MLB Player News

Kieboom made some tweaks to his batting stance in the offseason, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

Working with trainer Jay Hood, the 23-year-old noticed on video that his hands were lower and closer to his body in his stance compared to his best minor-league seasons. "The feeling I had wasn't free, you could say," Kieboom said Wednesday. "It wasn't this loose, free feeling at the plate. It felt very tied up at times, and that's not a feeling I used to have, that I've ever had until really last year." Kieboom hasn't had any kind of success in the majors yet in his brief career, but the Nats still believe he can emerge as a reliable offensive threat at the hot corner. If he struggles again out of the gate in 2021, however, the front office may have little choice but to consider other alternatives at third base.

Escobar said Wednesday that he reported to spring training at 193 pounds, down from 214 pounds a season ago, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports.

After Arizona brought in Asdrubal Cabrera in free agency over the winter, Escobar is expected to see more time at second base during the upcoming season. The increased work at the keystone likely factored into Escobar's decision to cut weight, but the 32-year-old's brutal showing at the plate in 2020 may have also played a factor in him changing his diet. After turning in a 113 wRC+ between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Escobar slumped to a .212/.270/.335 slash line (56 wRC+) over his 222 plate appearances in 2020. Escobar's underlying numbers painted a slightly rosier picture (.263 xBA, .395 xSLG) of his performance, but fantasy players shouldn't be counting on a major bounceback from a slimmed-down Escobar in 2021, especially in the power department.

Suarez said Wednesday that he reported to spring training about 15 pounds lighter than he was at the conclusion of the 2020 season, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

Suarez said he put a greater emphasis on his diet during the offseason after he indicated he felt slower and was dissatisfied with his footwork in 2020. The weight loss shouldn't have any major implications on Suarez's outlook heading into 2021, as the 29-year-old has never been a major contributor in the run game, even in his younger days. More than anything, Suarez's improved health this spring should put him in position for a bounce-back campaign. After missing most of last spring while recovering from right shoulder surgery, Suarez was cleared for summer camp, but he finished with a disappointing .202/.312/.470 slash line in 57 games.

Hayes is looking to build upon a 2020 debut during which he batted .376 with five homers and 11 RBI in 24 games, the Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Prior to last season, the 24-year-old revamped his swing in search of more power. He lowered his hands while opening up his stance. "I feel like I've always had the power," Hayes said. "I just feel like I wasn't putting my body in a consistent position to hit the ball hard." It will be interesting to see if the power surge continues. Hayes never hit more than 10 home runs in any of his five minor-league seasons. A Gold-Glove caliber defender, he looks to become a cornerstone in the organization's rebuild.

Vargas will be competing for the starting job at second base this spring but will likely fill a bench role, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Vargas will compete with David Bote and Nico Hoerner for the starting job at second base, but the former will most likely serve as a utility infielder. That doesn't give Vargas a ton of fantasy appeal, especially after posting a .196/.222/.314 line in 2020, but he could be an injury or two away from more regular at-bats.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton confirmed Monday that Hayes would open the season as the team's everyday third baseman, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

Hayes was one of the few silver linings in a dreadful season for the Pirates in 2020, batting .376 with 14 extra-base hits over his first 92 plate appearances in the majors. The 24-year-old had already been touted as a Gold Glove-caliber defender while coming up through the Pirates' farm system, but the stellar showing at the plate was more unexpected. Considering his average was propped up by a .450 BABIP, a fair dip in that department should be expected over the course of a full season in 2021. Even so, Hayes should still provide value on volume of plate appearances alone, as he'll likely be locked into a premium spot in the batting order throughout the 2021 campaign, given the Pirates' lack of appealing alternatives.

Newman (knee) was spotted fielding grounders at shortstop Monday during the Pirates' first workout for position players, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

Newman's presence on the field to begin spring training suggests that he's made a full recovery from the left knee contusion that sidelined him late in the 2020 campaign. Before the injury surfaced, Newman was in the midst of a brutal season, with his .557 OPS over 172 plate appearances representing a 242-point drop from 2019. After being locked in as a full-time player heading into last season, Newman will likely now have to battle Erik Gonzalez and Cole Tucker for a starting job at shortstop this spring.

Arenado feels completely recovered from the nagging left shoulder injuries that led to his subpar 2020 season, Zachary Sliver of MLB.com reports.

The ultra-consistent slugger scuffled to a .253 average and .303 on-base percentage across 201 plate appearances during the abbreviated 2020 campaign, and he was ultimately shut down by the Rockies eight days prior to the conclusion of the regular season with left AC joint inflammation and a left shoulder bone bruise. The offseason took care of that pair of issues, and Arenado, who'd played no fewer than 155 games in any of the previous five seasons, views the health hiccup as a "blip." Expectations are naturally high for the veteran ahead of the 2021 season considering he averaged 39.8 home runs, 124.2 RBI and a .937 OPS from 2015-19 while providing Gold or Platinum Glove defense at third base.

Kieboom still has the confidence of manager Dave Martinez and the Nationals' organization that he can emerge as the team's starting third baseman, Maria Torres of The Athletic reports. "It's hard to judge [Kieboom] on these short snippets of games and at-bats," GM Mike Rizzo said Thursday. "We have to lean towards our evaluators who have seen him for years and progressed through the system and trust that he's the player that we think he is."

The 23-year-old has only a .181/.309/.232 slash line through his first 44 big-league games spread over the last two seasons, but Kieboom was far more productive during his last extended stint at Triple-A in 2019 when he delivered a .303/.409/.493 line over 109 contests. The Nats backed up that confidence in his development by not adding any real veteran competition for him at the hot corner, but if Kieboom does falter again, the team would have the option of sliding Starlin Castro over to third base and handing second base to Luis Garcia.

Davis could be headed for a utility role this season after Mets manager Luis Rojas wouldn't commit to him as the team's starting third baseman during Wednesday's press conference, Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News reports. "It's really tough right now to commit to any role," Rojas said. "I've got to stick with our versatility. J.D. is a guy that's played left too. We're thinking of that. He improved a lot at third base. But we want to keep that versatility always open. Multiple guys are going to play multiple positions. That's where our roster is."

Jeff McNeil, Jonathan Villar and Luis Guillorme could all be options at the hot corner as well, but Davis is still the most likely candidate to see a plurality of starts at third, if not an outright majority. The 27-year-old also saw his offensive numbers take a big step backwards in 2020, which could be factoring into Rojas' hesitation. If Davis hits like he did last season instead of returning to something closer to his 2019 level, the club has much less incentive to compromise the infield defense by keeping him in the lineup nearly every day.