MLB Player News

Lewis was scratched from the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks after running into the wall Monday against the Dodgers, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

The Mariners reportedly aren't concerned about any particular injury with Lewis but still wanted to give him a day to recover. Sam Haggerty will slide to center field in his absence, with Jake Fraley entering the lineup in right.

Brantley went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI in Monday's spring game against the Mets.

Brantley's batting a middling .235 (8-for-34) this spring, but he leads Houston with seven RBI. Since joining the team, Brantley has been a clutch performer, as he's hit .347 (60-for-173) and knocked in 83 runs with runners in scoring position since 2019. Brantley will be Houston's everyday left fielder while batting third or fourth, where RBI opportunities should be plentiful.

Jimenez went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and three RBI in Monday's spring game against San Francisco.

The home run was Jimenez's second of the Cactus League. The young slugger has found his swing over the last week, going 7-for-17 with three extra-base hits and nine RBI over the last four games.

Reyes has appeared in 10 Cactus League games entering Monday, going 9-for-28 with four extra-base hits and a 1:11 BB:K.

Reyes' strikeout rate is up a little bit this spring, but he's providing plenty of power to compensate for it, slugging three home runs and a triple thus far. The burly 25-year-old even contributed a stolen base, though fantasy managers shouldn't count on him running once Opening Day arrives, given that he has zero career regular-season steals. The power is real, though, and Reyes has the ability to challenge for the MLB home-run crown if he's able to do a better job of consistently squaring up on the ball in 2021. Due in large part to a career-high 50.3 percent groundball rate, Reyes left the yard only nine times in 59 games last season, a disappointing output for a player who slugged 37 homers the year prior.

Ohtani tossed four innings in Sunday's Cactus League contest against San Diego, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. He also hit leadoff and went 2-for-2 with a walk.

Ohtani doesn't typically pitch and hit in the same game, though manager Joe Maddon left the possibility of him doing so in the regular season open, calling Sunday's scenario an "experiment" to see how Ohtani feels and pointing out that NL pitchers do it all the time, per Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. The two-way phenom is slashing an absurd .636/.654/1.182 with four homers this spring and hit 102 mph on his fastball Sunday, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, so it's certainly tempting for the Angels to try to get as much out of both his bat and his arm as possible.

Choi (knee) is not expected to be ready by Opening Day, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

Choi hasn't been officially ruled out, but the team is planning on him missing the start of the season. Yandy Diaz, Mike Brosseau and Yoshi Tsutsugo could see more time at first base in his absence.

Lewis is 5-for-11 with three doubles, a home run, three RBI, a walk and three runs across his last three Cactus League games, pushing his spring average to .303 (10-for-33).

Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports Lewis was already drawing accolades from manager Scott Servais after the first game Thursday, with the Mariners' skipper noting the slugging outfielder had "looked as good as he has all spring" in that contest. Lewis subsequently continued his hot hitting the next two days, supporting the notion the 25-year-old may have his timing at the plate close to regular-season form at this point.

Stanton is no longer expected to spend any time in the outfield during spring training, though he still expects to log some time there during the regular season, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Stanton had previously expressed a desire and expectation to get some defensive reps this spring, but manager Aaron Boone has been noncommittal about that prospect, and it now appears that the team has no plans to allow the slugger to risk injury by playing the field in Grapefruit League games. Despite Stanton's clear interest in playing defense at some point in the campaign, it wouldn't be surprising if he's limited strictly to DH duties this year.

Ford was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday.

Ford struggled in the majors last year but worked with the major-league coaching staff this spring. He went 3-for-19 with a double, two RBI, one walk and three strikeouts over nine spring games this year but will now prepare for the minor-league season.

Choi (knee) is progressing well in his recovery but hasn't began participating in baseball activities, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

The 29-year-old has been battling right knee soreness since early in camp and is unlikely to retake the field in the near future. Choi appears poised to open the season on the injured list since he's not taking part in baseball activities and with Opening Day less than two weeks away.