MLB Player News

Baez (forearm) is starting at shortstop and batting cleanup in Sunday's spring game against the Diamondbacks.

The 28-year-old suffered a forearm bruise after being hit by a pitch Friday, but he's back on the field Sunday after taking part in workouts Saturday. Barring a setback, the injury shouldn't affect Baez's availalbity for the start of the season.

Edman, who went 1-for-3 with a stolen base in a Grapefruit League loss to the Nationals on Friday, is hitting .429 (3-for-7) with a double over three spring games while filling the leadoff role in each contest.

Edman is clearly going to get a long look at filling the top-of-the-order role that his predecessor at second base, Kolten Wong, often operated out of with success during his Cardinals tenure. The versatile Edman's hot start at the plate, albeit over a small sample, is encouraging, considering he saw an offensive downturn in 2020 in the form of a .250/.317.368 slash after producing a much more impressive .304/.350/.500 line across his 349 major-league plate appearances in 2019.

Baez (forearm) will participate in workouts and take batting practice Saturday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Baez was diagnosed with a forearm contusion after he was hit by a pitch in Friday's spring game, but manager David Ross confirmed Saturday that the shortstop is fine. He isn't in the lineup for Saturday's Cactus League matchup, but he'll participate in team activities and could return to game action relatively soon.

Marcano has gone 4-for-8 with a home run and two RBI over five Cactus League contests.

Marcano was added to the Padres' 40-man roster in November and is justifying that move thus far in the spring, tying for the team lead in hits and homers. The 21-year-old infielder has yet to play above the Low-A level and is certain to open the season in the minors despite his strong start this spring.

Story went 1-for-2 with a three-run home run and one strikeout in Friday's spring loss to the Brewers.

Story was eased into action to begin spring training, but he batted second while playing shortstop in Friday's Cactus League matchup. He provided the team's only run production of the game with a 407-foot blast in the third inning. The 28-year-old enters the season as one of the league's top shortstops, but his counting stats could dip slightly in 2021 after Nolan Arenado was traded to the Cardinals during the offseason.

Baez was diagnosed with a forearm contusion after getting hit by a pitch Friday against Cleveland, Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Baez left the game but thankfully avoided serious injury. His exit was merely due to an abundance of caution, as is typical for spring training. He should be back on the field within the next few days.

Baez left Friday's game against Cleveland after getting hit in the wrist by a pitch, Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago reports.

Baez appeared to be in some pain as he walked off the field, though it's not yet clear if he's seriously injured or if the Cubs are simply being cautious given that it's still early March. If he does wind up being diagnosed with an injury significant enough to keep him out past Opening Day, Nico Hoerner would be the top candidate to start at shortstop.

Story is starting at shortstop and batting second in Friday's spring game against the Brewers, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

The 28-year-old took it easy for the first few games of spring training, but he'll slot in versus Milwaukee on Friday. Story had a .289/.355/.519 slash line with 11 homers, 15 stolen bases and 28 RBI in 59 games last season. He consistently remains one of the top shortstops in the league, though his counting stats could take a bit of a hit in 2021 due to the departure of Nolan Arenado this offseason.

DeJong is 0-for-4 with a strikeout across his first two Grapefruit League games.

The slugging shortstop will be trying to prove he's still got the pop that led to a career-high 30 home runs in 2019. DeJong's average saw a boost from 2019's .233 to .250 last season, but he also slugged a career-low .349 with just nine extra-base hits (six doubles, three homers) across 174 plate appearances. The 27-year-old's strikeout rate also rose to a career-high 28.7 percent last season despite the improvement in batting average, so he'll look to achieve that power resurgence while also improving his contact rate.

Cruz will start in center field Thursday for the first time in his career, DK Pittsburgh Sports reports.

"It's just adding something else to his tool box, and like we've talked about, versatility is important for our roster," manager Derek Shelton said. "So we're going to put him out there and see how it goes." While there's a good chance Cruz's final destination is right field, Shelton shifted him to center for this game because the angles are more similar to his old shortstop position. The 22-year-old is 1-for-5 with a walk in the early going.