MLB Player News

Casas went 0-for-1 with a walk and a strikeout in Sunday's game against the Rays.

Casas made his debut in a major-league game, entering in the fifth inning for first baseman Mitch Moreland. Casas was Boston's first-round pick in 2018, then suffered a season-ending thumb injury two games into his professional career. He played third base in high school, but the organization is deep at that position, so expect to see more of the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Casas being exposed to first base.

Tellez went 1-for-2 with a home run off the bench in Sunday's Grapefruit League win over the Twins.

His fourth long ball of the spring broke an 8-8 tie and proved to be the game-winner. Tellez impressed after earning his first callup last September, and he's now batting .295/.326/.591 through 16 spring games, but Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 The Fan says Tellez is still likely to start the year at Triple-A, barring injury. There are two paths to playing time for Tellez this season: first base and DH.

The Rays reassigned Lowe to their minor-league camp Saturday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Lowe only went 3-for-34 at the dish during Grapefruit League play, but bashed a pair of towering home runs to offer optimism about his power potential. The 23-year-old is viewed as more of a disciplined, all-fields hitter rather than an all-or-nothing slugger, but that profile is still one that makes him interesting for fantasy purposes. He'll open the season at Triple-A Durham and could debut with the big club at some point in 2019 if the International League doesn't prove too challenging in his second go-around.

Diaz went 2-for-2 with a home run, four RBI and a walk in Friday's game against Detroit.

Diaz plated a run in the fourth inning on a single to right field, and he clubbed a three-run homer in the fifth to give Tampa Bay a four-run lead. The 27-year-old is having a decent camp and has gone 9-for-31 with two home runs, nine RBI and two runs scored thus far.

Bell hit his second homer of the spring in Friday's game against the Rays.

He struck out in his other three at-bats and is hitting .182 in Grapefruit League action. Bell continues to struggle defensively but has little competition for the first base job. Lonnie Chisenhall and Francisco Cervelli will likely serve as his backups. It's easy envisioning a rebound in power from Bell in 2019 - he hit 12 homers last season after belting 26 in 2017 - but it's important to note that he never hit more than 14 home runs in the minors.

Abreu (eye) will start at first base and bat third in Friday's exhibition game against the Cubs, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Abreu was a late scratch from Wednesday's lineup after a ground ball deflected off his glove and hit him in the right eye pre-game, but his quick return to the lineup indicates he likely just had some swelling. The 32-year-old is 10-for-31 with three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI through 11 spring training games.

Bour went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run and a walk in Thursday's spring game against Milwaukee.

Bour clubbed a three-run homer in the third inning, his third home run of spring training. He's gone 4-for-20 with six RBI and three runs scored thus far in camp.

O'Hearn went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored Thursday against Texas.

O'Hearn plated the game's first run in the first inning on a single and would score later in the frame on an Humberto Arteaga double. O'Hearn is on track to begin the 2019 campaign as the starting first baseman after hitting .262 with 12 homers and 30 RBI over 44 games in the first big-league action of his career. He's now 11-for-34 with eight RBI and five runs scored this spring.

Walker went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and a run scored Thursday against San Francisco.

Walker tripled in the second inning and scored the game's first run, and then he smacked a ground-rule double in the fourth. The 27-year-old continues to have a solid spring and sports a .355 average with a home run, 11 RBI and five runs scored. Walker's chances of breaking camp with the Diamondbacks took a slight hit with the addition of Adam Jones this week. Prior to signing Jones, there was room for Walker and outfielder Socrates Brito, both of whom are out of options, plus carrying three catchers. However, the arrival of Jones has forced management to re-evaluate the need to carry three catchers, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. If the Diamondbacks retain two catchers, they can keep both Walker and Brito.

Guerrero (oblique) was reassigned to minor-league camp Thursday, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.

He was already sidelined with a Grade 1 oblique strain, so this move doesn't really change anything for Guerrero in the short term or the long term. If the original three-week recovery timetable holds, Guerrero should be good to go for the start of the minor-league season. The expectation is that he will still be promoted by the Blue Jays once he has his timing down at Triple-A and the team has gained a seventh year of control. A mid-to-late April promotion to the big leagues seems likely if he avoids setbacks in his recovery.