MLB Player News

Mondesi (shoulder) will not throw for the next five days, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic reports.

Mondesi has been out since Wednesday with soreness. The injury isn't considered serious and Mondesi was originally expected to be back in action this weekend. He could still see game time as a designated hitter in the next few days, but it looks like he won't be fully back until at least the middle of next week.

Cordoba (concussion) remains without a timetable for return, Bill Center of MLB.com reports.

Cordoba suffered a concussion during a car accident in mid-February and still does not appear to be close to returning to action. The shortstop attempted to participate in some individual drills recently but apparently experienced some sensitivity to the light and workload, so the Padres quickly shut him down again. At this point, it's hard to say if Cordoba will be ready for Opening Day.

Manager Terry Francona reported Wednesday that Lindor will likely bat leadoff for the Indians again in 2018, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com reports.

Lindor secured an everyday spot at the top of the lineup in early August last season and finished the 2017 campaign with a .281 average, 18 home runs and 47 RBI in his 68 games as the team's leadoff man. Francona made it clear that he has no reason to move Lindor out of that spot this season and that he especially likes the idea of having a switch-hitter batting first. The 24-year-old will look to eclipse the 100-run threshold in 2018 after crossing home plate exactly 99 times in each of the past two seasons.

Baez said he's "100 percent" after exiting Thursday's Cactus League game with hamstring tightness, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Baez apparently felt some tightness coming out of the box, and the tightness resurfaced as he was rounding first base. He downplayed the issue, however, saying he simply needs to hydrate more while insisting he won't miss any time because of the ailment. Consider him day-to-day for now; the Cubs have already announced that he'll get Friday off.

Gordon, who went 0-for-3 in Wednesday's 7-3 Cactus League loss to the Athletics, nevertheless made a positive impact when he cut down Mark Canha trying to advance to third base, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

The converted infielder has already utilized his elite speed to make several nice running catches in the gaps this spring, but Wednesday marked his first truly challenging throw with a man trying to advance. The second-inning play came after Mariners starter Marco Gonzales had overthrown a pickoff attempt that Gordon had alertly backed up. He then put all of his 170 pounds into a picture-perfect laser to Gordon Beckham at third that nailed Canha and left the former Marlin sprawled at his center field spot momentarily. The throw, along with another in the sixth that had plenty of juice but not enough accuracy to get a tagging Franklin Barreto at third, were deemed sensational but not surprising by manager Scott Servais, who's been raving about his offseason acquisition's baseball IQ since camp opened. "Dee made a great throw, and that was awesome to see," Servais said. "He's got plenty [of arm strength] and very accurate. He almost got the other guy, too, if it had been down just a hair. He's an exciting player. Obviously the speed, but the arm, the bat, it's the whole package."

Baez was removed from Thursday's game with hamstring tightness and will be evaluated further by the Cubs' medical staff in the coming hours, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Baez began limping around first base after hitting a line drive into left-center in the first inning of Thursday's Cactus League contest with the Padres. Consider Baez day-to-day barring the identification of an additional issue with the hamstring.

Baez exited Thursday's Cactus League game against the Padres in the first inning after limping around first base on a double, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Wittenmyer followed up by stating that it looked like a hamstring injury as Baez reached down for his hamstring while rounding first base. The infielder left Thursday's game with a trainer and was replaced by Chesny Young. Expect an update on his status in the coming hours.

Turner hit leadoff and went 2-for-3 with a run scored in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals.

The 24-year-old is now hitting .353 (6-for-17) to begin the spring with a .476 OBP thanks to four walks, although he's still looking for his first steal or first extra-base hit. If Adam Eaton (knee) is ready to play by Opening Day, Turner will slip down to the No. 2 spot in the batting order, but otherwise he should once again hit atop a potent Nats lineup. If he can play a full schedule -- the shortstop has yet to play more than 98 games in a big-league season -- Turner should be poised for a very big fantasy season.

Crawford went 2-for-3 with an RBI against the Padres on Wednesday.

Crawford saw his main fantasy asset -- his RBI totals at the shortstop position, take a slight hit last season as an aging San Francisco lineup saw an overall decline in offensive production. He still finished the year with a healthy 77 RBI, which was good enough for fifth among all shortstops. The 31-year-old could see his run-producing opportunities increase back to his 2015 and 2016 levels (84 RBI each season) with the key additions of Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen this offseason. Crawford would likely bat fifth or sixth behind the Giants' new signings, which should lead to more plate appearances with ducks on the pond.

Mateo (knee) went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts in Tuesday's 5-3 Cactus League win over the Rangers.

The young speed merchant's long-awaited Cactus League debut was ultimately a dud from a statistical perspective, but all that matters is that he's back on the field. Mateo entered the game at shortstop for Marcus Semien in the fifth and promptly went down on strikes in both the seventh and eighth innings. The 22-year-old is likely to see plenty of reps during the duration of the exhibition slate, assuming there are no further issues with the knee.