Yuli Gurriel, Shohei Ohtani, Paul DeJong, more!

• Astros first baseman, Yuli Gurriel, had hand surgery last Thursday and is likely to miss five-to-six weeks. The injury is likely to keep him out until mid-April at the soonest. In addition to the injury, Gurriel is also facing a five-game suspension which will begin once he back from the disabled list. Marwin Gonzalez is the obvious replacement for Gurriel at first. Houston could also go with a number of high end prospects like Tyler White, A.J. Reed, or J.D. Davis to cover first while Gurriel is on the shelf.
• Shohei Ohtani was much more impressive in his second outing of the spring. Ohtani, facing a “B” squad of the Brewers, recorded eight outs, all via strikeout, while facing a total of 11 batters. Ohtani allowed four hits and two runs over his 52-pitch outing. This is much better than his first start which was 1.1 IP with just 2 Ks. As a hitter, Ohtani has one hit, an RBI single, and two walks in six total plate appearances this spring.
• Paul DeJong reached an agreement with the Cardinals on a contract extension. The deal is reportedly worth $26 million over six years. DeJong hit .285 with 25 home runs and 65 RBI over 108 games last season. The shortstop will attempt to back up this extension in his sophomore campaign in 2018. DeJong finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2017, behind some dude named Cody Bellinger.

A few more quick hitters:

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• Jacob deGrom could miss Opening Day due to back issues.
• Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz has a flexor strain in his left forearm.
• Cole Hamels isn’t happy about the potential six-man rotation the Rangers are likely to utilize to begin the season.
• Troy Tulowitzki is likely to miss Opening Day for the Blue Jays.
• The Diamondbacks closer job remains “wide open” between Archie Bradley, Brad Boxberger, and Yoshihisa Hirano.
• Fernando Tatis Jr. went 4-for-4 with five RBI on Sunday. The Padres prospect is #8 overall on MLB Pipeline’s top 100. He’s also just 19 years old!