MLB Player News

McCutchen went 3-for-5 with a double Tuesday against St. Louis.

He was thrown out at the plate on a curious call. McCutchen tried scoring from second base on a single to right field with no outs. The Pittsburgh coaching staff promised to be more aggressive following the loss of home run hitters Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker, but may have gone a little overboard sending Cutch. For his part, McCutchen is seeing the ball well and looking to carry over his strong spring into regular-season action.

Buxton started in center field and went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in Monday's loss to Baltimore.

It's only one game but the strikeouts are not a promising sign as he struggled to make contact last season (just 66 percent contact rate and a 44:6 K:BB ratio in 129 at-bats). Hopefully the Twins will be patient with their top prospect if he struggles early in the season.

Harper went 1-for-3 Monday with two walks and a solo home run, his first of the season.

He now has four career homers on Opening Days, which is remarkable considering he's only played in four of them. Harper's 2015 MVP campaign was extremely impressive, but he could put up even better numbers this season if players like Anthony Rendon can stay healthy and provide Harper with more RBI opportunities.

Pederson smacked a pair of doubles with an RBI an a run, but also struck out twice among his five at-bats in Monday's season-opening blowout of the Padres.

Pederson's whiffing problems were well documented last year, but doubles were not a big part of his repertoire -- he had seven more homers (26) than two-baggers (19). His combination of power, walks and strikeouts plays in formats that don't dock you for the strikeouts, especially because the nearly 24-year-old Pederson certainly has the legs to do a better job stealing bases than he did last year.

Turner rapped out two doubles and scored two runs in Monday's 15-0 thrashing of the Padres.

It seems clear by now that we can count on Turner to hit for average and score runs, but what's questionable is whether he can maintain last season's power surge -- if he'd had 600 at-bats, he had the on-pace numbers for 25 homers. Hitting out of the third spot in the order, as he did here in the opener, he'll at least be in the middle of whatever the Dodgers can do on offense -- which might be quite a lot.

Canha will get the start at first base and hit seventh Monday against the White Sox, MLB.com's Jane Lee reports.

With lefty Chris Sale on the mound for Chicago, it is no surprise to see Canha, a righty, and not lefty Yonder Alonso starting at first base. Canha should continue in the short side of this platoon in the early going.

Soler will DH and bat seventh against the Angels on Monday.

Despite Soler's strong throwing arm, it appears that Kyle Schwarber has proven to be the better overall fielder and earned the start in left field. It's likely that Soler and Schwarber operate in some type of left-field platoon throughout the course of the season.

Brantley (shoulder) was placed on the 15-day DL on Sunday, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports.

Brantley experienced some renewed tightness in his shoulder late in spring training, but it doesn't appear the Indians are considering it a major issue. He wasn't expected to be ready for Opening Day after undergoing surgery in November, but with his absence not expected to extend deep into the season, Brantley remains worthy of stashing in just about every format.

Choi won an Opening Day roster spot with the Angels, Joey Kaufman of the Orange County Register reports.

Choi, a Rule 5 selection, wasn't a standout in spring training, but the Angels saw enough in him to keep him on the 25-man roster rather than return him to the Orioles. Though he'll be available off the bench, it's hard to envision Choi seeing many at-bats while both C.J. Cron and Albert Pujols remain healthy.

Manager Pete Mackanin confirmed Friday that Ruf will open the year in a platoon with Ryan Howard at first base, Corey Seidman of CSN Philadelphia reports.

Ruf will start the second game of the season Wednesday against lefty Brandon Finnegan of the Reds. Ruf hit .371/.447/.660 with 12 extra-base hits in 114 plate appearances against lefties last season. He is a nice cost saving play in daily leagues when the Phillies are facing a lefty.