MLB Player News

Vaughn won't start Opening Day against the Angels on Thursday with Leury Garcia working in left field and Zack Collins batting eighth as the designated hitter, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

The White Sox recently announced the 22-year-old made the team's Opening Day roster, so it's a bit of a surprise the organization's top prospect won't be in the lineup Opening Day. Vaughn is expected to be in the starting nine as the designated hitter Friday with southpaw Andrew Heaney pitching for the Angels. Vaughn saw more work in left field during spring training and could see time there this season with Eloy Jimenez (pectoral) set to miss most of 2021.

Voit (knee) was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, retroactive to March 29.

The 30-year-old underwent surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus Monday, so it was only a matter of time before he landed on the shelf. Voit doesn't have an officially timeline for his return, but he'll likely be sidelined from baseball activities for a few weeks. He shouldn't be expected to make his season debut in April.

Voit confirmed that he underwent surgery Monday to repair a partially torn meniscus in his left knee, Marly Rivera of ESPN.com reports.

Reports surfaced over the weekend indicating that Voit would require surgery, but it wasn't immediately clear when the procedure would be completed. Now that Voit has officially had surgery, he'll likely be in recovery mode for at least three weeks before resuming baseball activities. Voit said he hasn't been given a target date to return to game action, though he said he expects to be back "pretty soon." For now, fantasy managers are probably best off ruling him out for all of April.

White went 5-for-11 with a double, a home run, four RBI, two walks, a stolen base and three runs over his five final Cactus League games.

White put together a couple of distinct hot streaks during the exhibition slate, helping him to an impressive 16 RBI over 19 games. The slugging first baseman's ability to overcome an abysmal start to Cactus League play certainly offers some encouragement, as does the fact that he struck out a modest 10 times across 54 plate appearances after doing so at a 41.6 percent rate as a rookie in 2020.

The White Sox will select Vaughn's contract and include him on the Opening Day roster, as expected, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Rather than playing service-time games with Vaughn by stashing him at the alternate training site for the first few weeks of the season, the White Sox will add the 22-year-old prospect to the roster to ensure it has the best lineup possible heading into Opening Day. With Eloy Jimenez expected to miss most of the season with a pectoral injury, Vaughn has been given more work in left field late in spring training, despite the fact that he's spent the entirety of his professional career at first base. If the White Sox aren't comfortable using Vaughn in the outfield on an everyday basis, he'll still have a path to a regular lineup spot at designated hitter.

The Royals optioned O'Hearn to their alternate training site Tuesday.

Since Carlos Santana and Jorge Soler are expected to handle everyday roles at first base and designated hitter, respectively, O'Hearn offers limited value to the Royals as a first baseman with no positional flexibility. He'll continue to play regularly in simulated games at the alternate site before reporting to Triple-A Omaha in May for the start of the minor-league season.

Tigers general manager Al Avila said Tuesday that Torkelson will likely open the season at High-A West Michigan, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 first-year player draft still has yet to make his professional regular-season debut, but he was able to get some work in at the Tigers' big-league camp this spring. The early returns weren't impressive -- he went 1-for-26 with 16 strikeouts in Grapefruit League play -- but dynasty managers shouldn't fret too much about the 21-year-old's long-term outlook. Torkelson is still viewed as an impact power hitter who should provide a high batting average to go along with his slugging production.

Dalbec (finger) will start at first base and bat eighth in Tuesday's Grapefruit League against Atlanta, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Dalbec had sat out the past couple of days with a sore right index finger, but his return to the lineup for the Red Sox's spring finale suggests he'll head into Opening Day at full health. The 25-year-old has put together a big spring, slashing .311/.392/.822 with seven home runs and a stolen base across 45 at-bats. While Dalbec at least appears to be locked into a strong-side platoon role at first base, he's expected to bat in the bottom third of the lineup in most games to begin the season.

Abreu went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI in Sunday's spring game against the Diamondbacks.

Abreu delivered his 10th run of Cactus League play, second on the White Sox to Eloy Jimenez (pectoral). With Jimenez out of action for at least five months, Abreu carries a heavier burden as a middle-of-the-order RBI man. It's not an unfamiliar role -- he's knocked in 100-plus runs in five of six full seasons and posted 60 RBI in 60 games during the abbreviated 2020 season.

Vaughn started in left field and went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored in Sunday's spring game against Arizona.

Vaughn made his second start in left field and handled his chances without issue. White Sox manager Tony La Russa is getting a look at Vaughn as a replacement for Eloy Jimenez, who will miss at least five months with a pectoral injury. The club may not need Vaughn as a permanent fill-in, because Adam Engel (hamstring) is due back within the first two weeks of the regular season. If Engel takes over in left, then Vaughn will slide back to designated hitter.