MLB Player News

Martinez (back/illness) is back in the lineup for Friday's game against the Astros, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Martinez missed four games in a row with an illness and a sore back. He'll bat fourth as the cleanup hitter Friday.

Brantley is not in the lineup Friday against Boston, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brantley hits the bench after making 13 straight starts. George Springer returns from his back injury in right field, pushing Josh Reddick to left, though Brantley should continue to play a regular role as the Astros use the designated hitter spot to make room for their outfield depth.

Jimenez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's victory over the Astros.

Jimenez homered on a line drive to center field in the fourth inning against starter Corbin Martin to boost the White Sox lead to 4-0. After recently coming off the injured list (ankle), the 22-year-old went 0-for-7 during the first two games of the series in Houston before launching two bombs Wednesday and another one Thursday to bring his season total to six. The outfielder is batting an underwhelming .234/.280/.447 with 11 RBI through 25 games this year, though those numbers seem to be on the rise.

Buxton is not in Thursday's lineup against the Angels.

Wednesday's game was postponed, but Buxton will still get the off day for which he was slated after starting 11 games in a row. Max Kepler will shift to center field while Marwin Gonzalez starts in right field, hitting third.

Ohtani is not in Thursday's lineup against the Twins.

After Wednesday's game against the Twins was rained out, the Angels are going with the exact same lineup they had planned to use, which includes Ohtani starting on the bench and Mike Trout getting the nod at designated hitter. David Fletcher shifts to left field with Brian Goodwin moving over to center field.

Martinez (back/illness) is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Blue Jays, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Martinez's streak of absences will reach four games after it was revealed Wednesday that he was nursing a sore back in addition to an illness. The Red Sox haven't suggested that either health issue will result in Martinez landing on the 10-day injured list, but his outlook could change if he's still not close to 100 percent when the team begins its series in Houston on Friday. Steve Pearce will enter the lineup Thursday as a de facto replacement for Martinez.

Jimenez went 2-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs and three runs scored in Wednesday's 9-4 win over the Astros.

Jimenez had been quiet since his return from the injured list, going hitless in seven at-bats before taking Gerrit Cole deep in the second inning. He later put a cap on the night with an eighth-inning blast. This was the second two-homer game for the rookie, who also did it at Yankee Stadium on April 12.

Canha went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in a 7-2 victory against the Indians on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old is on a bit of a home-run hitting spree. He has gone deep in back-to-back games and has posted five homers since May 13. Canha is still only batting .224 but with nine extra-base hits in 67 at-bats, he's posted a .567 slugging percentage. Canha also has seven home runs, 14 RBI and 13 runs in 26 games.

Soler went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Cardinals.

Soler took Michael Wacha deep in the third inning to record his 11th home run of the season. He's been relatively quiet at the plate of late, recording eight hits in his past 37 at-bats with four extra-base knocks and nine strikeouts. Still, he's shown plenty of pop in the early going, slugging .495 across 201 plate appearances.

Martinez, who is sitting for a third straight day Wednesday, is dealing with a sore back in addition to the illness that bothered him early in the week, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

The back injury takes precedent over the illness, which he is probably over at this point. Abraham notes that Martinez may not play Thursday, in which case his availability for this weekend's series against the Astros could come into question. Christian Vazquez starts at DH on Wednesday.