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  • J.P. Crawford SS | SEA

    Mariners' J.P. Crawford: Making spring debut Tuesday

    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.

  • Matt McLain SS | CIN

    Reds' Matt McLain: Locked in at plate

    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.

  • Gavin Lux SS | TB

    Rays' Gavin Lux: To miss at least one more week

    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.

  • Padres' Xander Bogaerts: Favorite for leadoff gig

    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.

  • Cole Young SS | SEA

    Mariners' Cole Young: Homers Sunday

    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.

  • Leo De Vries SS | ATH

    Athletics' Leo De Vries: Makes return to spring lineup

    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.

  • Masyn Winn SS | STL

    Cardinals' Masyn Winn: Held back with arm soreness

    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.

  • Corey Seager SS | TEX

    Rangers' Corey Seager: Back in action after illness

    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.

  • Matthew Lugo SS | LAA

    Angels' Matthew Lugo: Headed to Triple-A

    Lugo was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday.

    Lugo will head to the Triple-A level after batting .091 with a double, an RBI, and four strikeouts over 11 at-bats in five contests during spring training. The outfielder produced a .232 average with four home runs, nine RBI and nine runs scored over 69 at-bats in 31 contests with the Angels last season. He'll look to impress with Salt Lake in an attempt to get another crack with the major-league roster in 2026.

  • Cubs' Ben Cowles: Back with Chicago

    Cowles was claimed off waivers by the Cubs on Sunday.

    Cowles will return to Cubs camp after being designated for assignment by Chicago on Feb. 15 and ultimately claimed by the Blue Jays a few days later. The infielder appeared in five spring-training games in his time with Toronto, going 0-for-9 with five strikeouts. Cowles played in 113 games with Triple-A Iowa in 2025, batting .238 with nine home runs, 44 RBI, 55 runs scored and 16 stolen bases over 421 at-bats. He'll likely open the 2026 campaign at Triple-A if he sticks around with the Cubs' organization.

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