MLB Player News

Buxton (toe) participated in Minnesota's batting practice Saturday, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Buxton indicated he hopes to avoid an additional minor-league rehab assignment, and he's already played one game at High-A Fort Myers and multiple games at extended spring training in late April. The 24-year-old resumed running Friday and still has no definitive return timetable, but he appears to be nearing his return.

Ohtani will take the mound Sunday against the Mariners, Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Ohtani suffered a mild left ankle spain April 27 against the Yankees and hasn't pitched since April 24, but he's served as designated hitter each of the past four games. The 23-year-old will be out of the lineup Saturday due to him taking the mound Sunday.

Ozuna went 3-for-3 with a walk in a win over the Cubs on Friday.

Although all three hits were singles, it was nevertheless an encouraging outing for the prized offseason acquisition whose OBP still sits at an anemic .285. Despite a surprising lack of power to date (two home runs over 123 plate appearances), Ozuna has still been productive while compiling 17 RBI, and he's now posted multi-hit efforts in three of his last seven games.

Miller entered Friday's win over the Blue Jays in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter and went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer.

Miller grounded out in his official pinch-hit at-bat, but he hit again an inning later and blasted a 425-foot shot to right center. The veteran infielder's average sat at .184 as recently as April 22, but he's boosted it 51 points over the subsequent nine games by hitting safely in eight of those contests.

Soler went 1-for-4 with a two-run single in Friday's win over the Tigers.

Soler's two-run hit came in the eighth inning and broke a 2-2 tie. He's now riding a 10-game hitting streak, bringing his batting average up to .309 in the process. The young outfielder has four home runs and 12 RBI on the season and has impressively worked 19 walks in 119 plate-appearances, which has helped him to achieve a .429 on-base percentage.

Harper went 2-for-5 with two home run and three RBI in Friday's 7-3 win over the Phillies.

He took Nick Pivetta yard in the first and second innings, the latter of which traveled an estimated 473 feet. Harper now has 12 home runs on the season, including four in his last four games, and the impending return of Anthony Rendon (toe) to the lineup could give manager Dave Martinez the excuse he needs to move Harper back to the heart of the order from his current leadoff spot.

Manager Dave Roberts expects Turner (wrist) to return from the disabled list in the next couple weeks, Pedro Moura of The Athletic Los Angeles reports.

This is an optimistic timeline, as Turner has yet to embark on a rehab assignment and he's missed nearly a month and a half to this point. Regardless, this likely means that the third baseman hasn't encountered any setbacks, though a firmer timetable should emerge once he actually gets back into game action.

Pederson is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Padres, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Pederson will remain on the bench for a second straight game with another left-hander taking the mound, this time in Joey Lucchesi. Tim Locastro will draw another start in center field in his stead.

Buxton (toe) was able to partake in light running prior to the Twins' game in Chicago on Friday, Phil Miller of the Star Tribune report.

Buxton remains without a definitive timetable after going down with a hairline fracture in his left big toe a couple weeks ago. A better sense of his eventual return should clear up once he's able to begin more intensive running and agility drills, since he reported that his cutting "wasn't up to par" during Friday's mini-workout.

McCutchen (elbow) will play right field and bat second against the Braves on Friday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

McCutchen will not be forced to miss any time after exiting Wednesday's contest following a pitch to his elbow in the bottom of the fourth inning. The outfielder received clean results from his MRI and should be fully operational moving forward.