MLB Player News

Manager David Bell said Wednesday that Winker (ribs) has yet to resume baseball activities and remains "a couple weeks away" from returning from the injured list, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Winker is rehabbing in Cincinnati while the team is on a road trip, and it's unclear when he may be able to resume baseball activities. The 28-year-old landed on the shelf Aug. 16 with an intercostal strain, and given his current progression he may not rejoin the big-league roster before mid-September.

Belt will likely go on the bereavement list Friday, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Belt will miss all of the weekend series in Atlanta and possibly a few more games beyond that. The bereavement list's maximum stay is seven games, so he'll return no later than Friday, Sept. 3 against the Dodgers.

Blackmon is not in the lineup for Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Cubs.

Blackmon went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the afternoon contest and is now hitting .333 in his last 10 games. Sam Hilliard is starting in right field Wednesday night, with Garrett Hampson playing center.

Rooker isn't in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Red Sox.

Rooker went 0-for-3 with a run, a walk and two strikeouts in Tuesday's series opener, and he'll be on the bench for the third time in the last four games. Jake Cave will start in left field and bat eighth.

Brantley isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Royals, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Brantley has been in a slump recently, as he's gone 0-for-11 with a run, four walks and a strikeout across the last three games. He'll get a chance to reset Wednesday while Aledmys Diaz starts in left field and bats second.

Cabrera isn't starting Wednesday against the Cardinals.

Cabrera hit his 500th career home run Sunday and went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Tuesday's series opener against the Cardinals. However, Jonathan Schoop will start at first base and bat third Wednesday.

Stanton went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 5-4 win over the Braves.

After homering Monday against the Braves, Stanton victimized Atlanta yet again with a solo shot off Charlie Morton in the second inning. After hitting .214 in July, the supersized slugger is hitting .320 in August. He has also hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games.

Belt went 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI on Tuesday against the Mets.

Belt tallied hits in each of his first three at-bats, two of which went for home runs. He now has 19 long balls on the season, with eight having come since he was activated from the injured list Aug. 5. Despite the power surge, he's hitting just .226 in that span with only four hits that didn't clear the fence. Overall, Belt is hitting .247/.355/.556 across 262 plate appearances for the season.

Cabrera went 2-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Tuesday's win over the Cardinals.

Cabrera hit career home run No. 500 on Sunday and followed with No. 501 a game later. The Tigers did pinch run for the veteran after he walked in the eighth inning, and that could become a regular occurrence now that he's reached the long ball milestone. Cabrera should still start most days and get the opportunity to build on his 14 home runs for the year, which is the most he's hit in a season since 2016.

Manager Rocco Baldelli said Tuesday that Buxton (finger) will play in "at least a couple more games" at Triple-A St. Paul before being activated from the injured list, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Buxton is 1-for-5 with a home run and two RBI through two games with the Saints and is expected to play a full nine innings Tuesday. The 27-year-old is also slated to play a full game Wednesday as he ramps up the rehab assignment, and he could rejoin the Twins for this weekend's three-game series against the Brewers.