MLB Player News

Diaz will bat third and play third base Saturday against Oakland, Shayna Rubin of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Diaz battled a minor hamstring issue late in camp and didn't appear in either of the Astros' first two games. He'll be filling a key spot in the order in his season debut Saturday, slotting in between Michael Brantley and Kyle Tucker.

Anderson went 1-for-5 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's 12-8 win over the Angels.

Anderson's solo homer was part of a five-run, ninth-inning barrage that sealed the win for the White Sox. He had 10 homers in 49 games last season and should put up the second 20-homer season of his career if he remains healthy.

Wendle went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Friday's 6-4 win over the Marlins.

With Tampa down 4-2 in the ninth inning, Wendle crushed an offering from presumptive Miami closer Anthony Bass into the second deck in right field to flip the script. The 30-year-old utility player has never hit more than seven homers in a season and managed only four in 50 games last year, but Wendle made his first blast count in 2021.

Adames is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Marlins.

Adames started at shortstop Opening Day and will take a seat after going 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Joey Wendle will take over at shortstop for Tampa Bay with Yandy Diaz working at the hot corner.

Crawford will start at shortstop and bat ninth Thursday against the Giants.

Seattle is opposing the right-handed Kevin Gausman in the season opener, so the lefty-hitting Crawford looks like he'll be a mainstay at the bottom of the order to begin the campaign while Mitch Haniger serves as the full-time leadoff man. This arrangement is obviously an unfavorable development for Crawford's fantasy value -- and an unexpected one, considering that he'd hit atop the order in 48 of his 51 starts in 2020. Though he showed significant improvement with his contact rate last season, Crawford's .336 on-base percentage was still poor for a leadoff hitter, and he didn't make enough strides this spring to hold off a healthy Haniger for the job. He produced only five hits -- all singles -- in 39 at-bats during Cactus League play.

Fletcher agreed Thursday with the Angels on a five-year, $26 million contract extension, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. The deal includes two additional team options that could push the total value of the extension to $41 million, according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

The 26-year-old was able to work out a long-term pact with the Halos just hours before the team opened its season with a four-game series against the White Sox. Since reaching the majors in 2018, Fletcher has become one of baseball's preeminent contact hitters; he owns a career .292 average while striking out in only 10.3 percent of his plate appearances. This extension locks Fletcher in as the Angels' table setter for the next half decade.

Wendle is not starting the first game of the season Thursday against the Marlins, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Rays rotate their players heavily, so sitting on Opening Day isn't necessarily indicative of Wendle's future playing time. It's still something of a surprise that he's sitting despite the Marlins starting a righty (Sandy Alcantara), especially with the right-handed Willy Adames and Yandy Diaz making up the left side of the Rays' infield.

Bogaerts and the Red Sox won't play the Orioles on Thursday after their Opening Day game was postponed due to rain, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

The two teams are now scheduled to play their season opener Friday, which was initially set to be an off day for both sides.

Royals manager Mike Matheny said he expects Mondesi to miss "a couple weeks" with the strained right oblique that resulted in the shortstop's placement on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, Josh Vernier of 610 Sports reports.

According to Matheny, Mondesi initially tweaked his oblique in his first at-bat during Monday's Cactus League game, and though he was able to remain in the game, he felt renewed pain Tuesday. The Royals thus decided to put Mondesi on the shelf to begin the season, but given the rough timeline Matheny provided, the 25-year-old appears to be dealing with a low-to-moderate grade strain. Regardless, Mondesi's absence for any length of time is a tough break for fantasy managers, who are likely counting on him to nearly single-handedly propel them to the top of the standings in the stolen-base category. Nicky Lopez is expected to serve as the Royals' primary shortstop for the duration of Mondesi's absence, with Hanser Alberto perhaps serving as a short-side platoon partner at the position.

Chang will start at first base for Thursday's game against the Tigers, Tom Withers of the Associated Press reports.

Chang should come off the bench against right-handed pitchers this season, but he'll draw the Opening Day start with southpaw Matthew Boyd starting for Detroit. Chang slashed .282/.317/.692 with four home runs and 10 RBI in 18 spring games this year.