MLB Player News

  • Triston Casas 1B | BOS

    Red Sox's Triston Casas: Back at camp

    Casas (undisclosed) rejoined the Red Sox for workouts Tuesday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.

    Casas had been away for the team for about a week due to an undisclosed non-baseball medical issue, but he's apparently made a return to full health while also clearing all COVID-19 intake testing. The 21-year-old third baseman is expected to ramp up his activity gradually over the next few days before potentially getting the chance to play in a Grapefruit League game for Boston.

  • Matt Olson 1B | ATL

    Athletics' Matt Olson: Continues wielding scorching bat

    Olson, who went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and an additional run in Sunday's Cactus League win over Cleveland, is now hitting .500 with three homers and eight RBI overall across four spring games.

    Olson also has a two-bagger on his spring resume and has encouragingly struck out only twice, as the extensive work he put in on his hitting during the offseason is clearly paying early dividends. There's no concerns about the 26-year-old's prodigious power stroke, but a reduction in last season's career-worst 31.4 percent strikeout rate will be key to Olson's chances of significantly boosting last year's abysmal .195 average.

  • Nate Lowe DH | CIN

    Rangers' Nate Lowe: Hitless Sunday

    Lowe started at first base and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in Sunday's spring game against the Dodgers.

    Lowe is the presumed starter at first base after the Rangers acquired him from Tampa Bay during the offseason, but he's fallen behind Ronald Guzman in terms of spring production. Lowe is 1-for-9 (hitless in last eight ABs) with five strikeouts, while Guzman is 4-for-7 with two home runs, two RBI and two walks. Kennedi Landry of MLB.com has gone as far as projecting Guzman as the Opening Day starter at first base.

  • Kody Clemens 1B | MIN

    Tigers' Kody Clemens: Could start at Triple-A

    Clemens is a candidate to begin his season at Triple-A Toledo and could also spend time at the Tigers' reinstated alternate training site, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

    Clemens spent just 13 games at Double-A Erie back in 2019, but the team has reportedly been impressed with his work the last two spring trainings, so he could make the jump to Toledo. The organization will also get the chance to send players to an alternate training site early in the season, as the start of the Triple-A season was recently bumped back from April to May. Clemens could find himself in that group and has a shot to emerge as an in-season callup for the Tigers.

  • Yandy Diaz DH | TB

    Rays' Yandy Diaz: Pair of early RBI

    Diaz is 1-for-5 with a walk and two RBI across his first three Grapefruit League games.

    Diaz reported to spring camp a bit lighter than last season with a goal of improving his agility in the field, but he's still packing plenty of muscle and hoping to significantly improve on his average of one home run per 69 plate appearances in 2020. In contrast, Diaz averaged one round tripper per 24.8 plate appearances in 2019 while slugging a career-high 14 homers; a similar ratio of power production in 2021 would certainly go a long way toward boosting the overall potency of a Rays squad that was in the middle of the pack with just 80 home runs across 60 games a year ago.

  • Triston Casas 1B | BOS

    Red Sox's Triston Casas: Nearing return to camp

    Casas (undisclosed) is going through intake screening to return to the Red Sox's spring facility, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

    The 21-year-old was in Boston earlier this week being evaluated for a non-baseball medical issue, but he apparently checked out fine and is in the process of rejoining big-league camp. Casas was at the alternate training site last season and spent most of 2019 at the Low-A level, where he had a .254/.349/.474 slash line with 19 home runs in 118 games.

  • Ryan O'Hearn RF | PIT

    Royals' Ryan O'Hearn: Hot start to spring training

    O'Hearn went 1-for-3 with a solo home run Thursday against the Reds.

    O'Hearn has put on quite a display of power early on this spring, slugging three homers in four exhibition games. He's unlikely to find significant playing time once the regular season starts due to the addition of Carlos Santana, though he's making a case for a bench spot with his early performance.

  • Ty France 1B | SD

    Mariners' Ty France: Standing out early

    France, who went 1-for-2 with a solo home run in a Cactus League tie with the Rockies on Thursday, is 3-for-6 overall in his first three spring games.

    The promising 26-year-old also has a double among his three hits and has already logged time at both second base and third base in addition to the designated hitter role he's projected to primarily fill in 2021. France is the heir apparent at third base for the Mariners if he can prove himself at the plate over a full season, and the combination of his early spring returns and the .309/.371/.469 line he produced over 89 plate appearances in Seattle in 2020 support the notion he'll be up to the task.

  • Triston Casas 1B | BOS

    Red Sox's Triston Casas: Away for non-baseball medical issue

    Casas is in Boston on Thursday getting a non-baseball medical issue checked out, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

    With the nature of the issue unclear, it's difficult to say when Casas will return to the field. He was invited to big-league camp but has played just two games above Low-A, so he wasn't going to push for a roster spot even if he was healthy all spring.

  • Bobby Dalbec 1B | CHW

    Red Sox's Bobby Dalbec: Launches two more homers

    Dalbec went 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBI in Wednesday's spring game against the Twins.

    Dalbec's power potential has been on display early in camp. The 25-year-old slugger has three homers in six at-bats over four games. Dalbec will be Boston's primary starter at first base in 2021.

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