MLB Player News

Buxton hit a solo home run, his first, in Monday's win over the Angels.

Buxton is still hitting a brutal .207/.245/.359 as he struggles to find his way at the major league level, but at least he is finally on the home run board. He homered twice in 46 games last year and is likely a few years away from tapping into any real power. And until he resolves his awful 40:4 K:BB, he's not going to be a worthwhile fantasy player, either.

Manager Terry Francona said Monday that Brantley (shoulder) is "progressing just like he's supposed to," Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Francona added that Brantley is still in soft-toss phase but this is still positive news in regards to his return. Despite the absence of a timetable, the All-Star seems to be on the right track.

Stanton is not in the starting lineup for Monday's game against San Diego.

Ichiro will play right field for the Marlins on Monday night, while Stanton is on the bench against Padres right-hander Colin Rea. No reason has been given for Stanton's absence at this time.

Belt's only hit was a two-run homer in Sunday's 2-1 win over the Dodgers.

Belt was the deciding factor Sunday, taking left-handed rookie Julio Urias deep in the bottom of the sixth inning. The homer was already his third of June, matching his season-high monthly total only 12 days in. Belt has been one of the more consistent options at first base -- especially in OBP leagues -- and it looks like his power is heating up with the weather.

Martinez went 2-for-4 Sunday with a double against the Yankees. It was his fourth consecutive multi-hit game.

He's 8-for-14 (.571) in those four games, but aside from Sunday, all the hits were singles. Since the start of June, Martinez is hitting .372 (16-for-41) with four doubles, one HR and eight RBI.

Cabrera doubled in the first inning of Sunday's game for his 2,400th career hit. He finished 2-for-4 with one run scored.

At 33, Miggy became the fifth-youngest player to reach the 2,400 hit mark; Ty Cobb was the youngest to do it at just 31. Cabrera had been scuffling of late -- he'd only had two multi-hit games in his last 18 games and was 16-for-71 (.225) with one HR and eight RBI in that same span. It's likely a case of gripping the bat just a little too tightly as the milestone approached.

Carpenter is out of the lineup for the second straight game Sunday against the Pirates.

Carpenter didn't get the starting nod Saturday either, but his absence Sunday is most likely due to the fact that the Pirates are sending another left-handed pitcher to the mound in Jon Niese. The infielder did suffer a jammed finger earlier in the week, so it makes sense to give Carpenter an extra day of rest, especially now that the infield has gotten deeper due to the return of Jhonny Peralta. In the meantime, Jedd Gyorko will get the starting nod at second base for the second day in a row.

Harper is not in the starting lineup Sunday against the Phillies, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports.

Harper will take a seat against southpaw Adam Morgan, as manager Dusty Baker will look to rest as many of his left-handed bats as possible, which includes giving lefty Ben Revere the day off as well. Harper has started to slip out of a recent slump since the start of June, going 10-for-32 to raise his batting average 12 points on the month. Look for the lefty slugger to return to action for an important three-game series with the Cubs that begins Monday. In the meantime, Chris Heisey will take over in right field.

Ozuna cranked his 12th home run of the season in Saturday's loss to the Diamondbacks.

The eighth inning solo shot was his only hit in five trips to the plate. Ozuna looked to be cooling off for a brief moment there, but is now 10-for-25 in his last five games with one home run and eight RBI over that span. He continues to be Miami's biggest run producer and is slashing .323/.368/.557 with 12 home runs and 37 RBI in 61 games this season.

Colon will make his third straight start at second base Sunday against the White Sox. He'll bat ninth in the order.

With the White Sox rolling out three straight left-handed starters in the series, Colon has entered the lineup for each game, effectively replacing Jarrod Dyson. In the first two games of the series, Colon went 3-for-8 at the dish, but he'll likely slide back into a reserve role once the string of opposing southpaw starters comes to an end.