MLB Player News

Buxton (back) is expected to return to the lineup at Triple-A Rochester on Friday, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

A bout of back spasms has kept Buxton off the field for close to a week, but it sounds like the discomfort has subsided to a large extent. Buxton has responded well to his demotion, slashing .301/.356/.494 with three homers in 20 games with Rochester, but his 1:7 BB:K in his last seven games with the affiliate suggests the approach could still use some work.

Brantley (shoulder) may not resume swinging a bat until next week and remains without a firm return date, MLB.com reports.

Brantley received and anti-inflammatory injection during a checkup Tuesday and the Indians figure to give him 5-7 days to let it calm down before resuming hitting activities which would seem to put his earliest return date of May 26 in serious jeopardy.

Colon was optioned to Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports.

Colon had a decent stint with the Royals this spring, slashing .262/.311/.310 as a placeholder at second and third base. However, the Royals opted to give career minor leaguer Whit Merrifield a shot with the big league club Wednesday, which led to Colon being sent back down to Omaha.

Miller is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.

The recently recalled Taylor Motter will get the start at shortstop Wednesday in place of Miller. After a terrible first moth of the season in which he slashed .185/.254/.354, Miller has picked things up a bit at the plate in May, batting .265 with three home runs through 13 games. He'll likely return to the lineup Friday against Detroit.

Martinez hit his eighth home run, a solo shot, as part of a 2-for-4 game in Tuesday's win over the Twins.

Martinez now has homers in three straight games and five blasts in his past nine games. After a slow start, Martinez has totally righted the ship and is now on pace for 33 home runs. In 281 games over the past two seasons, Martinez hammered 61 home runs, a 35-homer pace per 162 games, so Martinez has picked up this season right where he left off.

Miller knocked in three runs as part of a 3-for-5 game in Tuesday's blowout win over Toronto.

Miller is already ceding playing time against left-handed pitching to Taylor Motter, and with Motter mashing a home run off a right-handed reliever in Tuesday's game, Miller will have to keep producing games like this to maintain his tenuous grip on playing time. The big day included a double and a triple and raised Miller's batting line against righties to .233/.303/.444. That's hardly ideal, but the average AL shortstop is hitting just .251/.305/.379, so the Rays can work with it in a pinch.

Canha will have hip surgery and is out for the rest of the season, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Canha has struggled all season with the injury, only hitting .122 in 41 at-bats prior to being placed on the DL in early May. After a 16-homer 2015 campaign, Canha figured to be part of the A's offense in 2016, but will now have to wait until 2017 to make an impact with the club. The rehab is expected to be six months and barring any setbacks, he should be ready for spring training 2017.

Brantley (shoulder) received an anti-inflammatory injection for his subacromial impingement Tuesday. The Indians announced that there is no timetable for his return.

The star outfielder was placed on the 15-day disabled list over the weekend after aggravating the same shoulder injury that forced him to start the year on the DL. He met with Dr. Craig Morgan on Tuesday and he received an injection to reduce inflammation in the area, but there is still no word on when Brantley will be able to resume baseball activities. In his absence, Jose Ramirez will likely see most of the playing time in left field for the Indians.

The Indians have not released the results of Brantley's trip to the doctor Tuesday, but manager Terry Francona said that the check-up on Brantley's shoulder was "encouraging," MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports.

An official and full update on Brantley's status figures to be available soon, but early indications point to the exam going well.

Martinez hit his seventh home run as part of a 3-for-4 game with two runs scored and two RBI Monday against the Twins.

Martinez now has four home runs in his past eight games and has pushed his batting line from .230/.299/.369 to a respectable .252/.335/.448 in that span. Martinez has a better strikeout rate (23.2 percent) and walk rate (10.4 percent) than last season but was beating the ball into the ground and had yet to show the power that set him apart in 2014 and 2015 (61 combined home runs). Now that it looks like Martinez has found his power stroke too, he could once again become one of the American League's most productive outfielders.