MLB Player News

Barger went 1-for-4 with a grand slam in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox.

The 26-year-old got hold of a hanging splitter from minor-leaguer Patrick Halligan for his first homer of the spring. Barger is expected to spend most of his time in right field this season while Kazuma Okamoto handles third base, and defensive stability could allow him to build on his 2025 breakout at the plate, when he slashed .243/.301/.454 in 135 games with 21 home runs.

Lindor (hand) played catch Monday and will go through defensive drills and other baseball activities Tuesday, Laura Albanese of Newsday reports.

The Mets are hoping that Lindor will be able to swing a bat Tuesday or Wednesday as he continues to work his way back from hamate bone surgery. It likely would be dry swings initially before he gradually ramps up his progression. Lindor has a chance to be ready by Opening Day for the Mets but cannot afford any bumps in the road in his recovery.

Crawford (shoulder) is starting at designated hitter and batting fifth in Tuesday's Cactus League contest versus the Angels.

It will be the spring training debut for Crawford, who has been brought along slowly in Mariners camp due to a minor shoulder issue. He will be eased back into action at DH and is expected to return to shortstop soon.

McLain batted second and went 2-for-2 with two walks, two home runs, six RBI and a third run scored in Monday's spring game against the Cubs.

McLain is wielding a hot stick early in the Cactus League and is 8-for-14 with three homers and nine RBI through five games. He appears poised for a bounce-back season after slumping for much of 2025 and landing in the bottom of the order. McLain is looking like he did in 2023, when he posted an .864 OPS and 127 OPS+ as a rookie.

Lux is at least one week away from making his Grapefruit League debut due to "general soreness," per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Lux is ramping up his activity at Rays camp, and his status for Opening Day still doesn't appear to be in any real jeopardy. After slashing .269/.350/.374 with five home runs and 53 RBI over 503 regular-season plate appearances for the Reds in 2025, the 28-year-old middle infielder is expected to be Tampa Bay's primary second baseman when healthy in 2026.

Bogaerts has made the most starts out of the leadoff spot through the Padres' first 10 Cactus League games and would appear to be the leading candidate to open the season atop the batting order, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Fernando Tatis (150) and Luis Arraez (11) made all but one start out of the leadoff spot for the Padres during the 2025 regular season, but San Diego will be breaking in a new table setter in 2026 with Arraez now in San Francisco and with first-year manager Craig Stammen planning to move Tatis down to the third or fourth spot. Bogaerts primarily slotted somewhere between fourth and sixth in the lineup last season, but as a high-contact hitter with good speed on the bases, he should make for a logical choice to lead off. However, with Bogaerts away from the team until at least March 12 while he participates in the World Baseball Classic, Stammen will experiment with other options atop the order during Cactus League play. Jake Cronenworth will bat leadoff in Monday's game against the Athletics and could represent the top fallback option to Bogaerts once the season gets underway.

Young went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer in Sunday's Cactus League game against the Rangers.

It had been a tough start to the spring for Young, who'd gone 0-for-8 with six strikeouts in his first four contests before launching a 442-foot homer off lefty Jacob Latz in the first inning Sunday. The 22-year-old Young continues to battle with top prospect Colt Emerson for the the final starting infield job. Young opened camp as the favorite, though his slow start may have closed the gap. Young appeared in 77 regular-season games as a rookie last year, batting .211 with a .607 OPS, four homers and one stolen base across 257 plate appearances.

De Vries (illness) will start at shortstop and bat seventh in Monday's Cactus League game against the Padres.

De Vries battled dehydration and stomach issues during Saturday's game against the Giants, but he needed just one day to recover before rejoining the Athletics' spring lineup. One of the top infield prospects in all of baseball, De Vries has held his own thus far in the spring, going 3-for-10 with a 1:2 BB:K and one stolen base over five games. He's likely to open the upcoming season at either Double-A Midland or Triple-A Sacramento but could earn his first big-league call-up at some point in the second half of 2026.

Winn didn't start Monday's spring training game versus the Marlins as initially anticipated due to right arm soreness, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said that Winn is "fine" and the soreness is a result of a "heavy" workload on the backfields Sunday. The plan is for Winn to return to action Thursday or Friday, though Marmol said he's willing to adjust plans if Winn wants to play Wednesday in an exhibition versus Team Nicaragua. Winn is 2-for-8 with a 3:2 BB:K and one stolen base in his first four Grapefruit League contests.

Seager (illness) will start at shortstop and bat third in Monday's Cactus League game versus the Guardians.

Seager was scratched from the Rangers' lineup Friday and wound up missing a couple additional days of action due to illness, but he's ready to roll for Monday's tilt. The veteran shortstop is 1-for-7 with a 1:2 BB:K in the early going this spring.