MLB Player News

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.

Martinez went 1-for-4 with a home run and four RBI on Sunday against the Astros.

Martinez launched a three-run homer against Dallas Keuchel in the fifth inning to record his 40th home run of the season. He has now reached the 40-home-run plateau for the second consecutive season and remains one of the premier power hitters in the game.

Ohtani (thigh) is in the lineup Sunday against the White Sox, acting as the designated hitter and batting fourth, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

The Japanese import came away from a home-plate collision with a thigh bruise, though it appears the issue is fairly minor. Ohtani will continue to act as the main designated hitter for the Angels in September barring further issues with his injured UCL.

Choi is not in the lineup Sunday against the Orioles, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Choi has largely been shielded from lefties this season, logging just 13 at-bats against southpaws to date. As is typically the case, he'll head to the bench to avoid a lefty-on-lefty matchup with Baltimore starter Josh Rogers. Tommy Pham will slide into the designated hitter spot to replace him, allowing Carlos Gomez to join the starting nine.

McCutchen went 1-for-3 with a walk and solo home run Saturday against the Mariners.

McCutchen took Felix Hernandez deep to lead off the game with his 17th home run of the season. Though he started slowly with the Yankees, McCutchen has now homered in consecutive games. He's led off and batted third most recently, which should allow him to rack up counting stats to close the season, especially if he continues his power resurgence.

Brantley went 2-for-4 with a two walks and a two-run homer in Saturday's win over the Blue Jays.

Brantley delivered in his return to the lineup after missing a pair of games with a foot injury. The outfielder put the Indians up 4-3 with his home run off Sean Reid-Foley in what ended up being a seven-run fifth inning. The 31-year-old is now hitting a solid .304/.359/.468 with 15 homers and 10 stolen bases over 127 games.

Ohtani was diagnosed with a right thigh contusion and is day-to-day, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Ohtani suffered the injury during a collision at home plate in Saturday's 12-3 win over the White Sox, though he said he was fine afterwards and added he'll be able to play Sunday should manager Mike Scioscia include him in the lineup. Prior to suffering the injury, Ohtani was 2-for-4 with a walk, a three-run triple, two runs scored and a stolen base.