MLB Player News

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.

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

He was hit on the finger by a pitch Monday, but was back in there Tuesday, and will get a breather in this one. The Angels have an off day Thursday, but Ohtani should be back in the mix this weekend against the Rangers. Mike Trout gets the nod at DH, with David Fletcher getting the start in left field Wednesday.

Buxton is not starting Wednesday against the Angels.

Buxton sits after starting 11 games in a row. He hit .400 over the first eight games of that stretch but has since gone hitless in three straight. Max Kepler gets the start in center field, with Marwin Gonzalez starting in right.

Stanton (shoulder) will be shut down for 7-to-10 days with a calf strain, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

The long end of that timetable would mean Stanton won't participate in baseball activities until June 1, and he will need another week or two after that to finish his rehab and get up to speed after missing a couple months with a shoulder injury. Per Adler, Stanton believes the calf injury is a result of when he was hit by a pitch a couple days ago while taking live batting practice, which only makes this a more frustrating situation.

Stanton's (shoulder) rehab assignment was put on hold Tuesday due to left calf tightness.

Stanton is already onto his third injury of the season, as he strained his shoulder while recovering from a biceps strain and now suffered a calf injury while recovering from the shoulder issue. He made it through one rehab game before the assignment had to be paused. The severity of this latest setback remains unclear.