MLB Player News

Choi went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in an extra-innings win over the Blue Jays on Friday.

Choi came on as a pinch hitter for Mike Brosseau and ended up logging four plate appearances, with his sixth-inning two-run blast tying the game at 5-5 until the 12th frame. Choi has made the most of his delayed season debut, hitting safely in each of his first five games and quickly racking up eight RBI with the help of a pair of round trippers.

Canha went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Friday's 8-4 win over the Angels.

Canha hit a solo home run off Jose Quintana in the third inning Friday. The outfielder has homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season. His nine homers rank third on the Athletics and four of them have come in his last seven games. The 32-year-old is slashing .250/.374/.463 in 198 plate appearances. He leads Oakland in runs scored with 35 as the leadoff man. His six steals are one shy of tying a career high through a full season.

Cabrera went 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI in Friday's 7-5 win over the Royals.

Cabrera opened the game's scoring in the second inning with a solo blast. He later put the Tigers back on top with a seventh-inning grand slam. The blasts were his first extra-base hits in the last 18 games and he was stuck in a 12-for-63 (.190) skid during that span. The veteran slugger has four homers with a .617 OPS through 115 plate appearances on the season.

Choi went 1-for-3 with an RBI single and three walks in a win over the Orioles on Thursday.

Choi has gotten his 2021 season off to an incandescent start, hitting safely in all four games while going 7-for-13 with a double, a home run, six RBI and four walks. The 30-year-old's torrid pace will naturally slow some as the sample grows, but Choi's encouraging start is a reward for fantasy managers that patiently waited matters out while he overcame a knee injury.

Martinez went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Thursday's 8-7 win over the Blue Jays.

Martinez hit a game-winning two-run home run off Rafael Dolis in the ninth inning. In addition, he had an RBI single in the second inning. The 33-year-old went 12 games without a long ball before cranking a homer in back-to-back games. He now has 12 on the season, leading Boston and tying for third in all of baseball. He is slashing .331/.404/.608 with 37 RBI and 35 runs -- both second in all of baseball -- in 188 plate appearances.

Canha went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Thursday's 8-4 loss to Houston.

Canha opened the scoring in the first inning with a solo shot. The 32-year-old has hit safely in eight of the last nine games with three homers, four RBI, six runs scored and a .294 batting average in that span. He's racked up eight home runs, 13 RBI, 34 runs scored and six stolen bases as Oakland's main leadoff hitter.

Torrens was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday.

Torrens had lost out on consistent playing time recently after he went 0-for-16 with an RBI, a walk and eight strikeouts across his last five games. Tom Murphy should serve as the primary catcher going forward, while Jacob Nottingham could compete for playing time after he was claimed off waivers as part of a corresponding move.

Ohtani isn't starting Game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader against the Twins, Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Ohtani's fastball velocity was down during Wednesday's start against Cleveland, although manager Joe Maddon said that the right-hander simply "wasn't feeling his fastball." Anthony Rendon will serve as the designated hitter in Thursday's matinee while Jose Rojas starts at third base.

Ohtani allowed two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five over 4.2 innings in Wednesday's loss against Cleveland but did not factor into the decision. He also went 1-for-3 as a hitter.

Ohtani allowed Cleveland to get on the board early with an RBI double in the first by Franmil Reyes. He later allowed a leadoff homer to Jake Bauers in the fifth and was eventually pulled following a two-out walk. A concerning observation was that his fastball velocity was down over five miles per hour during most of the game, although manager Joe Maddon assured afterward that nothing was wrong and Ohtani just "wasn't feeling his fastball." His five strikeouts were the fewest he's had in a start this season and he failed to last five innings for the first time since April 20. He still owns a solid 2.37 ERA and 45:22 K:BB over 30.1 innings but that has only led to one win in his first six outings. He should return to the mound again next week and will need to continue crushing at the plate in the meantime with Mike Trout (calf) out for the next 6-to-8 weeks.

Reyes went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Angels.

Reyes opened up the scoring quickly with an RBI double in the first to give Cleveland an early 1-0 lead. He would later lead off the fourth with another two-base hit but nothing came of it. It was his first multi-hit game since May 3 as he raised his slash line to .259/.316/.568 with 10 home runs, 27 RBI, 20 runs scored and a stolen base. Even with that strong production, he's striking out a career-high 30.3 percent of the time and walking in a career-low 7.3 percent of his plate appearances.