MLB Player News

Angels 1B/DH C.J. Cron homered for the second straight game during Thursday's spring game against the Cubs. He went 2 for 4 with two runs and one RBI.

Cron is off to a good start this spring. He is batting .389 (7 for 18) with one double, two home runs, four RBI and four runs in seven games.

White Sox manager Robin Ventura is pretty confident Jose Abreu will perform well again this season, reports MLB.com. Many fear he may hit a sophomore slump, but Ventura lauds Abreu's maturity as a reason for him being just fine this year.

"He's more of a mature kid than most people, just in his daily interactions of coming in to work and all the things that he does," Ventura said. "There are guys older than him that are less mature than him. It's more about him than anything else. He's not caught up in numbers."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia praised the intensity and enthusiasm of outfielder Kole Calhoun Monday as part of what makes him such a valuable part of the team's lineup, MLB.com reports.

"I think part of what makes Kole a good player is his intensity," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "You need that focus, that intensity to know this is real and it's how you compete. With Kole, it's in him and it bubbles out. He pumps his teammates up and he does a great job setting the tone for us."

"It's how I was raised," Calhoun said. "I'm a pretty passionate person in most everything that I do. I think at this level, you've got to be. You've got to compete on every pitch because that's your livelihood. Everyone's fighting for the same thing and you want to come out on top."

Calhoun excelled as the team's leadoff batter in 2014, hitting .281/.336/.471 with 17 home runs and 58 RBI in 448 at-bats while slotted first.

When asked about former Mets teammate Ruben Tejada, Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes shook his head and said "something is wrong," per Newsday.

Reyes revealed that during his final season with the Mets he tried to pass the torch to Tejada to become his replacement. Reyes landed in Miami in the offseason, and Tejada was destined to be his permanent replacement. Now entering spring training, Wilmer Flores is viewed as the favorite to win the starting job at shortstop for the Mets.

"Every time I talk to him I try to give him some advice," Reyes said. "What can I do? I try to push him to do stuff. I don't know if he gets it or not...He had the opportunity to be the everyday shortstop for a long time there in New York. You have to work, man. When you're younger, you think you have everything there for you. But if you do something wrong, it's going to go away. Quick.

"When I was there, I always give a lot of advice to him. We were always together. My last year there, every time I talk to him: 'This is going to be your position for a long time. Don't let it go away.' See what happened now? It's 2015 and he doesn't have a position to play. When they talk about who is going to play every day, they don't talk about Tejada. They talk about Flores."

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons hinted that Danny Valencia and Chris Colabello will see some time at left field this spring, according to Sportsnet.ca. Toronto is hoping to fill a void at left field after the team announced Thursday that Michael Saunders will be sidelined until July with a torn meniscus in his left knee.

In his career, Valencia played left field in only five games in the minors. Colabello has logged 30 career games in the majors at left field.

There's no denying White Sox slugger Jose Abreu had a pretty impressive rookie season in 2014. He was named AL Rookie of the Year after he hit .317 with 35 doubles, 36 home runs and 107 RBI in 145 games. He made the All-Star team. He won a Silver Slugger award. He also finished fourth in the AL MVP race.

While Abreu likely has personal goals set aside, he contends his focus is all about helping the team.

"I cannot say that I will put up the same numbers or be better," said Abreu through translator and White Sox Spanish-language broadcaster Billy Russo, per MLB.com. "I just can say that I will try to do the best every day to help the team win games.

"If the numbers are the same as last year, it's good for me. But my main focus right now is to try to be the best player possible and help the team. [The front office] gave us the opportunity to be better this year and to compete this year. That is the most important thing for us in baseball."

Although Rays infielder Asdrubal Cabrera has primarily played shortstop in his career, manager Kevin Cash is open to the idea of having Cabrera play at both shortstop and second base in 2015, per MLB.com.

"I think coming in right now, we're going to be versatile," Cash said. "And he's going to be versatile going back and forth, getting his work in at both spots. I know that we would like to have the [decision made]. [The] earlier the better. Because it gives the guys a better sense going into the season. That doesn't always play out that way. But Cabby, his conversations in the offseason with everybody, he's been very open minded. We're ecstatic to have him in there every day."

Cabrera, who fielded grounders at second and short Monday, said he would prefer to play one position instead of constantly bouncing back and forth.

"Yeah, I would like to stay at one position," Cabrera said. "I think it's hard for anyone to play short then come back at second. It's not the same."

Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Chris Carter will begin spring training starting at first base, according to the Houston Chronicle.

“(Carter will) start coming into camp … at first base, on the team fundamentals, the individualized defense, things like that,” Hinch said. “We’ll have him work a little bit early with some outfield stuff.”

In 2014, Carter hit .227 with a single-season best 37 home runs.

Indians first baseman Carlos Santana is hoping playing one position will help with his consistency this season, according to MLB.com.

"This year, I feel so great, because I only play one position, first base," Santana said. "We'll see what happens this year. I'm working hard every day and I'll try to do my best for the team." Santana got off to a poor start to open the year, hitting .207 in the first half. 

Manager Terry Francona said he believes Santana got frustrated by the positional change last year. "He started out miserable hitting and then moving positions, I think he got frustrated," Francona said. "And, I think when you're hitting .150, you get frustrated quicker."

Santana believes he'll be able to carry over his strong second half into this season. "By the second half, I was up and I finished strong," he said. "It's very important for me to try to do the same thing all year."

Santana hit .231/.365/.427 over 541 at-bats last year. 

Angels first basement C.J. Cron underwent a minor procedure on his wrist, manager Mike Scioscia said, via MLB.com.

Cron had a cyst in his wrist that needed to be removed. The procedure shouldn't affect Cron's availability in spring training.

In 2014, Cron hit .256 with 11 home runs.