MLB Player News

Rays manager Kevin Cash said Monday infielder Nick Franklin, who lost out on the starting shortstop job to Asdrubal Cabrera, will platoon at second base with Logan Forsythe, according to The Tampa Tribune.

Franklin is a switch-hitter, while Forsythe bats right-handed.

Rays manager Kevin Cash made it official Monday, naming Asdrubal Cabrera the team's starting shortstop. He beat out Nick Franklin and Tim Beckham, who were also competing for the starting job this spring.

"I don't think you're going to find a more sure-handed shortstop than Cabby," Cash said.

Cabrera is a two-time All-Star while playing at shortstop. He has spent most of his MLB career at shortstop (731 games). Although, the Rays were considering using him at both shortstop and second base this season before Cash made his announcement Monday.

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was one of the most deadly base stealers in baseball last season. This year, manager A.J. Hinch wants to ensure Altuve is being smart on the base paths, not just when he's stealing a base, reports MLB.com.

"Like anything, it's all built on trust," Hinch said. "You want your players to play with freedom, and if they feel like they need to take an extra base they can take an extra base. They have the freedom to play. By no means do I want to put a ton of restrictions on them, but you want to make sure they know the situation."

Baserunning instructor Gary Pettis, who stole 354 bases in his career, is working to help Altuve make smart decisions on the base paths.

"You don't want to run just to steal bases," he said. "A stolen base gets you in scoring position. Now if you rack up numbers doing that, great. You're helping the team and you help yourself also because of the numbers, but you're stealing to get into scoring position. That's what we're doing."

Angels second baseman Johnny Giavotella, who jammed his thumb on Friday, was scheduled to return to the field for the team on Sunday. 

X-rays on Giavotella's thumb came back negative on Sunday, and he was slated to play in the second half of Sunday's game, per the Orange County Register's Jeff Fletcher. 

Astros manager A.J. Hinch spoke Saturday about the benefits of having Jose Altuve lead off and George Springer bat second.

"I like that combo," Hinch said, per MLB.com. "Hitting after Altuve, a lot of times it's an RBI situation, even with him on first base or if he steals second or steals third. We need all of our spots to be very, very productive. The batting order, as fascinated as everybody is about it, it's one time through the order and then it's a little more random than people give credit.

"I think for [Springer] to hit in the first inning right behind Altuve, who does a pretty good job of getting on base, he's a real threat behind him to be put in a really good position. When the lineup rolls around with runners on base and the lineup flipping over, I'll take Altuve and Springer with RBI opportunities."

Angels infielder Johnny Giavotella went for X-rays on Saturday after jamming his finger sliding into third base during Friday's spring game against the Indians, per The Orange County Register. X-rays were negative and he is considered day to day.

Giavotella is batting .280 (7 for 25) with one triple, three doubles, one home run, three RBI and seven runs in 14 spring games.

White Sox infielder Gordon Beckham made one slight adjustment to his swing Wednesday, leading to great results. Beckham hit one home run and two doubles in the game and credits the success to his hard work on days off, reports MLB.com.

"I've been working pretty hard, and the other day I started working on something that gave me a little bit better feel," said Beckham. "It clearly worked out."

Beckham went just 1 for 27 to start spring training.

"I didn't feel like it was bad," Beckham said. "I'm putting the ball in play. Before today it wasn't necessarily hard-hit all the time, but I was putting the ball in play and working on some different things -- and not panicking because the results aren't there. That's the name of the game. Maybe in years past I would have done that."

Rays manager Kevin Cash doesn't appear ready to name a starting shortstop, as he said Tuesday he likes "all the guys we have" competing for the job. However, it appears Asdrubal Cabrera and Nick Franklin are the favorites over Tim Beckham, per MLB.com.

"[The candidates are] still kind of bouncing back and forth," Cash said. "But we want the guy who is going to make the routine play. And not to say that anybody's not doing that, [it] seems like they're all doing that. Cabby just has the experience factor with making that play."

Cash said a decision on who will be the starting shortstop could be made next week.

Rays infielder Nick Franklin, who is competing for the starting shortstop job, returned to the starting lineup Monday against the Yankees after leaving Saturday's spring game due to a hip strain. Franklin started at shortstop and hit leadoff Monday.

Rays infielder Nick Franklin left Saturday's game with a hip strain. The injury wasn't believed to be serious, but he'll be held out on Sunday as well. The team told the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin that Franklin is expected back on Monday. 

"Everything is good," Franklin told MLB.com's Bill Chastain. "I took everything as normal today. I didn't feel any discomfort, so I should be ready whenever."