MLB Player News

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.

Belt (knee) is not in the lineup for Sunday's series finale at Milwaukee, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Belt was scratched with a sore right knee for Saturday's game, although he did make an appearance as a pinch hitter. The lingering issue doesn't appear overly serious, but for Sunday, Ryder Jones grabs the start at first base for the Giants.

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.

Belt (knee) struck out in his only at-bat Saturday against the Brewers.

Belt was a late scratch Saturday due to a lingering knee injury, but his usage off the bench is a sign that the injury isn't serious. The 30-year-old could return to the starting lineup Sunday with the right-handed Zach Davies on the bump for Milwaukee.

Harper went 1-for-1 with three walks, a two-run home run and a second run scored in a 6-5 win over the Cubs during the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.

As is Cubs manager Joe Maddon's tendency, Harper got worked around for most of the night, but the one time he got a hittable pitch, he made no mistake, crushing his 32nd homer of the year to straightaway center field off lefty Justin Wilson in the seventh inning and providing what proved to be the winning runs. Harper has a .329/.448/.594 slash line through 46 games since the All-Star break, pushing his OPS on the year up to .899.

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.

Blackmon went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer against the Dodgers on Saturday.

Blackmon took Walker Buehler deep in the fifth inning to record his 24th home run of the season. The long ball marked his first since Aug. 24 and only his second since July 31. While that production is disappointing, Blackmon has managed to provide value by swiping seven bases and scoring 28 runs since the All-Star break.

Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Tigers.

His two-run shot off Shane Greene in the top of the ninth inning tied the game at 3-3, only for Bud Norris to hand the game right back to Detroit with a walkoff wild pitch in the bottom half of the frame. Ozuna now has 21 homers on the year, five of which have come in the last four 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.