MLB Player News

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.

Mondesi was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain Wednesday.

Mondesi didn't appear to have any limitations to close out Cactus League play this spring, but he's apparently dealing with an oblique issue that will force him to miss time to begin the regular season. Nicky Lopez was recalled from the alternate training site in a corresponding move, and he could fill in at shortstop along with Hauser Alberto while Mondesi is sidelined. Mondesi's placement on the injured list is retroactive to March 30, and it's not yet clear whether the 25-year-old will be forced to miss more than the minimum of 10 days.

Adames, who slugged two solo home runs in a Grapefruit League win over the Orioles on Monday, hit four round trippers in his last six exhibitions.

Adames also wrapped up spring with a four-game hitting streak, as he laced a double in his lone plate appearance during the Rays' Grapefruit League finale against the Tigers on Tuesday. Adam Berry of MLB.com reports the 25-year-old's ramped-up offseason training, which included swing adjustments, seems to be paying dividends at just the right time with Thursday's Opening Day tilt against the Marlins next on tap. "I'm just happy that all that work we put in is going to the field now in the games," Adames said. "It's translated from the cage to the field, and all that makes me feel really good about the work that we put in in the offseason."

Mondesi went 0-for-2 in Monday's 5-4 win over Cleveland to conclude Cactus League play with a .303/.343/.606 slash line across 33 at-bats.

Mondesi was slightly delayed to begin spring training due to a sore foot, but the 25-year-old didn't need much time to settle in at the dish. As has been the knock on Mondesi for much of his career, his plate discipline left something to be desired this spring (2:10 BB:K), but his blend of power (five extra-base hits) and speed (two stolen bases in two attempts) continues to make him an intriguing building block for fantasy managers willing to chase upside in the early rounds of drafts. Mondesi's willingness to run in an era when steals are becoming increasingly hard to come by is especially valuable; in 308 career regular-season games, Mondesi has collected 113 stolen bases on an efficient 138 attempts (81.8 percent success rate).