MLB Player News

France does not have a concussion after getting hit in the head by a pitch Friday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

The pitch struck the flap of France's helmet before hitting him in the jaw. His initial examination by team doctors was encouraging, though it's not yet clear if he'll still need to miss time.

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.

France was hit in the head by a pitch Friday against Oakland and left the game.

The severity of his injury is not yet clear. France was able to walk off the field under his own power.

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.

Flores went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run Thursday against the Indians.

Flores kicked off the scoring in the first inning by hitting a two-run blast to left-center field. He's been firing on all cylinders at the plate this spring and is now 8-for-17 with seven RBI.

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.

Freeman went 1-for-1 with a walk and a grand slam in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Tigers.

Amazingly, the first baseman has yet to hit a grand slam in the regular season among his 189 career homers. Freeman is now slashing .308/.357/.846 through his first 13 spring at-bats with two home runs.

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."

Blandino (knee) will not be ready for the start of the season, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. "We would love to have him ready," manager David Bell said. "I know he would love to be ready. It's just not realistic right now. As much as he's disappointed by that, he's come such a long way, I think he knows he has to be smart about it."

Blandino, who had surgery to reconstruct a torn ACL and MCL in July of 2018, is recovering slower than expected. While he's been able to field grounders and participate in batting practice, the outfielder still isn't ready for game action. As such, Blandino won't be able to get enough at-bats in before the start of the season, leaving him to open the year in the minors or on the injured list.

Goldschmidt, who went 1-for-2 with a walk in Tuesday's 2-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Phillies, is hitting .364 over his first 15 spring plate appearances.

The veteran slugger overcame a slow start in 2018 to put together a second consecutive 30-homer season for the Diamondbacks, which also ranked as his third in the last four campaigns overall. Still only 31 years old, Goldschmidt is expected to muster a similar caliber of production in St. Louis, although the change in home park could make it more challenging for him to match the long-ball numbers he's generated in recent years. Another aspect of Goldschmidt's game to monitor will be what was once above-average stolen-base production -- after notching a combined 53 thefts in the 2015-16 seasons, he's seen his numbers in that category drop in each of the last two campaigns.