MLB Player News

Bogaerts went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Tuesday's spring game against Atlanta.

Bogaerts, who missed the first two weeks of Grapefruit League play due to a shoulder injury, launched his first home run of spring training. He's managed to get 25 Grapefruit League plate appearances and should be fine for the regular season.

Anderson went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBI in Monday's spring game against San Francisco.

He launched his first Cactus League home run leading off the bottom of the first inning. Anderson then plated a second run with his second-inning double. After a slow start, Anderson is dialing in his swing, as he's gone 3-for-8 with three extra-base hits in the last two games.

Witt will spend some time in the outfield over the next few weeks as he looks to expand his defensive versatility, Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports.

Despite receiving a considerable amount of hype throughout camp, Witt will be opening the season in the minors, hardly a surprise given that he's played all of 37 games at the professional level, all in rookie ball. One of the issues regarding his eventual ascension to the big leagues, which could come later this year if he looks good in the minors, is what position he'll play, as he shares his primary spot (shortstop) with one of the Royals' best young players, Adalberto Mondesi. Moving one of them to second is the most obvious solution, as Nicky Lopez hasn't looked like an everyday player, though showing the ability to play somewhere in the outfield will give Witt additional paths to playing time.

Witt won't make Kansas City's Opening Day roster and was reassigned to minor-league camp Sunday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

The 20-year-old put himself in roster consideration with a strong start to spring training, but he cooled off recently and will begin the season in the minors. It's not much of a surprise, as Witt has only 164 professional at-bats under his belt after playing in 37 games at rookie ball in 2019. Kansas City's top prospect may end up at Double-A and could still end up making his major-league debut in 2021.

Chang (neck) is starting Saturday's spring game against the White Sox.

Chang was scratched from Thursday's lineup due to neck soreness, but he'll be back in action Saturday after a brief absence. Barring any setbacks, Chang has a good chance of securing a bench role on the major-league roster to begin the regular season.

Downs (side) will be available for Saturday's spring game against the Braves, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

The 22-year-old has been sidelined this week after suffering an injury to his left side last weekend, but he should return to game action Saturday. Downs played 12 games at Double-A in 2019, but he could open 2021 at the Triple-A level after working at the alternate training site last season.

Wendle, who'd gone 0-for-10 with four strikeouts over his first six Grapefruit League games, went 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run in a Grapefruit League win over the Pirates on Wednesday.

Thanks to the small sample, Wendle's spring average sprung to .231 with the productive performance. Despite his early struggles, there's not much doubt about the veteran's prowess at the plate after he bounced back from a poor 2019 with a solid .286/.342/.435 slash that included 15 extra-base hits (nine doubles, two triples, four home runs) and 17 RBI across 184 plate appearances in 2020.

Chang was scratched from the lineup for Thursday's game against the Cubs with a sore neck, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

The injury doesn't appear to be something that could significantly threaten Chang's readiness for Opening Day. If healthy, he stands a good chance of winning a bench role, though he doesn't have an obvious path to regular at-bats.

Bichette has gone 4-for-23 (.174) without an extra-base hit through 10 Grapefruit League games.

It's a shaky start to the spring, particularly for a player who set records for his extra-base prowess as a rookie in 2019, but Bichette's 5:6 BB:K indicates he's seeing the ball well and just hasn't gotten his swing entirely in sync yet. There's little reason to worry about a 23-year-old with a .307/.347/.549 slash line to begin his big-league career, and Bichette is poised to increase his RBI and run production this year thanks to the additions of George Springer and Marcus Semien to the Jays' lineup.

The Blue Jays optioned Lopez to their minor-league camp Thursday.

Lopez was one of 25 players the Blue Jays sent to minor-league camp in the organization's latest round of roster cuts. The 22-year-old infielder is likely to begin the 2021 campaign at Double-A New Hampshire or High-A Vancouver.