MLB Player News

Brantley (shoulder) took batting practice on the field Monday, Nick Camino of WTAM 1100 in Cleveland reports.

Brantley took batting practice indoors over the weekend, marking a milestone is his rehab after he'd been previously restricted to playing soft toss. This is another small step in the right direction for Brantley, though his availability for Opening Day still remains in jeopardy.

Martinez (pectoral) will man right field and bat in the cleanup spot in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Braves.

Martinez was only sidelined a couple of days with pectoral tightness, and his reentry into the lineup indicates he's fully recovered from the issue. Even though an injury-plagued 2016 season dinged his final numbers, Martinez still profiles as one of the game's top power bats. His .908 OPS last season was actually superior to what he provided in 2015, when he smacked a career-high 38 homers.

Canha went 1-for-2 with an RBI double and walk in Sunday's 5-3 Cactus League loss to the Angels.

Canha brought home Eric Young, Jr. and Alejandro De Aza in the third with a double to left, drawing the A's even with the Angels at 1-1 at the time. The right fielder, who'll platoon with offseason acquisition Matt Joyce this season, hit out of the two-hole Sunday and has looked strong this spring after missing the majority of 2016 with a hip injury.

Vogelbach went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles in Saturday's 13-3 Cactus League victory over the Padres.

The 24-year-old is vying to platoon with lefty masher Danny Valencia at first base this season, and got his spring off to a strong start with Saturday's effort. Vogelbach packs plenty of power on his 6-foot, 250-pound frame, and worked all offseason to sharpen his defensive skills in anticipation of his expected role in 2017.

Turner reached base in both of his plate appearances Saturday, collecting a hit, a walk, an RBI and a run scored in a spring training win over the White Sox.

Fresh off a big contract extension, Turner is looking to repeat the career marks he set at the plate last season. The 27 homers seems like an outlier when you consider his previous totals and his age, but the third baseman looks like a safe source of batting average, runs and RBI while batting in the the heart of the Dodgers' lineup this season.

Carpenter had a first-inning sacrifice fly and blasted a two-run homer in Saturday's 8-7 Grapefruit League loss the Marlins.

Hitting out of the three-hole with the newly-acquired Dexter Fowler now batting leadoff, Carpenter blasted a two-run homer in the third that scored his new teammate. He'd also driven Fowler home in the first with a sacrifice fly, giving the new Cardinals starting first baseman an auspicious start to the exhibition slate.

Harper launched a tape-measure home run on the first pitch he saw as part of a 2-for-2 day in Saturday's Grapefruit League opener against the Mets.

The no-doubt shot, which nearly cleared the second fence at the back of the hill overlooking Tradition Field in right-center, announced as clearly as anything could that Harper is 100 percent healthy to begin the spring. Last year's struggles have knocked his ADP down a peg in early drafts, but don't be surprised if it starts creeping back up if he continues to light up opposition pitchers through March.

Belt started and went 1-for-2 in his Cactus League debut Friday.

The extremely patient Belt is looking to repeat last year's career-best .394 on-base percentage and .868 OPS. While his power never developed to the 25-homer level many pegged him for as a prospect, he has turned into a consistent option at first base and should finish with solid counting stats batting in the heart of the Giants' order. Leagues that use on-base percentage should value Belt higher than standard formats, but he will still hold value in other formats given how shallow the first base position is this year.

Cabrera was hit by a pitch in the arm during Saturday's spring training game against Houston but stayed in the contest, MLive.com reports.

If there were even a hint of an injury, Cabrera would have likely been pulled, so there doesn't seem to be any cause for concern here. Cabrera will continue to work in camp with the Tigers until he plays for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic next month.

Pederson was named as one of several options manager Dave Roberts is considering batting leadoff, according to SB Nation.

Logan Forsythe makes the most sense and has to be the early favorite to lead off most nights, but Pederson isn't a terrible option despite his power. His .246 batting average in 2016 doesn't scream "leadoff hitter," but he did get on base at a .352 clip, which is top-of-the-order material. That being said, it would be surprising if Roberts moved Pederson's .847 OPS out of the heart of the lineup.