MLB Player News

Alonso went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in Thursday's win over the Nationals.

Facing Max Scherzer in his debut went about as well as you might expect, but Alonso was able to collect his first big-league hit once the Nats' ace left the game, slapping a single to center field off Justin Miller in the eighth inning. The 24-year-old first baseman is hitting in the two hole for the Mets to begin his career, a spot that gives him the opportunity for significant fantasy value if he can hang onto it.

Goldschmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk and three strikeouts in a season-opening loss to the Brewers on Thursday.

Better days are sure to come, but Goldschmidt essentially put up a dud in his Cardinals regular-season debut. The prodigious slugger did look like his usual self during a strong spring (.280 average, three home runs, six RBI), so the Opening Day clunker is naturally nothing to be concerned with over the long term. Goldschmidt will look to break the ice at the plate Friday night against Freddy Peralta in the second installment of a four-game set against the Brewers.

Hoskins went 1-for-3 with a grand slam, a walk and two runs scored in Thursday's 10-4 victory over the Braves.

Hoskins tacked on four insurance runs in the seventh inning by launching his first homer of the season with the bases loaded. He slugged 34 home runs and registered 96 RBI over 153 games in his first full year of big-league action a season ago and is already off to a strong start in 2019.

Flores started at second base and went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored while batting third in Thursday's 12-5 loss to the Dodgers.

Flores' status was up in the air following the Adam Jones acquisition, which led to talk of center fielder Ketel Marte getting starts at second base, too. Steven Souza's knee injury has since opened an everyday spot in the outfield for Jones in right and means Marte will play a lot in center field. That leaves Flores locked in at the keystone and looking at potentially a career high in at-bats.

Walker started at first base Thursday and went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBI in a 12-5 loss to the Dodgers.

Walker got the start against Los Angeles left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, but manager Torey Lovullo was quick to point out that the left-handed hitting Jake Lamb is the primary first baseman, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports. "As I've been saying, this isn't going to be a straight platoon situation for that," Lovullo said. "But I feel like it's a way to get Christian a start. We face a lot of righties coming up in the next several days. Jake will obviously get those starts. Will it be a platoon situation? Not at all. Jake is going to get a number of starts against left-handed pitchers." Walker had a big spring, posting a 1.041 OPS with 11 RBI in 21 games, which may have factored into Lovullo's decision to give him the Opening Day start.

Rizzo went 1-for-2 with three walks, a run scored and an RBI in Thursday's season-opening win over the Rangers.

Javier Baez supplied two home runs and Kris Bryant went deep once in this one, but Rizzo was content being patient and getting on base four times. The 29-year-old has seen his walk rate hover between 11 and 13 percent the past six seasons, so he'll likely be somewhere in that range again in 2019.

The Padres optioned France to Triple-A El Paso on Thursday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

France was one of the Padres' final four cuts of spring training, with he, Luis Urias and Jose Pirela ultimately losing out to Greg Garcia for the lone reserve infield job. The 24-year-old should handle an everyday role at a corner spot for El Paso, where he slashed .287/.382/.532 with five home runs over 110 plate appearances after a late-season promotion in 2018.

Cooper is starting in right field and poised to serve as the Marlins' cleanup hitter in the early going this season, Andre Fernandez of The Athletic reports. "He's a guy that hits righties and lefties and there's potential double power and that's a guy that drives in runs," manager Don Mattingly said when explaining why Cooper is his cleanup hitter.

This is an awful lineup, but Cooper will at least be in a better position to drive in runs than if he were hitting fifth or sixth. He doesn't offer a ton of upside, given his lack of plus power, but he could be serviceable in deeper formats.

Goldschmidt is hitting second Thursday against the Brewers.

The Cardinals will put their best hitter in the two hole, putting an end to any thoughts that they might give that spot to Dexter Fowler in an effort to get him off to a hot start. Matt Carpenter is leading off while Paul DeJong and Marcell Ozuna hit third and fourth, respectively.

Alonso is starting at first base and hitting second Opening Day against the Nationals.

Not only did the Mets surprise everyone by putting Alonso on the Opening Day roster, but they are also giving him a prestigious spot in the lineup. He will hit behind Brandon Nimmo and in front of Robinson Cano and Michael Conforto. It is worth noting that Alonso doesn't even have the platoon advantage against righty Max Scherzer, so he should theoretically stick in the No. 2 spot for now.