MLB Player News

Wade went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and a strikeout in Saturday's spring game against the Pirates.

Wade struggled following his promotion to Triple-A Rochester in 2018 -- slashing .229/.337/.336 in 74 games -- but was still added to the Twins' 40-man roster in November to be protected from the Rule 5 draft. The 25-year-old could make his MLB debut at some point in 2019 but is likely to begin the season at Rochester.

Guerrero went 0-for-3 with a walk in Friday's split-squad game against the Pirates.

The weak performance was thrown into sharper relief when fellow top prospect Bo Bichette joined in a five-homer barrage with the other half of the roster. Guerrero is slashing only .211/.250/.316 without a home run this spring, giving the front office more cover when it inevitably decides to delay the start of his service clock by sending him back to Triple-A Buffalo. Don't be fooled by a small sample -- the 19-year-old's bat is big-league ready, and his stay in Buffalo to begin the season should be a brief one.

Kirilloff was reassigned to minor-league spring training Friday, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Kirilloff hasn't played above High-A in his young career, so this move doesn't come as a surprise. He slashed .362/.393/.550 with seven home runs and 45 RBI over 65 games at High-A Fort Myers a season ago and could begin the 2019 campaign at Double-A Pensacola given his early success in the minors.

Raley went 2-for-3 with a triple, a double and four RBI in Thursday's spring game against Boston.

Raley drove in a pair in the second inning on a triple to right field, and he plated another run in the fourth on a double to left. His fourth RBI of the day would come in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly. Raley is now 5-for-18 with five RBI and a run scored this spring and could start the season at Triple-A Rochester given his prior success at Double-A. The former seventh-round pick slashed .275/.345/.477 with 17 homers and 53 RBI a year ago with Double-A Tulsa.

Manager Aaron Boone admitted Thursday that Voit and Greg Bird are likely battling for one roster spot this spring, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports. "It's tough for me to envision us having two first basemen, especially when I feel like [DJ] LeMahieu would be that guy that gets backup reps there," Boone said.

Voit has some limited experience playing the corner outfield, but since he likely ranks as nothing more than an emergency option there, defense doesn't look like it will be a factor in the job battle between him and Bird. Instead, the competition will be decided based on how the two perform at the dish, with Voit's excellence after his late-August callup in 2018 presumably giving him the early edge over Bird, who has disappointed in his opportunities at the big-league level the past three seasons while also struggling with injuries. A healthy Bird has at least made things interesting this spring with a .400 average and four extra-base hits through his first seven contests, so Voit may need to keep pace to emerge as the victor. He's been able to do that so far, sporting a .308 average of his own with two home runs entering play Thursday.

White (hamstring) resumed batting practice Wednesday but does not yet have a firm timetable for a return to game action, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

White has performed well whenever he's been healthy enough to suit up this spring, hitting .364 (4-for-11) with a pair of doubles. However, the Mariners have emphasized the importance of patience to White in allowing the soft-tissue injury to heal, advice the promising prospect has heeded. White is likely to have a chance to return to Cactus League action prior to the end of spring and then start the season at Double-A Arkansas, and manager Scott Servais will remain an interested observer. "Evan has gotten a lot stronger and is driving the ball better," Servais said. "He's always hit the ball hard, but I think the fact he's getting the ball in the air more consistently, it played out at the end of last season for him when he hit a bunch of home runs and had a nice run the last month and a half. He'll get back in there in the next few days. I'm really looking for him to have that next step forward in his minor-league season this year, wherever that's at."

Diaz (general soreness) went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in a 9-2 Grapefruit League loss to the Twins on Tuesday.

Apparently refreshed after taking a couple of days off to shake off some typical spring soreness, Diaz responded with a sixth-inning home run off Trevor Hildenberger. It was the infielder's first blast of spring and third hit over 15 at-bats. Diaz once again manned the hot corner Tuesday in the ongoing absence of Matt Duffy (hamstring), but he's slated to spend plenty of time at first base once the regular season gets underway. Diaz raised expectations during his second major-league stint with the Indians in 2018, slashing .312/.375/.422 across 120 plate appearances.

Calhoun went 3-for-3 with a solo homer and an additional run scored in Tuesday's win over the Cubs.

Calhoun poked a pair of singles in his first two trips to the plate Tuesday, coming around to score his second time on base thanks to a Mike Trout homer. In his third at-bat, Calhoun took Rowan Wick deep to center field for his first Cactus League homer. The outfielder doubled his hit total this spring with Tuesday's three-hit effort; he's now 6-for-15 (.400) with a trio of extra-base hits through six games.

Dixon went 1-for-2 with a solo homer Tuesday against the Blue Jays.

Dixon struck out in his first at-bat before connecting for his second homer of spring in his next trip to the plate. The 27-year-old, who is competing for a spot on the Tigers' Opening Day roster as a reserve infielder, is now slashing .294/.350/.647 through eight games this spring.

White will be held out a day or two to rest his sore hamstring, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

White had previously missed a few days due to the issue, though he played Saturday against the Royals. He'll need more time to rest again, but the injury is still being referred to as "soreness," so it doesn't appear as if the organization expects the problem to be a major one.