MLB Player News

Voit (foot) is starting at first base and batting cleanup in Sunday's spring opener against the Blue Jays.

The 30-year-old played with plantar fasciitis throughout 2020, but he appears to be entering spring training in good health. Voit was still significantly productive with a .948 OPS, 22 homers and 52 RBI in 56 games, so he has high expectations entering 2021.

Torkelson (finger) has been taking groundballs at first base the past few days, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Manager A.J. Hinch previously said Torkelson will focus exclusively on third base during spring training, but the 21-year-old isn't throwing right now due to his finger injury, so it appears the work at first is more by necessity. Torkelson won't play in Sunday's Grapefruit League opener against the Phillies, though the team has described his injury as "very mild," so he should see game action soon.

France has seen the bulk of his infield reps at third base early in spring training, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.

While France projects to see the majority of his playing time in the designated hitter role this coming season, he's considered the team's third baseman of the future. His opportunity to man the hot corner on a full-time basis may well come as soon as 2022, as franchise stalwart Kyle Seager could have his team option for next season declined this coming offseason. Consequently, the fact France is spending plenty of time with infield coach Perry Hill and Seager refining his glove work at third isn't surprising, especially since there's also a chance Seager is dealt at the trade deadline this season if Seattle is out of contention at that point.

Abreu (COVID-19) arrived at spring training Saturday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Abreu missed the first several days of camp after testing positive for COVID-19, but he was asymptomatic and felt healthy through his recovery. He was expected to rejoin the team Monday, but he arrived at camp ahead of schedule and should join the White Sox for team activities. It's not yet clear whether he'll be available for the first few games of Cactus League play, but the first baseman should have plenty of time to prepare for Opening Day.

Kiriloff appears set to have a legitimate shot to compete for an Opening Day roster spot, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Teams typically hold their top prospects down for the first few weeks of the season to steal an extra year of service time, prioritizing their future balance sheet over their present win total, though that's not quite a universal practice. The Twins are saying all the right things about trying to win, suggesting Kiriloff could get a shot to break camp with the team. Of course, he has to prove this spring that he does indeed give the team the best shot at winning, something that shouldn't be hard to do when the top alternative in left field is someone who fits best in a bench role like Jake Cave. Kiriloff has yet to play a regular-season game above Double-A, but he made his big-league debut in the postseason last year, which couldn't be a much clearer sign that the team views him as one of its best 26 players.

Kirilloff will get work in left field, right field and first base this spring as he competes for a roster spot, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Kirilloff will compete for the starting job in left field, but manager Rocco Baldelli isn't ready to commit to any role. "We're going to have to wait and see how this spring plays out, see how it plays out for everybody else on our roster, and see what things look like three weeks from now," Baldelli said.

Kirilloff, the 15th overall pick in the 2016 draft, is the leading candidate to take over the starting job in left field after the departure of Eddie Rosario, but the Twins may choose to have him begin the season at Triple-A. If Kirilloff stays in the minors for most of April, the Twins could gain another year of club control in his contract. Baldelli and the Twins haven't yet tipped their plays. If Kirilloff begins the season in the minors, the Twins could temporarily have a committee in left field with Jake Cave, Luis Arraez and a right-handed hitter, until Kirilloff is called up.

Tigers manager AJ Hinch said that Torkelson won't play in Sunday's Grapefruit League opener versus the Phillies and will be limited in workouts for the next few days after slicing his right index finger at his rental home in Lakeland, Fla. on Wednesday, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 first-year player draft required stitches to seal the wound, which Hinch described as "very mild." The injury doesn't appear to be anything that will jeopardize Torkelson's availability for the start of the minor-league season, but those hoping to get a glimpse of the power-hitting corner infielder in his first professional game action may have to wait until late next week.

Gurriel showed up to spring training noticeably slimmer, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Gurriel was having a fine 2020, with a .300/373/.556 slash line through the middle of August, before his season cratered (.452 OPS over final 34 games). The frustration extended into the postseason when he went 5-for-44. He attributed the production drop off to a lack of conditioning, so the 36-year-old was motivated to shed 15 pounds in the offseason. "I feel a ton better physically compared to where I was at last year," Gurriel said. "The biggest difference is I have the ability and the time physically to train, which I didn't have the last year because of the pandemic." The Astros brought back Gurriel for one more season with a club option for 2022, hoping he reverts to the form he showed in 2019 when the first baseman slugged .541 with an .884 OPS. That will go a long way to filling the gap due to the loss of George Springer.

Guerrero revealed Wednesday that he lost 42 pounds during the offseason, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports. "It was fun ... wasn't difficult," Guerrero said of his physical transformation. "I feel quicker on all aspects of my game right now ... defensively and offensively."

Reports had surfaced throughout the offseason indicating that Guerrero had made a commitment to improving his conditioning, but it wasn't until Wednesday that he detailed the extent of his weight loss, which puts him in the target range of 240 to 245 pounds that the Blue Jays asked him to report at this spring. The lighter frame should help Guerrero in his efforts to be a usable option at either corner-infield spot in 2021; he was used exclusively at first base and designated hitter in 2020. Guerrero is still likely to be a below-average defender at third base and probably won't be used there frequently with Cavan Biggio sitting atop the depth chart, but if he can at least play enough at the position to regain eligibility in fantasy leagues, it would be a nice boost to his value. More importantly, though, Guerrero must show some growth as a power hitter to justify his draft-day price; he produced a modest nine home runs in 60 games last season, with an inability to consistently get loft on his swing (54.6 percent groundball rate) being the main culprit.

Olson is intent on making up for a poor 2020 season and believes he identified several mechanical issues with his swing over the offseason, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports. "To put it bluntly, I stunk last year, in my opinion," Olson said. "There were definitely things wrong with the swing that I was going out there with every day. I don't think that represents in any way the caliber of player that I think that I am."

The slugging first baseman still demonstrated plenty of pop with 14 home runs and 19 extra-base hits overall across 245 plate appearances in 2020, but his .195 average and .310 on-base percentage left plenty to be desired. So, too, did his career-worst 31.4 percent strikeout rate, which Olson believes was largely the result of leaving his bat "too horizontal" in his setup, which led to issues with his timing when subsequently completing his swing. Olson worked with hitting coach Darren Bush via virtual sessions during the offseason to address that and other issues, and consequently, the 26-year-old heads into spring training confident he can return to the caliber of play that led to a .267/.351/.545 line with 36 home runs and 91 RBI in 2019.