MLB Player News

Escobar went 2-for-3 with a home run in Thursday's spring training win over Boston. He had left Tuesday's game after being struck by a hard hit foul ball.

Escobar looks fully healthy despite getting hit by the foul ball. Escobar looks set to begin the season as Minnesota's starting shortstop.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Alvarez will get to play the field at times this season, MASN's Roch Kubatko reports. "He's not going to be a pure DH," Showalter said. "We think there's some versatility there that can help us."

He already has first base eligibility from last season, but it's feasible that Alvarez could get some starts at third base with Manny Machado shifting to shortstop if J.J. Hardy is underwhelming again at the plate. It's probably not something worth banking on in leagues that require more than a handful of games played to earn eligibility at a new position, but the fact that the Orioles are willing to deploy Alvarez in the field is a positive for his projected at-bats this season. He is expected to get into Grapefruit League action as soon as Sunday.

Reynolds has a tight right hamstring and has been out of Grapefruit League games for three days, ESPN New York's Adam Rubin reports.

The injury is not considered serious, and he should return to the lineup within a couple days. Reynolds offers organizational middle infield depth for a team that already is pretty loaded in that department, so he is unlikely to make an impact at the big league level anytime soon.

Wisdom will miss about a week with a hamstring injury, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold reports.

The 24-year-old third baseman has yet to reach Triple-A, so he is unlikely to be in the conversation for a spot on the 25-man roster out of camp. He has displayed some pop in back-to-back years at Double-A, but he has not hit better than .237 in 239 games at that level, so he may top out as a Quadruple-A type.

Asche (oblique) could start the season on the DL, Ryan Lawrence of The Philly Voice reports.

An MRI Wednesday revealed a Grade 1 right oblique strain, forcing him to take a step back from his rehab work. Manager Pete Mackanin said it was a day-to-day thing, but acknowledged that Asche is not able to participate in any hitting activities. Following an injury to Aaron Altherr that will keep him out four-to-six months, Asche has a chance to earn some playing time in the outfield, although while he deals with this injury Tyler Goeddel appears to be the favorite to earn those at-bats in the early going.

Segura was scratched from Wednesday's lineup due to knee soreness and is expected to miss Thursday's game as well, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

Manager David Hale said the issue is not serious, as the young shortstop apparently just slid on some hard dirt Tuesday and is still sore from it. He'll take a couple days off to heal, but should be good going forward as long as he doesn't aggravate the injury down the road.

Segura was scratched from Wednesday's lineup, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

The team has not yet provided a reason for the move, but an update figures to come in short order. Consider Segura day-to-day until the D-Backs say otherwise.

Asche (oblique) has a chance to earn more playing time with Aaron Altherr set to miss 4-to-6 months with a wrist injury, the PhillyVoice reports.

Asche will need to get healthy first. He has been sidelined with an oblique injury since the start of camp. He hit .245/.294/.395 with 12 home runs in 425 at-bats last season. He could produce similar numbers this year if he comes away with a significant share of the playing time in left field. He is competing with Tyler Goeddel, Darnell Sweeney, David Lough and Cedric Hunter for at-bats.

Escobar appears to have avoided an injury after being struck by a foul ball, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports.

Escobar was removed from the game after taking a ball of his right forearm, but it sounds as though it was just as a precautionary measure. The 27-year-old figures to be the everyday option at shortstop going forward.

Escobar left Tuesday's game after being struck by a hard hit foul ball, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Escobar was hit on his right forearm causing the Twins to pull him from the game, but early reports are that he is fine and it is nothing serious. It is still worth monitoring his situation over the next couple days just to be safe.