Sanoja is expected to be the Marlins primary utility player to begin the season, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.

Fresh off winning a Gold Glove as 2025's top defensive sub in the NL, Sanoja also produced a .243/.287/.396 slash line with six homers and six steals in 342 plate appearances while playing at least 10 games at second base, third base, shortstop, left field and center field. With Kyle Stowers (hamstring) opening the year on the IL, Sanoja could be part of the solution in left over the first weeks of the campaign.

McGonigle is starting at third base and batting sixth in Thursday's Opening Day matchup against the Padres.

The 21-year-old shortstop will end up making his MLB debut at the hot corner while Javier Baez picks up the start at shortstop. McGonigle, who is one of the top prospects in baseball, is expected to split his playing time between the two positions. He posted a .254/.369/.550 slash line with 12 homers and seven steals in 46 games at the Double-A level last year and had an .888 OPS during spring training.

The Astros announced Wednesday that Matthews won a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Matthews is set to begin the season as a utility player for the Astros after producing an .817 OPS while seeing time at second base, left field and center field during spring training. The 24-year-old is also capable of playing shortstop, though the Astros will go with Carlos Correa at that position in Thursday's season opener versus the Angels as a replacement for the banged-up Jeremy Pena (finger). Matthews, who slashed just .167/.222/.452 in 47 plate appearances during his first taste of the majors last season, is likely to see most of his starts against left-handed pitching in the early going.

Pena (finger) is not in the lineup for Thursday's opener against the Angels.

Per Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Pena has progressed enough in his recovery from a fractured right ring finger to avoid the 10-day injured list, but he's not quite ready to play in major-league games. Pena is at the Astros' nearby Triple-A Sugar Land affiliate Thursday morning getting in some live at-bats, and it's unclear whether he will be available off the bench Thursday or if Houston will play a man short. Consider him day-to-day for the time being. With Pena out, Carlos Correa will slide over to shortstop and Isaac Paredes will start at third base.

Hamilton is starting at third base and batting seventh Opening Day against the White Sox on Thursday.

The lefty-hitting Hamilton will end up getting the Opening Day nod at the hot corner over switch-hitting veteran Luis Rengifo, who inked a one-year $3.5 million deal with Milwaukee in February. Hamilton played in 91 regular-season games with Boston last year and finished the campaign with six homers, 22 steals and a .198/.257/.333 slash line in 177 plate appearances.

Mateo claimed a spot on Atlanta's Opening Day roster, Chad Bishop of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The veteran utility player will provide some extra depth at shortstop behind Mauricio Dubon while Ha-Seong Kim (finger) is on the IL. Mateo has stolen double-digit bases in each of the last five seasons despite inconsistent playing time -- he went 15-for-17 on the basepaths in 2025 despite seeing just 83 plate appearances for the Orioles.

Jackson is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Twins.

Though Jackson beat out a number of competitors for the final position-player spot on the Orioles' Opening Day roster, he looks like he'll have to settle for a part-time role to begin the season, even while Jackson Holliday (hand) and Jordan Westburg (elbow) are on the injured list. Coby Mayo is expected to be Westburg's primary replacement at third base, while the Orioles could opt for a more of a timeshare between Jackson and Blaze Alexander at the keystone in Holliday's absence. The Orioles will turn to Alexander at second base for the opener.

The Nationals released Alcantara on Tuesday.

Alcantara was unable to win a utility job with the Nationals coming out of spring training, and rather than sticking around in the organization at Triple-A Rochester, he'll hit the open market in pursuit of an opportunity elsewhere. The 29-year-old switch-hitter saw action in one game at the big-league level with the Giants in 2025, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Shaw is starting in right field and batting ninth in Thursday's season opener against the Nationals.

Michael Conforto was expected to step in as the Cubs' primary right fielder versus right-handed pitching with Seiya Suzuki (knee) on the injured list, but Shaw will instead get the call Opening Day against Washington righty Cade Cavalli. Shaw almost exclusively played third base as rookie last season, but he prepared to fill a super-utility role during the offseason and will immediately get a look at one of his new positions Thursday. The 24-year-old struggled to a .689 OPS in 126 regular-season games last year in his first taste of the majors but is coming off a strong spring training, during which he batted .320/.417/.500 in 60 plate appearances.

Winn is starting at shortstop and batting cleanup in Thursday's opener versus the Rays.

Winn is an atypical cleanup hitter -- this will be just his fourth career start in the slot -- but the rebuilding Cardinals don't have many middle-of-the-order options. It's a boost for Winn's RBI outlook, as he should have chances to drive in runs with JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson batting ahead of him.