MLB Player News

Ohtani tossed four innings in Sunday's Cactus League contest against San Diego, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. He also hit leadoff and went 2-for-2 with a walk.

Ohtani doesn't typically pitch and hit in the same game, though manager Joe Maddon left the possibility of him doing so in the regular season open, calling Sunday's scenario an "experiment" to see how Ohtani feels and pointing out that NL pitchers do it all the time, per Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. The two-way phenom is slashing an absurd .636/.654/1.182 with four homers this spring and hit 102 mph on his fastball Sunday, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, so it's certainly tempting for the Angels to try to get as much out of both his bat and his arm as possible.

Choi (knee) is not expected to be ready by Opening Day, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

Choi hasn't been officially ruled out, but the team is planning on him missing the start of the season. Yandy Diaz, Mike Brosseau and Yoshi Tsutsugo could see more time at first base in his absence.

Lewis is 5-for-11 with three doubles, a home run, three RBI, a walk and three runs across his last three Cactus League games, pushing his spring average to .303 (10-for-33).

Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports Lewis was already drawing accolades from manager Scott Servais after the first game Thursday, with the Mariners' skipper noting the slugging outfielder had "looked as good as he has all spring" in that contest. Lewis subsequently continued his hot hitting the next two days, supporting the notion the 25-year-old may have his timing at the plate close to regular-season form at this point.

Stanton is no longer expected to spend any time in the outfield during spring training, though he still expects to log some time there during the regular season, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Stanton had previously expressed a desire and expectation to get some defensive reps this spring, but manager Aaron Boone has been noncommittal about that prospect, and it now appears that the team has no plans to allow the slugger to risk injury by playing the field in Grapefruit League games. Despite Stanton's clear interest in playing defense at some point in the campaign, it wouldn't be surprising if he's limited strictly to DH duties this year.

Ford was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday.

Ford struggled in the majors last year but worked with the major-league coaching staff this spring. He went 3-for-19 with a double, two RBI, one walk and three strikeouts over nine spring games this year but will now prepare for the minor-league season.

Choi (knee) is progressing well in his recovery but hasn't began participating in baseball activities, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

The 29-year-old has been battling right knee soreness since early in camp and is unlikely to retake the field in the near future. Choi appears poised to open the season on the injured list since he's not taking part in baseball activities and with Opening Day less than two weeks away.

Canha is hitting .176 (3-for-17) with seven walks, a stolen base and one run across his first nine Cactus League games.

The veteran notched back-to-back one-single performances March 7 and 9, but he's just 1-for-7 over his subsequent four games and is still in search of his first extra-base hit this spring. However, the seven bases on balls do corroborate Canha's batting eye is as sharp as ever after he generated the two highest walk rates of his career the last two seasons (13.5 percent and 15.2 percent). Canha presumably still remains a candidate to lead off on occasion after being labeled as such early in spring training, with his respective .396 and .387 on-base percentages in 2019 and 2020 certainly helping make his case as a viable top-of-the-order option.

Solak went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and two runs scored in Wednesday's spring game against Arizona.

Solak homered for the second straight game and is now 4-for-9 over his last three games. That's the good news. The other side of Solak's spring is an increase in strikeouts. The Rangers' planned starter at second base, who struck out at an 18 percent clip in 2020, has whiffed 11 times in 26 Cactus League at-bats.

Alvarez did not appear in Monday's spring game against the Marlins because manager Dusty Baker wanted to avoid using him in back-to-back games, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Alvarez, who made his spring debut Sunday, has been dealing with sore knees, so the manager didn't want to expose him to back-to-back contests this early. It's unclear how long Alvarez will be under such restrictions or whether this was simply Baker exercising an overabundance of caution.

Ohtani went 2-for-3 with a pair of solo home runs in Monday's Cactus League loss to Cincinnati.

Two days after a rough outing on the mound, Ohtani was in the lineup at DH and reminded everyone of what he can do with the bat, drilling two opposite-field homers against Michael Lorenzen. While he has been up and down as a pitcher this spring, Ohtani has wowed at the plate, slashing .563/.556/1.125 with three homers and five RBI.