MLB Player News

Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu is hoping the offseason work he put in to increase his speed will pay dividends on offense this season, particularly legging out more extra-base hits, per MLB.com.

"We were doing sprints early in the offseason and by February I was much, much faster," LeMahieu said. "We'll see how that translates, but I accomplished my goal."

Rockies manager Walt Weiss is expecting LeMahieu to improve offensively.

"He's a guy that's going to get better and better offensively," Weiss said. "I've talked about his feel for the game and that's going to play into his offense. You're going to see his on-base [.314 career] creep up. He's going to slug more than he has [.361 career] -- not homers, but there are doubles there."

Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe returned to workouts Monday after missing two days due to an illness, according to the Pioneer Press.

Plouffe said he made it through Monday's workout without any issue and believes he will be back to full speed Tuesday.

Brewers general manager Doug Melvin expressed confidence Saturday that shortstop Jean Segura will bounce back after a subpar 2014 season, the Journal Sentinel reports.

"I'm pretty confident he's going to bounce back," Melvin said. "He had a very good September. He had a lot of stuff going on last year. But everybody says he's a much happier person and everything. He's a good, athletic player that we need."

After delivering a .294 average, smacking 12 home runs and stealing 44 bases in 2013, Segura hit just .246/.289/.326 with five home runs, 31 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 513 at-bats in 2014.

Twins infielder Trevor Plouffe missed the team's workout on Saturday with an illness. 

Plouffe showed up for the morning meetings, and then the team sent him home. 

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez confirmed to reporters following Thursday's full-squad workout that the second baseman position is a "wide open" competition, and that Jose Peraza, Alberto Callaspo, Phil Gosselin and Jace Peterson are all entering camp with a chance to make the club, per MLB.com.

"It's wide open," Gonzalez said. "It's all depending on how we want to work second base, the infield and even the bench."

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons hinted that Danny Valencia and Chris Colabello will see some time at left field this spring, according to Sportsnet.ca. Toronto is hoping to fill a void at left field after the team announced Thursday that Michael Saunders will be sidelined until July with a torn meniscus in his left knee.

In his career, Valencia played left field in only five games in the minors. Colabello has logged 30 career games in the majors at left field.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke will spend spring training judging his infielder's versatility for depth behind Jean Segura and Scooter Gennett, per MLB.com.

Milwaukee has three shortstops on its 40-man roster with the chance to break camp with the big-league club. Hector Gomez, 26, and Luis Sardinas, 21, are expected to see time at second base behind Scooter Gennett.

"We want to give Scooter a chance against lefties, but if there's a day off we want to give him, or if it works out that we need to have a [right-handed hitting] guy there more often, who's it going to be?" Roenicke said. "Is it going to be Sardinas? Jimenez, because we know he hits lefties well? Who's that other guy who's going to be there?"

Yadiel Rivera, 22, should see some work at third behind Aramis Ramirez.

Coming off a breakout season in 2014, Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon said he doesn't plan to change anything in his game.

It should come as no surprise since he finished fifth in the NL MVP race last season after batting .287 with a .473 slugging percentage, .824 OPS, 21 home runs, 39 doubles, 83 RBI and 111 runs.

“My game is simple,” Rendon said Wednesday, per The Washington Times. “I just try to put the barrel on the ball. When I put the barrel on the ball, good things come out most of the time.

“That’s what’s awesome about this game. A guy with two years [of experience] and a guy with 20 years, he’s still trying to improve himself in every part of the game. This game, you learn something new each and every day, so take it one day at a time and try to better yourself.”

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria gave a vote of confidence to new manager Kevin Cash on Tuesday, according to the Tampa Bay Times. 

"I just think there comes a time when it's just the right time for somebody new," Longoria said. While that may come off as an indictment of former manager Joe Maddon, Longoria stressed that is not the case. "That's no knock on Joe. Obviously he did so many great things for the franchise and so many great things for me as a player. But I guess all good things come to an end at some point."

Having Cash around should inject some excitement into the team, according to Longoria. "I think it's a great time for Kevin to be able to step in and kind of experience the sense of newness with a lot of people. And the guys who have been here are excited for what he's going to bring."

The 29-year-old hit .253/.320/.404 over 624 at-bats last year. 

Brewers shortstop Jean Segura arrived to spring training Tuesday ready to put his 2014 season behind him. A year after being an All-Star in 2013, Segura hit just .246 with five home runs and 31 RBI in 146 games last season.

"I'm trying to forget about what happened last year. I never been that unproductive in my career," he said, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "That was my first time. Sometimes you need to have one of those years to learn what it takes to go to the next level.

"Pitchers are going to adjust to you and you need to adjust back. As a young guy, you don't realize what's going on. It was a tough year."

Segura said he made some changes to his batting stance, which he hopes will get him back on track offensively in 2015.

"I've been working on it because I had some troubles getting out front with my left leg," said Segura, who is holding his hands back more and putting more weight on his back leg. "It works. I used it in winter ball and it worked for me. I'm going to continue to do it. It helps me stay back more."