MLB Player News

Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings could make his Cactus League debut as soon as next weekend, the Arizona Republic reports.

Owings is progressing from offseason shoulder surgery and was able to take batting practice Friday. He hit .261/.300/.406 with six home runs, 26 RBI and eight stolen bases in 310 at-bats last season.

Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts has struggled to release the ball with the velocity to get much-needed outs.  The 22-year-old is working to overcome nerves and make the necessary throws.

“Sometimes I catch the ball, see if it’s an easy out, and that’s when I get in trouble,” he said yesterday. “Pass it through (first baseman Mike) Napoli’s chest — that’s what I need to do. But don’t go light just because it looks easy.”

After spending the winter working out with Dustin Pedroia, he's ready to unveil his new arm. The Red Sox are noticing the time he has put in to improve.  

“If you look at his arm stroke now compared to this time a year ago, it was longer last year,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “So he would cut the ball, it would sail, it would sink, it wouldn’t have the true backspin he’s generating now, which adds to the carry of throws. He’s done quite a bit of work on just maintaining a strong front side with his direction and a shorter arm stroke to give that true rotation to the throws.”

Now that Bogaerts is showing a much more powerful arm, Red Sox infield coach Brian Butterfield is optimistic that his hard work will pay off.

“Bogey is in great shape, has worked hard in the offseason to get better, and that’s one of the things that sticks out to us,” Butterfield said. “We know we have a guy playing in the middle of our infield that cares about getting better and he’ll do anything he can to move up in that regard.”

Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings was able to take batting practice on Friday, according to MLB.com.

Owings is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, and has been limited early in camp. Manager Chip Hale said he was happy with Owings progress, and noted it was a big day for the infielder.

"Everything he's done has been right on time," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "We've slowed him down, because it's important that that swing is right. This was a huge day for him."

Owings will likely go through another round of BP before he's ready for game action. The team may also opt to give him at-bats in minor-league games before using him during actual spring training games.

The 23-year-old Owings hit .261/.300/.406 over 310 at-bats last season. He's expected to open the year as the team's starting shortstop. 

Giants infielder Brandon Crawford should play the field on Monday or Tuesday, according to CSN.

Crawford is dealing with a sore shoulder, but was able to get through a full workout on Friday. He played during Friday's game, but was used as the designated hitter. Crawford, 28, hit .246/.324/.389 over 491 at-bats last season. 

Diamondbacks infielder Chris Owings is slated to take his first batting practice session of spring training on Friday, according to FOX Sports Arizona. 

Owings is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He's expected to miss the first eight to 10 games of spring training, putting him on pace to play sometime after March 13. 

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford will DH during Wednesday's spring game against the Athletics because of a sore right shoulder. He is not expected to play in the field until next week.

Crawford said this injury is not serious and he had a similar issue last year. He plans to start throwing again Friday.

Manager Bruce Bochy has talked about giving Crawford more time off in 2015, per SFGate.com.

"He mentioned it last year, especially in the second half," Crawford said. "He said he played me a lot in the first half and in the second half he was going to try to find more days for me to get off. He said we're also trying to get to the playoffs and win the division."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia is weighing how much emphasis to put on spring-training performance as he decides how to approach the second-base position this season, MLB.com reports.

"A lot of it is to see what the best fit is for your group of guys, what your lineup needs are," Scioscia said. "There's an absolute to people winning jobs at spring training. Probably not at the analysis you're looking at -- 'Oh, he hit .340 in spring training' -- but there are a lot of things we're looking at as to how a guy fits in our lineup. You can make the team in spring, for sure, with the things that you show."

Scioscia hasn't ruled out the option of using multiple players at the position as the situation dictates.

"That's one of the options," he said. "There are guys that have the ability to go out there and do what we need to do on the defensive end and the offensive end, and we'll see who emerges and who gives us the best look."

Josh Rutledge highlights a second-base competition that also includes Grant Green, Johnny Giavotella and Taylor Featherston.

Indians manager Terry Francona said Zach Walters will work at first base and shortstop early in spring training before eventually playing in the outfield, per Cleveland.com.

"I don't think that's really fair to have a guy play seven positions the first week," Francona said.

Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings is progressing well from offseason shoulder surgery, reports The Arizona Republic.

Owings was expected to miss the first week to 10 games of spring training, but manager Chip Hale said he's ahead of schedule.

"I don't have an exact [return] date," Hale said. "But he's past where I thought he was."

When asked about former Mets teammate Ruben Tejada, Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes shook his head and said "something is wrong," per Newsday.

Reyes revealed that during his final season with the Mets he tried to pass the torch to Tejada to become his replacement. Reyes landed in Miami in the offseason, and Tejada was destined to be his permanent replacement. Now entering spring training, Wilmer Flores is viewed as the favorite to win the starting job at shortstop for the Mets.

"Every time I talk to him I try to give him some advice," Reyes said. "What can I do? I try to push him to do stuff. I don't know if he gets it or not...He had the opportunity to be the everyday shortstop for a long time there in New York. You have to work, man. When you're younger, you think you have everything there for you. But if you do something wrong, it's going to go away. Quick.

"When I was there, I always give a lot of advice to him. We were always together. My last year there, every time I talk to him: 'This is going to be your position for a long time. Don't let it go away.' See what happened now? It's 2015 and he doesn't have a position to play. When they talk about who is going to play every day, they don't talk about Tejada. They talk about Flores."