MLB Player News

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Turner (face) is scheduled to take batting practice Friday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

Assuming Turner is able to track the ball well during his upcoming BP session, he could be cleared to rejoin the Red Sox's Grapefruit League lineup as soon as Saturday or Sunday for what would be his first game action since he exited a March 6 contest after being struck in the face by a pitch. Turner was fortunate to avoid a concussion or any facial fractures, but he required 16 stitches to seal a laceration on his face and also experienced significant swelling. The Red Sox will likely ease Turner back into the spring lineup at designated hitter before having him play third base.

Rooker is hitting .391 (9-for-23) with five doubles, two RBI, eight walks, a hit-by-pitch, a stolen base and six runs across 11 Cactus League games.

The 28-year-old was claimed off waivers in November after being designated for assignment by Kansas City, and he's now making a strong case for an Opening Day roster spot as a reserve outfielder. Rooker boasts a 1.172 OPS in Cactus League play and impressively laced a pair of two-baggers off the White Sox's Dylan Cease and reliever Joe Kelly on Tuesday, the latest installment in a spring that Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports has been an extension of a very strong minor-league body of work in both the Padres and Royals organizations in 2022. "Rook's having a good spring," manager Mark Kotsay said. "These at-bats today were great. He hits the ball hard. He's done a nice job of taking some great at-bats. He's taking advantage of this opportunity right now."

Cabrera's participation for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic will be limited by the Tigers, Marly Rivera of ESPN.com reports.

Rivera notes that the specific limitations are yet to be determined but could involve Cabrera being limited to just one plate appearance per game. Cabrera is 1-for-9 at the plate so far during WBC play.

Angels manager Phil Nevin said Monday that Ohtani's final appearance as a pitcher in the WBC would come in the quarterfinals, but Ohtani subsequently indicated that such a decision hasn't yet been made, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports.

The report comes by way of Japanese journalist Naoyuki Yanagihara of Sports Nippon Newspapers. Ohtani is expected to pitch for Japan against Italy in a quarterfinal matchup early Thursday morning, and if that is indeed his final outing on the mound in the WBC, it would prevent him from throwing in a potential championship game in Miami on Tuesday, March 21. From a scheduling standpoint, Nevin's direction makes sense, as Ohtani typically pitches on five days of rest, and there would be four days between Japan's quarterfinal contest and the championship game (if the team makes it that far). Given Ohtani's response to word of Nevin's comments, however, it may not be set in stone that the star hurler would be kept off the mound in a potential title game.

Horwitz was optioned to minor-league camp Monday, KKeegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Horwitz is currently playing for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and will report to the backfields of Dunedin when the tournament concludes. The 24-year-old infielder/outfielder registered an .843 OPS with 12 homers over 114 games between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo during the 2022 season.

Turner (face) said Monday he could return to Grapefruit League games later this week, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Turner managed to avoid serious injury when he was hit in the face by a pitch a week ago and was cleared to resume baseball activities over the weekend after having his stitches removed. At this point, it appears Turner should be fine for Opening Day.

Brantley (shoulder) rejoined the Astros at spring training Monday, but manager Dusty Baker said it "will be close" whether the veteran outfielder is ready to go for Opening Day, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brantley's status for Opening Day was already in question while he continues to recover from the surgery he underwent last August to repair the labrum in his right shoulder, and it didn't help his cause that his rehab program was essentially put on hold when he stepped away from the team just under two weeks ago to tend to a family matter. Now that he's back at camp, Brantley is expected to steadily increase his baseball activities, but he still may have an uphill battle to get fully ramped up by the time Houston opens its season March 30 versus the White Sox. When Brantley is healthy, Baker said that the 35-year-old is expected to serve as the Astros' No. 2 hitter while likely sharing time at designated hitter and in left field with Yordan Alvarez (hand).

Turner (face) played catch and took swings off a tee Sunday, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Sunday's work represents the first baseball activity Turner has participated in since getting hit in the face by a pitch last Monday. Surprisingly, he didn't sustain any fractures or lose any teeth. Turner was given the go-ahead to resume activities after having 16 stitches removed Saturday. "Hopefully just kind of keep ramping it up as long as there's no setbacks and hopefully be back out there as soon as possible," Turner said. He believes he can be ready for Opening Day.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora suggested Sunday that Turner (face) could return to baseball activities as soon as Monday, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.

"[Turner is] gonna do a lot of stuff inside today in the training room and in the gym," Cora said. The infielder has made a fast recovery after a scary moment in which he was hit in the face Monday and required 16 stitches and a hospitalization. There's no guarantee that Turner will be ready for Opening Day at this point, though the 38-year-old indicated Sunday he expects to be good to go by that point, per Ian Browne of MLB.com.

Alvarez (hand) was able to hit soft toss in the batting cage Sunday and felt good, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Alvarez has taken swings in the cage two of the last three days, and both times the slugger has felt fine after the session. He's recovering from soreness in his left hand, and while the team has framed his absence from Grapefruit League precautionary, it's late enough in the spring season to grow concerned that he may not be ready to play on Opening Day. Astros manager Dusty Baker said Saturday that it's "still the plan" for Alvarez to be ready for the start of the season, however, and it's encouraging that he's feeling better swinging the bat at this stage.