MLB Player News

Camargo, who hit a home run off Yankees prospect Deivi Garcia in Friday's Grapefruit League game, is the favorite in the third-base job battle with Austin Riley, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

This sounds like an educated guess from Bowman. We already know Camargo will make the 26-man roster, getting some occassional starts at the hot corner while serving as the backup at second base and shortstop, but it sounds like he could also just win the third base job outright. Riley has produced a couple long line drives while going 2-for-10 with just one strikeout thus far and is the much more appealing fantasy option due to his big power potential, but Camargo could become useful in deep leagues if he enters the season as close to an everyday player.

Arcia went 2-for-2 and hit a three-run home run in Thursday's spring game against the Royals.

Arcia is off to a fast start this spring, going 4-for-10 with two home runs and seven RBI over four games -- a good sign for a player who had the worst wRC+ among qualified hitters a season ago. The Brewers brought in Luis Urias to either compete with or supplant Arcia, but Urias is working his way back from wrist surgery, so Arcia will get ample opportunities to hone his hitting skills during the exhibition season.

DeJong, who went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run in a Grapefruit League win over the Astros on Wednesday, also hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs overall in an exhibition loss to the Nationals on Tuesday.

The slugging shortstop has only logged six plate appearances through three spring games, but he's made excellent use of them. DeJong mustered career highs in extra-base hits (62) in 2019, including new high-water marks in doubles (31) and home runs (30). He drove in a career-best 78 runs, but he also produced a pedestrian .233 average, the lowest of his big-league career thus far. The timely hitting he's demonstrated over a small sample thus far in Grapefruit League play is a particularly welcome sight after DeJong hit just .193 with men in scoring position last season, and Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports manager Mike Shildt was particularly gratified to see it. "I want to see Paul hit with that runner at third, less than two outs, " Shildt said. "And today we got that situation. He got to two strikes and didn't try to do too much. What a fluid, pretty swing."

Garcia homered twice in Tuesday's spring training loss against the Angels, despite the wind blowing in, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Garcia is getting some extra playing time in spring training with Freddy Galvis out for the short-term, but he impressed manager David Bell. "He's fun to watch," Bell said. "He's a talented young player. It will be fun to see him. We'll be sure to get him some playing time this spring. It will be a good experience for him." Garcia is ticketed for Double-A after breaking out at High-A Daytona last year.

Crawford (illness) is in the lineup for Monday's Cactus League game against Arizona, playing shortstop and leading off.

Crawford missed the first few games of spring training as he dealt with an illness, but he'll be able to make his return to the lineup Monday. The 33-year-old is likely the favorite to resume his starting role at shortstop to open the regular season.

Crawford is dealing with an illness and isn't starting Saturday's Cactus League opener against the Dodgers, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

The veteran shortstop's 2020 spring debut will wait a few days as he recovers from the ailment. Crawford still figures to join the lineup sometime in the next week.

Camargo will be in the lineup on an every-other-day basis in the early parts of spring training, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Camargo is competing with Austin Riley for the starting job at the hot corner in Atlanta, so the team will give long looks to both players early on in the exhibition season. After a down year in 2019, Camargo has reportedly focused on his conditioning and fitness with an eye towards bouncing back in 2020.

Manager David Ross said there are no lingering issues with Baez's thumb, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports. "He's told me no. I've asked him that. I asked him that a while back with the training in the offseason, and I haven't heard anything from our training staff on that subject. So as far as I know, he's 100 percent."

A hairline fracture in Baez's left thumb kept the 27-year-old sidelined for the majority of September last season, but it doesn't sound like there are any concerns regarding the injury heading into the 2020 season. Baez, who avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $10 million contract with the Cubs earlier in the offseason, hit .281/.316/.531 with 29 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 138 games in 2019.

Reyes was dealt an 80-game suspension without pay Wednesday after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

Reyes was not invited to spring training after being outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis on January 16. The 26-year-old struggled to produce offensively for the Pirates in 2019, slashing .203/.274/.322 with 39 runs scored and 36 RBI throughout 157 plate appearances.

Manager Dave Martinez is expected to give Turner a look as the Nationals' No. 3 hitter during Grapefruit League games, Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic reports.

While the Nationals brought in Eric Thames and Starlin Castro this offseason to help offset the departure of Anthony Rendon, neither player profiles as an adequate replacement for the two-time Silver Slugger in the heart of the order. Turner can't match Rendon's power, but his bat-to-ball skills probably make him the best internal candidate to offer protection in front of cleanup hitter Juan Soto. Should Martinez commit to using Turner as his No. 3 hitter, the 26-year-old could lose out on a good amount of running chances, though he would benefit from a major boost in his RBI count. Conversely, Victor Robles would likely assume Turner's old leadoff gig and would presumably see his stolen-base opportunities skyrocket. Per Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports, Turner was taking reps at shortstop Tuesday in the Nats' first infield workout of the spring, which indicates he's made a full recovery from November surgery to repair a fractured index finger.