MLB Player News

Athletics left fielder Yoenis Cespedes was removed from Friday's game in extra innings with an apparent hand injury.

Cespedes was looked at by trainers after injuring himself on a head-first slide into second base but remained in the game at that point. However, he was removed in favor of a pinch hitter when his next turn at the plate came around. He finished the game 0 for 2 with two walks.

Twins first base prospect Kennys Vargas is slugging .500 through six games for Class A Fort Myers. The 22-year-old infielder has a home run, three doubles and three RBI.

In 165 career games, Vargas is batting .307 with a .386 on-base percentage, .509 slugging percentage and .895 OPS. He is not ranked among the Twins' top-20 prospects by MLB.com, but Baseball America considers Vargas the team's 29th-best prospect.

Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera stole his first base of the season Thursday.

Cabrera walked in the first inning and was able to steal third on a distracted Josh Johnson. Cabrera was 1 for 4 with a triple, run scored and an RBI. Cabrera stole four bases last season.

J.D. Martinez started this season in the minors and was pulled from a game earlier this week when he swung at a pitch too early in the count. Yet he's started five straight games for the Astros, with one home run and a .273 batting average on the year.

And if you just look at Martinez' last five games, he's even more attractive, with a .316 average, .826 OPS, home run, and five RBI during that span.

Martinez was a hot add last year, before fizzling in early May, being optioned back to the minors and eventually finsihing the year with a .241 average. But he has a stellar track record in four minor-league seasons (a career .334 average and .929 OPS with 43 home runs and 95 doubles in 321 games) and looks like he's a starter in the wide-open Houston outfield.

I wouldn't overreact to Martinez, but in a 16-team Roto league, he could make for a decent fifth outfielder -- high average with some minor power potential and RBI hope -- at a cheap price, especially this early in the season. 

Owned in just three percent of leagues, Martinez should at least be grabbed in most AL-only formats. 

Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez had his best game of the season Tuesday at Seattle. Martinez homered and drove in three runs in a 16-9 win. 

He also scored twice. Martinez is batting .263 (5 for 19) with one home run, three RBI and six strikeouts in seven games.

Atheltics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes produced his first multi-hit game of the season Tuesday at L.A. Angels. Cespedes singled twice, walked twice and scored two runs.

Cespedes is still without a double or triple, but he has two home runs and five RBI in eight games. He's batting .179 (5 for 28) with 10 strikeouts.

After being pulled from the contest Monday due to what he called a "mental mistake," Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez was back in the lineup Tuesday against the Mariners.

"Like I said yesterday to you guys, I understood the situation and we talked about it and put it behind us," Martinez said. "We still have a lot more games left to play and it’s behind us and we’re ready to move forward. Today’s a new day."

Martinez has gone 3 for 13 (.231) through six games.

Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera appears to be rounding into midseason form just eight games into the year. Cabrera, coming off his impressive Triple Crown season, had four hits for the second time in the past three games Monday against Toronto to boost his average to .393.

One of his hits was an opposite-field three-run homer over the fence in right field -- his 100th career homer at Comerica Park.

"I've been on record pretty much for the last five years. To me, he's pretty much the best opposite-field home-run hitter probably in the history of the game," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I've never seen anything like it, to be honest with you. I truly believe that. I think he's got the best opposite-field power of any player I've ever seen."

Miguel Cabrera hit his first homer of the season and drove in four runs, leading the Tigers past the Blue Jays 7-3 Tuesday. Cabrera's home run was a three-run shot off Brandon Morrow in the fourth inning.

Cabrera was 4 for 5 with three runs and four RBI. It was his second four-hit game since Saturday. He's batting .393 (11 for 28) with one double and 10 RBI in seven games.

Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez was taken out of Monday's game after making a mental error at the plate.

Martinez admitted after the game that he did not follow the club's game strategy, swinging at the first pitch he saw. Martinez has been playing while Fernando Martinez is on the disabled list.