MLB Player News

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.

Cabrera started at third base and went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored in Sunday's spring game against the Cubs.

Cabrera has appeared in four spring games, starting at third base three times and second base once. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo projected a role against left-handers for the veteran infielder, most likely at third base. He's 1-for-9 with a run scored and an RBI thus far in Cactus League play.

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.

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.

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.

Bour signed a minor-league contract with the Giants on Friday, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports.

The 32-year-old spent the 2020 campaign in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers and had a .245/.344/.424 slash line with 17 homers in 102 games. Even with starting first baseman Brandon Belt (heel) limited to open camp, Bour won't be invited to major-league spring training and will report to minor-league camp April 1, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

Freeman will make his spring debut in Friday's exhibition game against the Twins.

Freeman's arrival at camp was delayed due to the birth of his child, but he joined Atlanta last weekend and is ready to see his first action of the spring. Freeman, the reigning NL MVP, said Tuesday that he anticipates hitting third in 2021, and he will do just that Friday.

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.

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.

Calhoun said Thursday that his expected recovery timeline from knee surgery was 4-to-6 weeks, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Calhoun underwent surgery to address a torn meniscus Wednesday. The timeline implies that he should be able to return sometime in April, though he's still very likely to need at least a brief trip to the injured list. The Diamondbacks have a slew of options that will get at-bats in right field during the rest of spring training, including Tim Locastro (illness), Wyatt Mathisen, Pavin Smith, Trayce Thompson, Josh VanMeter, Daulton Varsho and Andrew Young.