MLB Player News

Guerrero (oblique) will begin his rehab assignment at High-A Dunedin on Thursday before eventually reporting to Triple-A Buffalo, Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com reports.

Guerrero has remained at extended spring training since being diagnosed March 10 with a left oblique strain and looks like he's ready to test out his health in an uncontrolled game setting after hitting no snags in the recovery process. Since Dunedin doubles as the site of the Blue Jays' spring complex, it's no surprise the organization has chosen to keep Guerrero local as he embarks on the rehab assignment. Because he missed most of the Grapefruit League schedule with the injury, Guerrero will likely stick around in the Florida State League for several games prior to moving on to Buffalo. Once back at Triple-A, baseball's top prospect may not have to wait long for his much-anticipated promotion to the big leagues. According to Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 The Fan, Guerrero will play 5-to-7 innings with Dunedin on Thursday before being reevaluated.

Montero will open the year with Double-A Springfield, Mike Rosenbaum of MLB.com reports.

This is a challenging assignment for Montero, but it's an assignment he earned after a dominant 2018 season at Low-A and a decent performance over the final month after a promotion to High-A. Montero operates with a pretty aggressive approach, but his elite hand-eye coordination has allowed that approach to work thus far. He is already a known commodity in dynasty leagues, but if he lays waste to Double-A pitchers in the same manner he dominated Low-A pitchers, his stock will continue to soar.

Gurriel went 0-for-3 with a walk in Wednesday's 4-0 loss to Texas.

Gurriel, like many of Houston's regulars, is having a quiet to start the season. He's hitting .240 (6-for-25), which is higher than Jose Altuve (.222), Michael Brantley (.208) and Alex Bregman (.208). Those three players hit in front of Gurriel, so given that, it's not surprising he hasn't knocked in a run yet. The Astros have scored just 15 runs through seven games.

Walker started at first base and went 0-for-4 in Wednesday's 4-1 loss to San Diego.

The hot-hitting Walker got another start Wednesday, the fifth time he's started with a left-hander on the bump, but cooled off in the finale of Arizona's season-opening road trip. The game also featured the first start at third base for Jake Lamb, the batter with whom Walker has been sharing first base. Lamb suffered what's being called a strained quadriceps and is scheduled for an MRI. Pending Lamb's status, Walker is line for more starts at first.

Voit (hand) won't miss a game after getting hit in the hand by a pitch Tuesday.

Voit won't have to play the field, but he'll bat third as the team's designated hitter. The fact that he's able to play is no surprise as he was able to stay in the game following the incident, and X-rays came back negative.

Flores is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Padres.

Flores has started the past three games for the Diamondbacks, going 4-for-12 with a double, a walk and a pair of runs scored in those contests. Eduardo Escobar will cover the keystone in his absence, with Christian Walker and Jake Lamb manning first and third base, respectively.

Tellez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Tuesday's loss to the Orioles.

Hitting sixth as the DH, Tellez took Miguel Castro deep in the ninth inning for the Jays' only run of the game. The 24-year-old slugger is now 3-for-10 to begin the season, with two of his hits leaving the yard, and he's been one of the few bright spots in a sluggish Toronto offense.

Cron is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Royals.

The Twins are playing a day game after a night game and have an open date in the schedule Thursday, so manager Rocco Baldelli will rest several regulars to afford them two full days off ahead of Friday's series opener in Philadelphia. Cron will be sitting for the first time in 2019 after going 5-for-15 with two doubles, three runs and an RBI in the Twins' first four games.

Diaz (ankle) is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rockies, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Diaz exited early Tuesday after tweaking his ankle, adding to the Rays' growing list of injured infielders that already includes Joey Wendle (hamstring) and Matt Duffy (hamstring). Fortunately for the Rays, Diaz doesn't look on track to join those other players on the injured list, as he said that he could pinch hit Wednesday and expects to rejoin the lineup Friday in San Francisco, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Daniel Robertson will fill in for Diaz at the hot corner in the series finale with the Rockies.

Walker went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Padres.

Walker launched his third home run, and all three have come against right-handers even though Walker has started exclusively against lefties to this point. Manager Torey Lovullo says first base is not a platoon, but it looks like one. The manager is also having Jake Lamb take fielding practice at third base, so something's brewing on the right side of Arizona's infield.