MLB Player News

Cespedes went 2-for-6 with a home run in Wednesday's game against the Phillies.

The native of Cuba is slashing .291/.371/.636 with five homers and 13 RBI through his first 55 at-bats. Cespedes does have 20 strikeouts, but a high number of K's is par for the course throughout his career. He appears well on his way to another campaign of 25-plus homers and 100-plus RBI.

Miller is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Red Sox, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune reports.

With left-handed David Price on the mound for Boston, the Rays will go with Tim Beckham at shortstop. Miller has surprisingly fared better against righties than against lefties this season, with his only home run and all three of his RBI coming against same-hand pitching. No matter, he figures to get most of his rest when the team faces southpaws.

Stanton is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Stanton has yet to really get anything going with the bat, so manager Don Mattingly decided to give him his first day off of the season Thursday in hopes of providing a spark. Ichiro Suzuki will get the start in right field Thursday in Stanton's place.

Pederson will hit cleanup in Thursday's game against the Braves, Andy McCullough of the LA Times reports.

Pederson has not hit higher than sixth in any other game this season, but he will move up to the fourth spot Thursday with regular cleanup hitter Adrian Gonzalez being bumped up to third for a day. Pederson has a hit in three straight games and owns an .883 OPS against right-handers on the season. He will face a righty Thursday with Matt Wisler on the mound for the Braves.

Turner is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Braves, according to Andy McCullough of the LA Times.

Turner tallied two hits in Wednesday's game but just three hits in the previous seven games, so manager Dave Roberts decided to give him the day off Thursday. Charlie Culbertson will fill in at third base in Turner's place.

Belt is back in the lineup Wednesday, batting cleanup and playing first base against the Diamondbacks.

After getting the night off Tuesday against southpaw Robbie Ray, Belt will get back to his usual spot in the order for Wednesday's matchup. Belt will be facing a familiar foe Wednesday with Zack Greinke on the hill for the Diamondbacks. In 17 career at-bats against the Arizona ace, Belt has collected five hits, including one home run, while striking out six times.

Buxton isn't in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Brewers, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Buxton will take a seat while Eddie Rosario gets the nod in center field and Oswaldo Arcia starts in left. The 22-year-old went 1-for-7 with a triple over the past two games, coming off a hand injury that kept him out for three games. Buxton has struck out at a 42.9 percent clip through the Twins' first 14 games of the 2016 season.

Brantley is scheduled to play back-to-back games Friday and Saturday with Triple-A Columbus.

Playing back-to-back games is considered the last hurdle to overcome before returning to the Indians lineup, so given that the Indians felt confident enough to schedule it now is a very good sign. The schedule states that his location on Sunday is TBD, so things should become clearer following the second game of the back-to-back.

Ozuna is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Nationals, MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reports.

It's been a rough start to the year for Ozuna, who is hitting .200 with a 14:1 K:BB in 51 plate appearances. Ichiro Suzuki will get the start in center field and hit second Wednesday.

Soler is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Cardinals.

He has been the Cubs' primary left fielder of late, but Soler is failing to make a big impact with his bat, going hitless with four strikeouts in his last three games. Kris Bryant will get the start in left field and hit fifth Wednesday.