MLB Player News

While manager Aaron Boone has not declared a winner of the first-base job battle, he says he likes the look of Voit in the cleanup spot for the Yankees, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports.

He also noted that Voit could be the No. 3 hitter at times. It would be pretty counterintuitive to demote a player at the end of spring training that the manager likes at the third and fourth spots in a loaded lineup, so while there hasn't been any official word on whether Voit or Greg Bird will break camp as the starting first baseman, everything continues to point toward Voit winning this job battle.

Wade was optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Wade spent 74 games with Rochester last season, hitting just .229/.337/.336. He'll need an improvement at that level before he's considered for a big-league job.

White was reassigned to minor-league camp Monday, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

White missed the last few days of camp with a hamstring issue, but he appears to have returned to health and will join minor-league camp following Monday's cuts. He should open the year at Double-A and could finish the year at Triple-A, with the hopes that he will be ready to spend most of 2020 in the majors.

Lowe entered Sunday's 8-1 Grapefruit League win over the Red Sox as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, hitting a solo home run and drawing a walk in his two plate appearances.

Lowe only has three hits over 28 spring at-bats, but two of them have left the yard. The 23-year-old, who profiles as RotoWire's No. 3 prospect in the Rays organization, projects to open the season at Triple-A Durham after getting his initial taste of action there during the latter portion of 2018. Lowe slashed .260/.327/.460 across 110 plate appearances with the Bulls, impressive numbers when considering Lowe had opened the season two levels lower at High-A Charlotte.

Bour (knee) is starting at first base and hitting second Monday against the Rangers, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

He was scratched from Sunday's lineup with right knee soreness, but it was apparently a very minor issue.

White (hamstring) went 0-for-2 in Sunday's game against Cleveland.

White rested his hamstring for a few days after experiencing some soreness, but he managed to get two at-bats in Sunday's exhibition, although he failed to get on base. The 22-year-old prospect is now 4-for-14 with an RBI and a run scored so far this spring, and the Mariners are optimistic he's put the hamstring issue behind him.

Tellez went 3-for-3 with two home runs and five RBI in Sunday's game against Minnesota.

Tellez launched a three-run homer in the first inning and belted a two-run home run in the sixth over the wall in left. Following Sunday's impressive display of power, he's 10-for-30 with three homers, eight RBI and five runs scored this spring.

Bour was a late scratch for Sunday's spring game against the Mariners due to right knee soreness, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Bour was set to serve as the designated hitter Sunday but will instead be forced to sit out. The severity of the issue remains unclear, but it wouldn't be surprising for the 30-year-old to at least be held out through Tuesday's off-day.

Olson is one of the primary candidates for the No. 3 spot in the batting order during the regular season, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "I'm fine with anywhere, but I'm pretty comfortable in the third spot," Olson said before going 0-for-2 with a walk in the Athletics' 11-2 loss to Milwaukee. "Growing up, that's where I hit, and even in the minors I was there a lot with Renato Nunez hitting behind me. It should be nice to have KD [Khris Davis] behind me and maybe get more pitches to hit."

Jed Lowrie saw an appreciable boost in production while logging 653 plate appearances out of the No. 3 hole last season, slashing .275/.361/.461 with 59 extra-base hits (35 doubles, one triple, 23 home runs) and 96 RBI in that slot alone. With Lowrie now a Met, Olson is a fitting candidate to slide into that spot after making just 17 plate appearances there in 2018. The 24-year-old racked up 84 RBI last season while hitting behind Davis in the lineup, but as he noted, Davis often did a good job clearing the bases ahead of Olson while driving in a career-high 123 runs. Manager Bob Melvin will likely continue to evaluate different scenarios ahead of the team's season opener March 20 in Japan versus the Mariners, and Slusser also notes that Stephen Piscotty, who's hit third for most of spring, would likely see his fair share of time there over the course of the season versus right-handed starters.

Cronenworth went 2-for-2 with a triple, a solo home run and two runs overall in a 17-15 Grapefruit League loss to the Orioles on Saturday.

The 25-year-old shortstop entered the game for Daniel Robertson in the top of the sixth, ripping his run-scoring three-bagger in his first at-bat before bringing the Rays to within one with his eighth-inning solo blast. Cronenworth is now hitting .357 overall across 14 spring at-bats, and he's likely headed to Triple-A Durham to open the season. Cronenworth got his first taste of game action at that level late last season, slashing .240/.269/.360 across a modest sample of 26 plate appearances. The shortstop position at the big-league level is in the capable hands of Willy Adames, so Cronenworth doesn't presently have a clear path to the majors.