MLB Player News

The Indians have bounced shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera from seventh in the batting order in the opener to leadoff in the second game of the regular season Wednesday in Oakland.

Terry Francona was encouraged by his performance this spring as Cabrera seeks to recover from a miserable year at the plate in 2013. Cabrera will likely continue to hit at that spot against left-handers such as Wednesday starter Scott Kazmir until Michael Bourn (hamstring) returns to the lineup.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman bounced back from a hitless debut in a big way Tuesday socking two home runs to lead the team to a 5-2 win over the Brewers.

Freeman reached base four times, after going 0 for 4 in the opener. He hit a pair of solo home runs, in the sixth and eighth innings, and added a single as he finished the game 3 for 3 with two runs and two RBI.

Freeman signed a massive extension this offseason, and is off to a good start in his attempt to live up to it.

Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is in the leadoff spot for Tuesday's game against Oakland's lefty starter Scott Kazmir.

Cabrera went 1 for 3 with one walk and one run while batting seventh in Monday's season opener, which came against a right-handed starter. Cabrera shifts to the top of the lineup against the lefty Tuesday. The switch hitter as performed slightly better against southpaws over his career, hitting .286/.338/.424 with 18 home runs in 944 at-bats against lefties. He didn't see one at-bat from the No. 1 spot in the lineup last season.

Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg made some changes to his lineup Tuesday against the Rangers with left-handed starter Martin Perez on the hill, which included moving slugger Ryan Howard to the fifth spot in the lineup. It's the first time he hasn't hit cleanup since June 29, 2008, per MLB.com.

Howard has hit .276 with a .625 slugging percentage, .980 OPS, 11 doubles, 26 home runs and 65 RBI in 70 career games batting fifth.

The Mets announced Tuesday infielder Wilmer Flores and reliever Kyle Farnsworth will be in New York Wednesday. Both players could be recalled from the minors with second baseman Daniel Murphy on a paternity leave and closer Bobby Parnell sidelined due to an elbow injury.

Marlins third baseman Ed Lucas had a bittersweet day Thursday, but the bitter outweighed the sweet.

Hours after being told he made the team, he was hit by a pitch on the left hand. It has since been diagnosed that he sustained a non-displaced fracture.

The injury will result in Donovan Solano, whom Lucas beat out for the job, returning to the major league team and serving in that role, per MLB.com.

The Marlins have dispatched outfielder Jake Marisnick and second baseman Donovan Solano to Triple-A New Orleans and sent shortstops Juan Diaz and Austin Nola, outfielder Matt Angle and pitchers Chris Hatcher and Henry Rodriguez to minor league camp.

In the real-world sense, Carlos Santana's move to third base full-time is a big deal. His ability to play a premium position helps him retain some of the value he loses by no longer catching every day.

But for Fantasy owners, it doesn't really change anything. He's still eligible at catcher this year and because he'll back up Yan Gomes at the position, he figures to be eligible there next year as well.

In Fantasy, anybody who's eligible at catcher should play catcher. It's as simple as that. Catchers have to sit more often than any other position players, so their Head-to-Head point production, relative to other positions, is lacking. For you Rotisserie league owners, their run and RBI totals are also lacking. Go compare the numbers. It's plainly evident.

But won't playing third base every day give him more at-bats than the average catcher? Yes, but that's all the more incentive to play him at catcher, where he'll give your team a bigger advantage over the competition.

That's not to say you can't play him at third base in an emergency situation, but slotting him there for the long haul is wasting his value. If nothing else, you should be able to trade him to a team with a need at catcher for an even better third baseman.

The Indians have named Carlos Santana the team's starting third baseman, according to MLB.com.

Santana was competing with Lonnie Chisenhall during camp, but has won the job. Santana will not be used in a platoon with Chisenhall. Instead, he will be the full-time starter. Santana will also serve as the club's backup catcher. 

Santana hit .268/.377/.455 in 541 at-bats last year.

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu was back in the spring lineup Monday against the Mariners after leaving Friday's game due to ankle soreness. Abreu is batting .317 (13 for 41) with two home runs and nine RBI this spring.