MLB Player News

Albies, who is hitting sixth Thursday against the Phillies, will lead off against lefties this season, Gabe Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Albies hit .335/.357/.548 against southpaws last year, so it was already assumed he'd bat somewhere high in the order against lefties this year. Ender Inciarte will lead off against righties.

Hoerner will open the year at Double-A Tennessee, Evan Altman of CubsInsider.com reports.

Hoerner, the Cubs' top prospect, was the rare player who played in the Arizona Fall League the same year he was drafted (2018) and the Cubs will continue to give him aggressive assignments. He is not a great defender, but is a very advanced hitter and appears to be on a fast track to the majors.

Urias will begin the 2019 season at Triple-A El Paso, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports.

The Padres are electing to have top prospect Fernando Tatis open the season in the majors, making Urias the odd man out. The team has been weighing its options heavily all spring, but until this point Tatis was still expected to start in the minors before likely being promoted midseason. Unfortunately for Urias, the offseason acquisitions of Manny Machado and Ian Kinsler leave no additional room in the infield. Urias remains one of the Padres' top prospects, but the team likely doesn't want him in the majors if he isn't going to see the bulk of the playing time.

General manager Mike Hazen said Tuesday that Marte would see the bulk of the starts in center field for the Diamondbacks to begin the season, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.

Marte had already been in line for at least a near-everyday role to begin the campaign, but his playing-time outlook was further strengthened by fellow outfielder Steven Souza going down with a serious-looking left knee injury in Monday's exhibition game against the White Sox. The Diamondbacks haven't provided a timeline for Souza's return, but he'll almost certainly open the campaign on the injured list, thereby creating an opening in the outfield. Adam Jones had previously been the top threat to poach starts from Marte in center field, but Jones will now have a clear path to regular action in right while Souza is on the IL.

Adames was reassigned to minor-league camp Saturday, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports.

Adames was in contention for an Opening Day roster spot with Daniel Descalso battling a shoulder injury but will instead make his way to minor-league camp. The 27-year-old joined the Cubs on a minor-league deal in February after slashing .269/.324/.370 at Triple-A in 2018.

The Giants informed Solarte on Friday that he won a spot on the team's Opening Day roster, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Solarte is likely earmarked for a utility role after he received time at all four infield spots with the Blue Jays in 2018 and saw action at left field during spring training. The 31-year-old switch-hitter has slugged double-digit home runs in each of his five seasons in the majors, but he received more than 400 plate appearances in each of those years. He could struggle to see that level of playing time in 2019 and will be further hurt by the Giants' home park, one of the more pitcher-friendly environments in baseball.

Hernandez is expected to be the Dodgers' starting second baseman, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Hernandez is tremendously versatile, having started everywhere except pitcher and catcher last season. That utility role got him 462 plate appearances last season, but he could be in line for even more this year after hitting .256/.336/.470 with 21 homers in 2018. Chris Taylor will start less frequently at second base but will still get starts around the diamond, particularly in left field.

Guillorme appears to have won a bench spot to begin the season, Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News reports.

His main competition for the job, Adeiny Hechavarria, was reassigned to minor-league camp Saturday. Guillorme managed only a .523 OPS in 74 plate appearances during his big-league debut last year, and this stint in the bigs could be a brief one, as both Jed Lowrie (knee) and Todd Frazier (oblique) will need roster spots when they get healthy.

Ngoepe will head to minor-league camp Tuesday, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Unsurprisingly, Ngoepe wasn't able to crack the Opening Day roster. With a .181/.272/.236 line in 82 big-league plate appearances, there's no guarantee the Phillies will look to him when injuries strike their infield.

Tomlinson was assigned to minor-league camp on Tuesday.

Tomlinson went 2-for-25 in the Cactus League, which couldn't have helped his already slim chances at breaking camp in the big leagues. He's not on the 40-man roster, so he may not be the first choice to fill in when an infielder gets injured.