MLB Player News

Lowe is getting regular batting practice in at home while spring training remains suspended with the help of his wife Madison, a former college softball player, Karen Loftus of WFLA-TV reports. "I thank God every day to have someone that understands everything that I'm going through on a daily basis and to have someone that I can confide in and stuff like that," Lowe said. "She can actually have a good conversation about what she sees when she's in the stance or I can come up to her and say can you give me some front toss or can we go outside and throw?"

Madison Lowe was a pitcher at Maryland, where Brandon played college baseball. In addition to getting in his swings, the versatile 25-year-old is working out in a personal garage gym that he recently showed off via his personal Twitter account. Lowe, who hit an impressive .350 (7-for-20) before Grapefruit League play was suspended, is expected to primarily handle second-base duties whenever the regular season does get underway.

Albies has continued to fine tune his swing mechanics while the season is suspended, particularly from the left side, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

The young switch hitter has been better from the right side in his big-league career to date, but Albies showed improvement from the left side of the plate in 2019, boosting his OPS from .696 to .778 as he made an effort to pull the ball less often. As Bowman notes, Albies is one of only three switch hitters in major-league history to hit .275 or better with 50 or more homers and an OPS of .800 or better through his age-22 season, joining Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray.

Lux has been staying sharp during MLB's hiatus by working out at a friend's gym and taking batting practice at his high school field, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Lux has been slowed but not stopped by the suspension of play as he continues to work out for about two hours per day in order to stay ready for a potential resumption of play. When he isn't able to make the long drive to the gym (his friend has lent Lux a key so that he can work out alone) or hit outdoors (Lux lives in Wisconsin, where April can include harsh weather), the 22-year-old works out using dumbbells in a makeshift home gym. While Lux is not guaranteed to make the Dodgers' Opening Day roster, he's expected to play a major role on the squad at some point during the 2020 campaign.

Torres assessed his performance in Grapefruit League play as "not really good," Pete Caldera of NorthJersey.com reports.

Torres had a mildly disappointing spring at the plate -- he hit .200/.241/.360 with a home run and six RBI in 29 plate appearances -- but defense was his primary struggle as he committed five errors in 23 total chances. Per Caldera, Torres has kept in touch with ex-teammate Didi Gregorious, taking tips from the team's starting shortstop last season in an attempt to solidify his own mechanics on the field. Torres remains locked in as the Yankees' everyday shortstop, and the team will no doubt practice patience with his defensive development as long as he continues to produce offensively.

Hoerner could land himself a role in the majors and regular playing time whenever the regular season is able to begin, Tim Stebbins of NBC Sports Chicago reports.

Before play was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hoerner was likely looking at starting the year at Triple-A Iowa to get more regular playing time. However, if rosters are expanded and the schedule gets compacted as expected, the 22-year-old might stick in the majors from the start. The thinking is that with fewer off days, teams will need to rotate players more, and that could get Hoerner the requisite at-bats at the MLB level. He certainly looked the part of a big-league player when he made his debut last season, posting a .282 batting average and three home runs in 20 games.

Miller is expected to open the 2020 campaign with Triple-A El Paso and could be considered for a big-league callup at some point during the season, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Miller fared well at the Double-A level last season, slashing .290/.355/.430 with 13 home runs and 68 RBI in 560 plate appearances. That makes a promotion to Triple-A logical, with an opportunity to reach the big leagues within reach if Miller is able to continue his two-year run of minor-league success. While the 23-year-old is labeled as a shortstop, Sanders reports that he is seen as a "Swiss Army knife player," having complemented his work at shortstop with time at second and third base. He also began practicing at first base this spring. Miller's versatility is especially important since Fernando Tatis appears destined to be San Diego's starting shortstop for the foreseeable future.

Gimenez is a likely beneficiary if big-league teams are allowed to use expanded rosters to accommodate a shortened or compacted schedule, Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News reports.

Proposals have been floated that would see a 29-man roster in MLB for at least the first month of a shortened season. In that scenario, Gimenez -- the Mets' No. 6 fantasy prospect -- could find a home on the bench, giving the club extra insurance at second base in case Robinson Cano is unable to return to form. The 21-year-old's bat still appears to be behind his glove, however, so expectations for Gimenez's offensive production should be kept in check if he does get playing time in the majors this season.

Garcia spent the spring working on his hitting mechanics to use his lower half more and drive the ball, Byron Kerr of MASN Sports reports. "That's how we started it the first day," Nationals minor-league hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich said this week. "We went in there and compared him [to Juan Soto's swing], because he loves Juan obviously. So we threw him up there next to Juan and he could see the difference in how Juan uses his lower half compared to how [Garcia] uses his lower half. He focused hard on this."

The organization's No. 2 fantasy prospect, Garcia's outstanding hit tool and strong defensive work have carried him through the minors so far, but he'll need to become a bigger offensive threat if he's going to realize his full potential. Gingrich expects him to put it all together, though. "Because he trusts his hands so much, a lot times, his lower half will shut down and it will just be a handsy swing," Gingrich said of the 19-year-old. "We are trying to get his legs involved more, to be more connected with his hands to be able to drive the ball a little bit more. So once he's able to get his legs and hands working connected, he's going to start driving balls. He's very athletic and he's very handsy. With him, we are just trying to get him fully rotated with his backside through the baseball. Once that happens, holy cow, this kid is pretty special." A breakout campaign at the plate in the upper minors this season could put Garcia on track to break into the Nats' starting lineup in 2021.

Semien will be credited with a full year of service time even if the 2020 season is canceled outright, keeping him on track to become a free agent next offseason, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Semien's impending free-agent status, along with that of teammates such as Liam Hendriks, Mike Fiers and Yusmeiro Petit, was secured as part of a multi-faceted agreement reached last Thursday between MLB and the MLBPA. There's still a stronger likelihood the 2020 regular season is played in some form as opposed to being canceled outright, but this provision gives Semien some peace of mind. If there's ultimately no 2020 campaign, the veteran shortstop will potentially head into the open market on the strength of a career-best 2019 season that saw him slash .285/.369/.522 with 83 extra-base hits (43 doubles, seven triples, 33 home runs) and 92 RBI across 747 plate appearances while appearing in all 162 games.

Frazier is expected to primarily play at second base in 2020 while occasionally shifting to the outfield when the team utilizes a four-man outfield, The Athletic Pittsburgh reports.

His offensive production in 2019 was fairly pedestrian, with the 28-year-old slashing .278/.336/.417 with 80 runs scored, 10 homers and two stolen bases in 608 plate appearances. Frazier played with a fractured right index finger for the first part of the season, however, and he still contributed defensively with the 37th highest defensive WAR (4.9) in the majors. He hit leadoff early in the season but moved to seventh following the emergence of Kevin Newman. Frazier is expected to bat higher this season, possibly even third, with former No. 3 hitter Starling Marte dealt to Arizona. The second baseman became the subject of his own trade rumors over the winter, but he'll see steady at-bats while he remains in a Pittsburgh uniform.