MLB Player News

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera left Saturday's game against the White Sox early after apparently re-aggravating an ankle injury.

Cabrera suffered an injury while trying to leg out a hit in the fourth inning of Game 2 of a doubleheader and was replaced by Nick Castellanos. Cabrera finished 0 for 3 with an RBI groundout. He is hitting .299/.363/.486 with 17 homers and 91 RBI over 508 at-bats.

The Royals activated recently acquired infielder Jayson Nix Saturday and optioned Christian Colon to Double-A Nortwest Arkansas.

Colon has been productive since joining the Royals, though playing time hasn't been consistent. He is hitting .302/.348/.442 in 43 at-bats, and should return to the team when rosters expand.  

Kennys Vargas has his strengths for sure. The most obvious is ... his strength. He can hit the ball out of the park and has done so four times in his first 95 at-bats.

But that projects to, what, 24 homers in 600 at-bats? It certainly isn't why he's the No. 4 first baseman in Head-to-Head leagues since arriving Aug. 1. And that worries me.

It worries me because if it's supposed to be his strength, then other, less sustainable aspects of his game are carrying him, leaving him vulnerable to collapse.

I don't think it's at all a stretch to say he won't keep hitting .337. He has already struck out 27 times in those 95 at-bats, and with only four walks. Once opposing pitchers pick up on his tendencies, they'll take advantage of his aggressiveness. To put it another way, his .424 BABIP is ridiculous.

Vargas has also accumulated 23 RBI in only 23 games. The law of averages says that won't last even before you apply the correction in batting average. Cut those two measurements down to size, and Vargas is looking more like a Kendrys Morales-type player.

Which may seem unfair to those only familiar with the 2014 version of Kendrys Morales, but basically all I'm saying is Vargas is a serviceable corner infielder at this stage of his career, nothing more. You can ride him while he's hot, but ultimately he won't measure up to first basemen like Justin Morneau and Matt Adams.

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is back in the lineup Tuesday against the Yankees, after getting a few days off to rest a sore ankle.

Cabrera is batting third and starting at first base, the first time he has been in the field since Friday. He got two days off entirely as he was not in the lineup Sunday, ahead of Monday's off-day.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told reporters that he would be "shocked" if first baseman Miguel Cabrera doesn't return to the starting lineup Tuesday against the Yankees, according to MLive.com.

Cabrera sat out Sunday's series finale against the Twins to rest his ankle. He is hitting .304 (7 for 23) with no homers and three RBI over his last seven days. He owns a .308/.375/.501 slash line with 17 homers and 89 RBI over 483 at-bats this season.

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is not in Sunday's starting lineup in order to rest his sore ankle, MLB.com reports.

Cabrera could be used as a pinch-hitter Sunday, but if he isn't called upon, he'll get two fulls days of rest before presumingly returning to action Tuesday.

Twins emerging first baseman Kennys Vargas certainly made the most out of his two doubles Saturday in a second straight rout of Detroit.

Vargas drove in one with his double in the second inning and cleared the bases with another in the seventh. He added a sacrifice fly to give him five RBI in the game and 10 in the last seven combined. Vargas has seven hits in the last three games to improve his stat line to .326/.366/.553.

Red Sox outfielder Yoenis Cespedes provided all of the team's offense Friday, in a 5-3 loss to the Mariners.

Cespedes had just one hit in the game, but it was a big one, as he got the Red Sox on the board with a three-run home run. He finished the game 1 for 4 with three RBI and one run scored, while striking out twice.

Cespedes had gone six games since his last home run, and is hitting just .230/.237/.446 with four home runs in 19 games for the Red Sox. 

Red Sox outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is back in the starting lineup Friday against the Mariners, after leaving Thursday's game due to a family issue. He is batting fourth and starting in left field for the opener of a three-game series at home. 

Red Sox outfielder Yoenis Cespedes left Thursday's game due to a "family medical emergency."

Manager John Farrell did not want to get into specifics regarding the issue out of respect to Cespedes. The club is hopeful that Cespedes will be able to play Friday. He was replaced by Will Middlebrooks in the fourth inning.