MLB Player News

Arias will open the year with Low-A Fort Wayne as the third youngest player in the Midwest League, Bill Center of MLB.com reports.

The advanced shortstop played 16 games with the TinCaps last year, hitting .242 with a 16:2 K:BB, so he will predictably take another crack at the level. Arias doesn't have any impressive offensive production to point to stateside, but he hit .271/.310/.486 with five home runs and a stolen base in 107 at-bats in the Australian Baseball League this past winter. He has good size (6-foot-1, 185 pounds) and could grow into being a power-hitting shortstop.

Hiura will DH a lot early in the season after experiencing minor elbow discomfort this spring, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

He saw a heavy dose of second base starts this spring and dealt with minor elbow discomfort on some specific throws. The organization is understandably being extra cautious with its top hitting prospect, and given the fact he is highly unlikely to reach the majors until 2019, this should not affect his stock in dynasty leagues. Hiura is opening the season in the Carolina League.

Smith (quadriceps) will make a rehab start with Triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday, Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Smith started the season on the disabled list after straining his right quad in spring training and is expected to play five innings for Las Vegas. The 22-year-old will likely need to make at least a few appearances to work his way into full game readiness, but he still appears on track for a mid-April return from the DL, although remaining in Triple-A once healthy is a possibility.

Freeman has faced the lowest percentage of pitches in the zone among all hitters who have faced at least 50 pitches through Monday's games, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Just 30.1 percent of pitches thrown to Freeman have been in the zone, which ranks last in the group of 189 hitters. It's a continuation of a trend from last year, where Freeman's 42.9 percent rate ranked 308th out of the 314 hitters who faced at least 1,000 pitches. It's likely that Freeman will continue to get very few pitches to hit while Nick Markakis remains behind him in the lineup. He could see more pitches to hit once Ronald Acuna is up.

Goldschmidt went 1-for-4 with a double, three walks and two runs Monday in the Diamondbacks' 8-7 win over the Dodgers in 15 innings.

It's already the second three-walk game for Goldschmidt this season, boosting his on-base percentage to a lofty .450. Unfortunately for owners in traditional 5x5 formats, the double Goldschmidt notched was his first hit of the season, limiting him to just an .083 average thus far. There's little reason to think that Goldschmidt will be in store for a major downturn from the .297 mark he posted in the category a season ago, but his 1-for-12 start to the campaign is undoubtedly frustrating for those who invested a first-round pick into the 30-year-old.

Smith (quadriceps) will travel to Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Smith opened the year on the DL due to a strained right quad, but is now back with the team and should be able to take regular at-bats soon. The young first baseman has a lot of work to do, but is expected to eventually be up with the big-league club to compete with Adrian Gonzalez and Wilmer Flores for reps.

Bour is not in the lineup Sunday against the Cubs, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Bour started the first three games of the season at first base, where he went 1-for-13 at the plate, but will take a seat with tough southpaw Jose Quintana on the hill for the opposing Cubs. Garrett Cooper will be called upon to man first base in his stead.

Cooper (wrist) is back in the lineup Sunday against the Cubs, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Cooper started the first two games of the season in right field but was held out Saturday after a hit batsman forced an early exit Friday. Fortunately for Cooper, he avoided the worst-case scenario and his MRI came back clean. It was reported Saturday that he would avoid the disabled list, and with him manning first base Sunday, the injury appears to not be a long-term concern. He'll take over at first for Justin Bour, who is being held out of action against a lefty after three straight starts.

Cooper is expected to avoid the disabled list after tests revealed he didn't fracture his right wrist when it was hit by a pitch Friday, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Cameron Maybin was assigned the start in right field Saturday in place of Cooper, who should be considered day-to-day, with what the club called a contusion, despite being plunked by Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks. The journeyman, who's off to a 1-for-4 start to the season, will occupy a starting outfield spot when healthy, per Frisaro, and could re-enter the lineup soon.

Freeman went 0-for-2 with three walks and a run scored in Friday's 5-4 extra-inning loss to the Phillies.

He's now drawn six free passes on the young season, setting a Braves franchise record for walks through two games in the process. It's a potentially ominous sign for Freeman's fantasy value, as he's one of the only proven bats in the lineup and opposition pitchers figure to work around him every chance they get until another Atlanta hitter makes them pay for their caution. Ronald Acuna's promotion in a couple of weeks could help remedy the situation, but as long as the likes of Nick Markakis and Kurt Suzuki are hitting directly behind Freeman as they were Friday, the first baseman could see very few hittable pitches.