Soto is not in the lineup for Saturday’s bout against the Giants with the strain. The 27-year-old left Friday’s game with tightness, and the good news is it doesn’t appear that the slugger will need a trip to the injured list. He still likely will miss a couple of games at least, and Jared Young will get the start in left field in Soto’s absence.

The game will be made up Sunday with a traditional doubleheader. Shota Imanaga and Slade Cecconi were scheduled to start Saturday’s affair, and they’ll likely get the nod in one of the two games in Sunday’s twin-billing.

Betts must have experienced pain while crossing home plate on a run-scoring double by Freddie Freeman. The 33-year-old will miss the rest of Saturday’s contest with Miguel Rojas taking over at shortstop. Betts likely won’t be in the lineup Sunday, either, but his status is one that should be updated prior to that contest.

No surprise here, especially with temperatures in Minnesota hovering around 30 degrees with a chance of snow in the forecast. Buxton will get some extra time off to rest and recover this weekend after being suffering a forearm contusion when he was hit by a pitch during the seventh inning of Friday’s showdown against the Rays. The encouraging news for the Twins, and fantasy managers, is that initial X-rays came back negative for any fractures. The 32-year-old fantasy stalwart is presumably day-to-day heading into Sunday’s series finale. It’ll be James Outman patrolling center field in his absence.

Griffin went 1-for-4 with an 106-mph RBI double to left-center field on Friday during one of the most highly anticipated major-league debuts in years. The Pirates don’t want to put too much pressure on him as he acclimates to everyday life in the big leagues as a teenager, but it feels like only a matter of time before he’s hitting near the top of the lineup. There will be some ebbs and flows production-wise, but Griffin projects as an extremely impactful all-around fantasy contributor during his rookie campaign.

Verlander was set to return to Comerica Park on Sunday night against the Cardinals for his first start in a Tigers uniform since 2017. That’s no longer happening. The 43-year-old future Hall of Famer heads to the shelf after being torched for five runs over 3 2/3 innings by the Diamondbacks on Monday in his season debut. It’ll be Keider Montero taking his spot in Detroit’s rotation for now. His return to the Motor City is off to a bit of a rocky start, but the Tigers are probably more concerned with having him available for late-season starts than early-April outings.

Kirk underwent imaging that revealed a dislocation in his thumb, along with a fracture. He’ll meet with a specialist early next week to determine whether surgery is needed. There should be a definitive return timetable following that evaluation. He suffered the injury when he took a foul tip off his hand in the 10th inning of Friday’s extra-inning marathon against the White Sox. It’s a significant loss for the defending American League champions, and fantasy managers as well, since he’s facing a multi-week absence, even if he manages to avoid surgery. The 27-year-old backstop was off to a slow start at the plate, hitting (3-for-20) through five games this season. It’ll be Tyler Heineman handling the catching duties in his absence.

Not great. With MJ Melendez off to a bad start, Nick Morabito would seem to be the likely choice to come up from Triple-A Syracuse if Soto requires an IL stint. Soto left Friday’s game in the first inning after pulling up while running from first to third on a single.

The Kevin Kelly offering hit him near his back elbow. X-rays were negative, though as we saw with Jordan Lawlar, that’s not necessarily everything. James Outman replaced him as a pinch-runner and in center field. He would be his primary replacement if Buxton misses some time.

Horton said after the game that the discomfort that caused him to leave his start against the Guardians in the second inning began in his wrist before he developed tightness in his forearm. That doesn’t really sound like a UCL problem, but we’ll see. The Cubs are certainly going to play things safe regardless. Colin Rea, who allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings after taking over for Horton today, is likely to step into the rotation.