MLB Player News

Manager A.J. Hinch confirmed Wednesday that he would use Bregman as his No. 2 hitter to begin the season, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Bregman has occupied that slot in the batting order for much of the spring, so Hinch's announcement doesn't come as a major surprise. The third baseman, who will turn 23 years old Thursday, struggled out of the gate in his first exposure to big-league pitching last summer, but closed the season out on a high note, delivering a .264/.313/.478 slash line over 217 plate appearances. Bregman flashed some burgeoning pop between the minors and big leagues last season to go with his impressive hit tool, and a cushy spot in the lineup between George Springer and Jose Altuve should allow him to rack up runs in his sophomore campaign.

Chapman hit a solo home run in three at-bats during Monday's 10-3 Cactus League loss to the Royals.

On what was a disappointing day overall for the A's, Chapman provided a highlight with his third homer of spring. The 23-year-old has enjoyed a solid exhibition slate while seeing plenty of reps against big-league pitching. He'll start the 2017 season in Triple-A Nashville, where he has plenty to provide after hitting just .197 over 85 plate appearances in 2016, despite smacking seven round trippers.

Plouffe (groin) won't play Wednesday, contrary to a previous report, CSN California's Joe Stiglich reports.

He was initially expected to return to game action against the Cubs on Wednesday, but will instead return to Northern California. The A's have three exhibition games against the Giants starting Thursday before Opening Day, and those contests will represent Plouffe's last chance to get back in game action during the exhibition season. Ryon Healy would presumably start at third base if Plouffe has to miss any time in April.

Duffy's (heel) most recent MRI on his surgically repaired left heel came back clean, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The recovering shortstop also mentioned that after four days of rest and having his heel in a cast it actually felt "normal," certainly a cautiously optimistic sign for a player whose progress has often appeared to stagnate this spring. Duffy will continue to proceed very deliberately with his efforts to build up strength and eventually test the heel, leaving his potential timetable for return still firmly up in the air.

Plouffe (groin) is expected to return to the Athletics' Cactus League lineup Wednesday against the Cubs, Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The Athletics plan to hold Plouffe out for the next few days after he tweaked an abductor muscle Saturday, but the team isn't concerned about the 30-year-old missing much time. After taking some time off to rest, Plouffe is expected to receive an at-bat or two Wednesday, putting him well on track to be ready for Opening Day. He's projected to serve as the team's primary third baseman this season.

Asche went 2-for-3 with a home run in Saturday's game against the Indians.

The homer was the fourth of the spring for Asche, who is hitting .316/.469/.763 in 38 spring at-bats. A non-roster invitee, Asche is making a big push for an Opening Day roster spot. He can play the corner spots in the infield and outfield, which makes him an ideal solution for backing up Melky Cabrera in left field and Todd Frazier at third base.

Plouffe suffered a minor tweak of the abductor muscle in Saturday's Cactus League spring game, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Manager Bob Melvin didn't seem to indicate it was anything major, so that's good news for fantasy owners in early draft leagues. He had been ripping the cover off the ball in the spring and looks like he is in line for a strong 2017 stat line.

Ramirez is expected to work at second base while Jason Kipnis (shoulder) is sidelined, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

The Indians want to get their money's worth out of Ramirez after just inking him to a four-year contract extension this week. The team will have a battle in the remaining weeks of camp to determine who will start at the hot corner with Ramirez sliding over to the keystone.

Duffy's current physical setbacks may not be directly related to his surgically repaired heel, The Tampa Bay Times reports.

Duffy's progress from his surgery has appeared to stagnate this spring, but Rays manager Kevin Cash mentioned Friday that the issues may lie with the tendons and muscles in the shortstop's ankle and calf. The atrophy that may have come about in the post-surgical period could be responsible for Duffy's slow recovery, which has led to him missing all of spring training.

Valencia, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and run in Thursday's Cactus League win over the Giants, is now the everyday first baseman with the demotion of Dan Vogelbach to Triple-A Tacoma, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Valencia was originally slated to be the right-handed side of a platoon with Vogelbach, but he'll now have an opportunity for a full workload. He's rightfully earned a reputation as a lefty masher throughout his career, slashing .321/.373/.500 with a .377 wOBA and 32 percent hard contact rate against southpaws. While his numbers against right-handers come nowhere close, they've notably improved the last two seasons, as he's posted respective averages of .285 and .275 over that span. While he's struggled overall this spring (.208 average over 53 at-bats), Valencia brings a body of work at the major league level that Vogelbach doesn't yet possess. "Danny has a real track record," general manager Jerry Dipoto said. "Over the last three seasons he's really hit, both righties and lefties. We talked about that as one of his main attractions. The versatility. He's pounded the lefties and over the last couple years he's hit the righties as well. He's transitioned to first quite well. He can really throw for a first baseman and here over the last week's he's actually started to pick it up., the barrel contact, he's starting to swing the bat better."