MLB Player News

Kieboom still appears set to be the Nationals' starting third baseman this season despite his poor spring, as potential alternative Starlin Castro has yet to take any reps at the position in camp, Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington reports.

With Castro seemingly locked in as the starting second baseman, Kieboom's top competition comes from utility man Josh Harrison. Kieboom has demonstrated none of his prospect promise in 44 career major-league games, hitting .181/.309/.232, and his .160/.222/.240 line through 10 games this spring hardly suggests he's on the verge of a breakout.

The Pirates optioned Castro to minor-league camp Tuesday.

The switch-hitting infielder has gone 3-for-19 in Grapefruit League action, but he hit home runs on consecutive days in his most recent pair of games. Known for his elite exit velocity, the 21-year-old will likely begin 2021 at Double-A Altoona. Castro hit 19 homers in 2019 while splitting time between Low-A and High-A ball.

Muncy has played only at first base during spring training, Pedro Moura of The Athletic reports.

Muncy has bounced around the diamond over the past three seasons, logging a total of 184 games at first base, 95 games at second and 89 games at third. However, the Dodgers seem to have settled on a more consistent infield rotation this season, potentially allowing Muncy to concentrate solely on his primary position. While the slugger hasn't hit well this spring, he is tied for the team lead with five walks and should be given a long leash even if his Cactus League struggles carry over into the start of the campaign.

Arenado is now hitting .308 (7-for-23) across his first 10 Grapefruit League games after going 2-for-3 with an RBI single in a win over the Nationals on Monday.

Arenado is still in search of his first home run as a Cardinal, but his 3-for-6 tally over the last two games seems to hint at him rounding into regular-season form. Arenado previously said he ideally needs about 50 spring at-bats to feel prepared, and with 26 Grapefruit League plate appearances thus far, he's about halfway to that mark. Most important, Ben Fredrickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the veteran slugger appears to be completely past the AC joint issues that plagued him in 2020. "Feels great," Arenado said. "Letting it rip. This whole spring it hasn't bothered me."

The Phillies optioned Maton to their minor-league camp Tuesday, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Didi Gregorius is locked in as the Phillies' top shortstop, and Jean Segura and Scott Kingery are both capable of playing the position in a pinch, so Maton didn't have a real shot at winning a spot on the Opening Day roster. Maton will likely spend the entire 2021 season in the minors, playing on an everyday basis in the middle infield at either Double-A Reading or Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Kieboom has gone 4-for-22 (.182) with only one extra-base hit, a triple, through his first nine Grapefruit League appearances.

The 23-year-old also has an uninspiring 2:6 BB:K. Kieboom is still penciled in as the Nats' starting third baseman to begin the season and left no stone unturned this offseason as he looked for ways to improve at the plate, undergoing LASIK surgery and working to smooth out his swing, but so far those efforts haven't paid off. If he struggles again in 2021, bench options like Josh Harrison could cut into Kieboom's playing time significantly.

Hayes went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI against Baltimore on Monday.

He's hitting .417 in 24 spring at-bats with five doubles, one triple and one home run. Hayes is also showing plate discipline, compiling a 2:2 BB:K. The 24-year-old is quickly becoming the face of the franchise. Projections for the third baseman aren't easy because while he's done very well in 24 MLB games (.376 batting average in 85 at-bats), he's hit .279 overall in five minor-league campaigns.

Moustakas will start at third base for Tuesday's spring training game against the Rockies, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports. This is being done in conjunction with moving Eugenio Suarez over to shortstop.

This would move Moustakas back to his original and presumably better defensive position, while giving a chance to Jonathan India to play at second base, giving the Reds an alternative to Kyle Farmer or Dee Strange-Gordon at shortstop. Giving Moustakas a third position of eligibility in-season along with first base and second base would also come in handy.

Suarez will start Tuesday's spring training game at shortstop, with Mike Moustakas moving over to third base, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports. "We have to see what it looks like, we're not making any decisions now, we have a lot of options, we have guys willing to do what's best for our team and have bought in to whatever it takes," manager David Bell said. "That's making this look at Geno at shortstop possible."

This would address two items -- how to improve the Reds lineup at shortstop while allowing Jonathan India to play second base. Suarez originally broke in as a shortstop, but he hasn't played in a game there since 2018 and has only six games at shortstop since 2016.

Riley has cleared all COVID-19-related protocols and is scheduled to rejoin Atlanta's Grapefruit League lineup Wednesday against the Orioles, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Manager Brian Snitker said earlier Monday that Riley would likely be away from the team for a few days, but the skipper wouldn't go into specifics about why the 24-year-old was going to miss time. As suspected, O'Brien's report confirms that Riley's absence was related to COVID-19 protocols, but he apparently won't be forced to quarantine even while he remains out of the lineup for the next two days. Riley took batting practice with the team prior to Monday's game against the Twins, so he should be ready to play Wednesday when eligible to do so.