MLB Player News

Martinez will be on the bench for Sunday's contest against the Mets.

Martinez will sit for the second time in September. Steve Pearce will be the designated hitter in his absence.

Brantley will be on the bench Sunday against the Tigers.

The Indians will go with nearly a full shift change Sunday after clinching the division the day before. Rajai Davis will start in left field.

Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Saturday against the Mariners.

Ohtani smacked his 20th home run of the season in the first inning, going back-to-back with Mike Trout. He's flashed his power regularly this month, with Saturday's long ball already being his fifth of September. Through 280 at-bats in his rookie campaign, he's slashing .293/.371/.593.

McCutchen went 3-for-3 with a solo home run, two walks and a second run scored in Friday's 11-0 rout of the Blue Jays.

McCutchen tacked on an insurance run in the fifth inning on a solo homer to right field, delivering his 18th home run of the season and his third as a Yankee. The 31-year-old owns a .253/.365/.421 slash line through 142 games this season, although he'll likely see his playing time take a hit when Aaron Judge (wrist) is finally cleared to return to the starting lineup.

Martinez went 2-for-4 with a single and a solo home run in Thursday's victory over the Blue Jays.

Martinez got the scoring started for the Red Sox with a solo shot off Sam Gaviglio in the second inning. The MVP candidate now has a .330/.400/.634 slash line with 41 home runs, 122 RBI and 106 runs over 602 plate appearances in 2018.

Choi went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in Wednesday's win over the Indians.

Choi stayed hot Wednesday, taking Carlos Carrasco deep in the first inning to put the Rays up 2-0, his second homer in the past three games. The 27-year-old is now hitting an impressive .353/.439/.824 with four homers, four doubles and 12 RBI through 10 games this month.

Brantley is not in the lineup against Tampa Bay on Wednesday, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Brantley will take a seat on the bench with southpaw Blake Snell on the mound for the Rays. In his absence, Brandon Guyer will start in left field and bat fifth.

Lewis slashed .311/.426/.578 with three doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, nine walks, two stolen bases and nine runs over his last 13 games of the 2018 season with Double-A Arkansas, including five postseason contests.

Lewis only slashed .220/.309/.371 over 37 games with the Travelers, seeing a 40-point drop in batting average and 58-point dip in slugging percentage over what he'd generated with High-A Modesto earlier in the season. However, his impressive hot streak to wrap up 2018 certainly gives him plenty of momentum heading into the offseason. Lewis remains a highly regarded prospect in the organization, and an eventual ascension to Triple-A at some point in 2019 is likely if he's able to replicate his recent production.

Choi went 1-for-4 with a bases-loaded hit by pitch and a game-winning two-run home run against the Indians on Monday.

Choi smacked an 0-1 fastball from Brad Hand into the right-field bleachers with Tommy Pham aboard and two outs in the ninth, erasing a 5-4 deficit to send the Rays home winners. The South Korean slugger already has an impressive 10 RBI over eight September games, which have largely come as the result of seven extra-base hits (four doubles, three homers). Factoring in Monday's production, Choi is hitting .346 (9-for-26) thus far in the current month, boosting his AL average 17 points to .285 in the process.

Ohtani (elbow) met with Angels general manager Billy Eppler on Monday to discuss when the two-way player will undergo Tommy John surgery, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

After an MRI last week revealed new damage to the UCL in Ohtani's (right) throwing arm, doctors advised the rookie to go under the knife to address the issue. While it appears that Ohtani plans to heed that advice -- which would prevent him from pitching during the 2019 season -- he's continued to serve as a regular designated hitter for the Angels since receiving the diagnosis. Though Tommy John surgery would likely prevent Ohtani from hitting without restriction for approximately six months, that timetable still puts his status for Opening Day next season in some peril. The longer Ohtani delays the procedure, the less likely it becomes that he'll be ready to go for the start of next season, so expect the Angels to implore the 24-year-old to shut down activity sooner rather than later.