MLB Player News

Soler went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI on Thursday against the Red Sox.

Soler took Marcus Walden deep in the fifth inning to record his 16th homer of the season. One of the more surprising sources of power early on, Soler shows no signs of slowing, mashing five homers in his last 11 games. While he's getting base at just a .291 clip, he ranks among the top-10 in the American League in both homers and RBI through 62 games.

Buxton is not in the lineup Thursday against the Indians, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Buxton will get what appears to be a regular day off following a string of 11 consecutive starts during which he slashed .265/.286/.647 with three homers, 10 RBI and two stolen bases. In his absence, Max Kepler is covering center field and hitting leadoff, with Marwin Gonzalez getting a start in right field as a result.

Martinez was removed from Thursday's game against the Royals due to back spasms, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Martinez was 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored prior to exiting the game in the fifth inning. Sam Travis pinch hit for Martinez, who should be considered day-to-day ahead of Friday's series opener against the Rays.

Choi is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Tigers, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Choi will head to the bench along with fellow lefty-hitting lineup regular Brandon Lowe with Detroit bringing southpaw Daniel Norris to the bump for the series finale. With the Rays recently demoting Nate Lowe to Triple-A Durham, Choi looks secure for the time being in a strong-side platoon role at either first base or designated hitter.

Cabrera is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rays.

Cabrera has been managing a sore knee that kept him out of action Saturday and Sunday, but the Tigers cleared him to serve as their designated hitter for the first two games of the series. The 36-year-old was the star of Tuesday's 9-6 win with three hits (including a grand slam), but he went 0-for-4 in Wednesday's 4-0 loss. The Tigers haven't indicated that Cabrera experienced a setback with his knee coming out of Wednesday's contest, so he's likely just getting a maintenance day for the series finale due to the quick turnaround between games.

Choi went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a walk in a win over the Tigers on Wednesday.

Choi drew the start at first base and hit safely for the third straight game. The 28-year-old has actually been running hot at the plate since late May, as he's now hitting .333 (10-for-30) with two doubles, a home run, four RBI, four walks and four runs across his last nine games.

Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, a walk and another run scored in Wednesday's 10-9 win against the Athletics.

With two outs in the fourth, Ohtani stepped up to the plate and launched a three-run, go-ahead homer off Yusmeiro Petit to give the Angels an 8-7 lead. He also singled and scored another run on a bases-loaded walk. With the long ball, he now has homered in two straight games and three of his past five. The 24-year-old has been finding his stride since coming off the injured list, batting .250/.333/.406 to go with five home runs, 20 RBI and nine runs scored in 24 games.

Vogelbach entered Tuesday's loss to the Astros as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and belted a three-run double in two at-bats.

Vogelbach's big hit came in his first plate appearance, when manager Scott Servais called on him to hit for Tim Beckham with two out and the bases loaded in the sixth inning. The left-handed slugger had been given the night off with southpaw Wade Miley on the mound for the Astros, but Tuesday's production extended a modest but welcome early June surge. Vogelbach has hit safely in three of his first four games of the month after generating just a .187 average across 104 plate appearances in May.

Ohtani went 2-for-3 with a walk and a two-run home run in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the A's.

He was the only Angel to have much success against Frankie Montas and the Oakland bullpen -- the rest of the roster combined for two hits, a walk and a HBP. Ohtani now has four homers and 16 RBI in 23 games since his return to the lineup as a hitter, but his .239/.321/.370 slash line is still lagging well behind last year's pace.

Martinez went 3-for-5 with a triple, an RBI and two runs in Tuesday's 8-3 win over the Royals.

The three-bagger was his first of the year. Martinez is now slashing .275/.326/.600 with three homers, four RBI and seven runs through 10 games since missing some time in late May with a sore back. While solid, that stretch actually qualifies as a bit of a downturn for the 31-year-old relative to his .301/.378/.536 line for the season.