MLB Player News

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.

O'Hearn is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the White Sox.

Frank Schwindel's contract was selected and he will get the Opening Day start at first base, batting fifth. A lefty (Carlos Rodon) is on the mound for the White Sox, and this may prove to simply be a platoon situation at first base in Kansas City. It's also possible Schwindel emerges as the primary option after slashing .286/.336/.506 with 24 homers at Triple-A Omaha last year. O'Hearn batted .320/.414/.440 during spring training, so it's hard to imagine he'll be phased out completely.

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.

Tellez was listed on the Blue Jays' official 25-man roster for Opening Day, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

The 24-year-old was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo earlier in the week, but following the trade of Kendrys Morales to Oakland, the Jays have decided to bring Tellez back to the majors to begin the season. At-bats could be tough to come by in the early going with Justin Smoak entrenched at first base and Teoscar Hernandez the favorite for DH duties, but if Tellez takes advantage of his opportunities, he could stick around even after Vlad Guerrero Jr. (oblique) needs a roster spot. Tellez hit a pedestrian .270/.340/.425 with 13 homers in 112 games at Triple-A last year before raking in September with the Jays, slashing .314/.329/.614 with four home runs in 73 plate appearances.

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.

Voit will serve as the Yankees' designated hitter and bat out of the cleanup spot Thursday against the Orioles.

Manager Aaron Boone announced a day earlier that Voit would handle DH duties in the opener while Greg Bird would man first base, but the two players could move between the two spots liberally in the early weeks of the season while Aaron Hicks (back) is on the injured list. The more notable development is that Voit is being deployed as the No. 4 hitter, a favorable arrangement in any lineup but especially so with superstars Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hitting directly in front of him. If Boone sticks with this lineup configuration on a permanent basis, Voit could be in store for a huge RBI total in 2019.

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.