

Manager Joe Maddon said Ohtani is expected to hit for himself as the starting pitcher Sunday against the White Sox, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Maddon made the announcement prior to Saturday's game and reiterated that plan following the contest. Ohtani was prevented from serving as the designated hitter the day before his starts in previous seasons, but the Angels apparently want to keep his bat in the lineup this year, even when he's on the mound. The move would result in Los Angeles operating without a designated hitter for Sunday's contest. The 26-year-old went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in Saturday's victory.

Mercedes went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, two RBI and one run in Saturday's loss to the Angels.

After going 5-for-5 in his first big-league start Friday, Mercedes knocked three straight hits to begin Saturday's game, including his first homer as a major leaguer. With that, Mercedes became the first player since 1900 to begin a season with eight consecutive hits, per Elias Sports Bureau. It's an incredible story, but Mercedes is a 28-year-old journeyman and the lack of positional eligibility in many fantasy leagues hurts his case as a top waiver priority.