Royals outfielder Jorge Solera will start season on disabled list

Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Soler likely will begin his first season in Kansas City on the disabled list after straining his oblique in a minor league game.

Soler, acquired from the Cubs in December for closer Wade Davis, hurt himself on a swing Sunday. Soler went for a MRI Monday, and manager Ned Yost acknowledged Soler was expected to be out of action when the Royals open next Monday at Minnesota. Soler missed nearly two months last season because of a pulled left hamstring. He was sidelined for three weeks in 2015 because of a left oblique injury, plus another month with a sprained ankle.

Yost also said Raul Mondesi will open the season as the starting second baseman. Mondesi won the job over Whit Merrifield, Christian Colon and Cheslor Cuthbert.

"Nothing is impossible," Mondesi said.

Yost told the 21-year-old Mondesi the news before an exhibition game against Oakland. Mondesi began the day hitting .378 this spring with a .622 slugging percentage, three home runs and two doubles in 19 games.

"For anybody who watched, it was definitely an obvious choice," Yost said.

Yost said when spring training began the prevailing thought was Mondesi would need more grooming in the minors after hitting .185 in 47 games for the Royals as a rookie last year. He often looked overmatched at the plate, striking out 48 times in 135 at-bats.

Steven Matz made it through a 55-pitch flat-ground session Monday morning, despite his recent elbow flare-up, but his status for the first week of the regular season remains in doubt.

Matz was scratched from Monday's scheduled Grapefruit League start because of elbow tenderness. In its place, Matz threw from roughly 70 feet, in four separate, inning-type parts, with a pause between, under the guidance of pitching coach Dan Warthen.

"I wasn't too worried about it," Matz said. "Just had to back it down. It felt good."

What the two failed to address, however, is a timeline for Matz's return. GM Sandy Alderson said Sunday that the team's medical staff assured him the elbow was structurally sound. But manager Terry Collins sounded skeptical Matz could return to the rotation for the beginning of the season if he doesn't make another start this week. As for Matz, he's trying not to look that far ahead.

"I haven't put too much thought in it, honestly," Matz said. "I'm just focused on today. I got through a good day throwing, and I'll focus on tomorrow now. Then whatever happens, happens. It's out of my control.''