MLB Player News

Indians manager Terry Francona said Zach Walters will work at first base and shortstop early in spring training before eventually playing in the outfield, per Cleveland.com.

"I don't think that's really fair to have a guy play seven positions the first week," Francona said.

Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings is progressing well from offseason shoulder surgery, reports The Arizona Republic.

Owings was expected to miss the first week to 10 games of spring training, but manager Chip Hale said he's ahead of schedule.

"I don't have an exact [return] date," Hale said. "But he's past where I thought he was."

When asked about former Mets teammate Ruben Tejada, Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes shook his head and said "something is wrong," per Newsday.

Reyes revealed that during his final season with the Mets he tried to pass the torch to Tejada to become his replacement. Reyes landed in Miami in the offseason, and Tejada was destined to be his permanent replacement. Now entering spring training, Wilmer Flores is viewed as the favorite to win the starting job at shortstop for the Mets.

"Every time I talk to him I try to give him some advice," Reyes said. "What can I do? I try to push him to do stuff. I don't know if he gets it or not...He had the opportunity to be the everyday shortstop for a long time there in New York. You have to work, man. When you're younger, you think you have everything there for you. But if you do something wrong, it's going to go away. Quick.

"When I was there, I always give a lot of advice to him. We were always together. My last year there, every time I talk to him: 'This is going to be your position for a long time. Don't let it go away.' See what happened now? It's 2015 and he doesn't have a position to play. When they talk about who is going to play every day, they don't talk about Tejada. They talk about Flores."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia hinted that the second base job is wide open, and did not close the door on the possibility of using a combination of players, including Josh Rutledge, Grant Green, Johnny Giavotella and Taylor Featherston for the position, per the Orange County Register.

"If it's a combination, it's a combination," Scioscia said. "If it's one guy, it's one guy."

Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon told reporters Thursday that he won't put a number on how many bases he'll swipe this season, and is more focused on improving his on-base percentage and scoring runs in his first season with his new club, per MLB.com.

"No goal," Gordon said. "I just want to score runs. That's it. I scored a lot of runs last year, and I don't think nobody realizes that. Whatever [stolen bases] I get is what I get. Whatever is going to make me score is what I want to do."

Gordon led MLB last season with 64 stolen bags. His 92 runs were tied with then-teammate Yasiel Puig for eighth most in the National League. He hit .289/.326/.378 over 609 at-bats last season.

Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts admitted he lost confidence in 2014 while he was struggling to get on track offensively.

“Yeah, a little bit -- going really bad for two months, I mean extremely bad,” Bogaerts said of losing confidence, per WEEI.com. “Trying to have confidence everyday coming to the park was pretty tough. This year is a new year, I feel much better. I feel much more confident in myself so, it’s something I definitely learned, no matter how tough the situation is it’s just keep your head up.”

Bogaerts said the experiences he learned last season should help him well moving forward.

“It’s a really tough game,” Bogaerts said. “Especially in the Boston market — a lot of media attention, especially after winning the World Series, a lot of eyes were on us. I think this year will probably be the same because of all the new acquisitions that we have. You just have to have a lot of confidence in yourself. You go through your ups and downs. It’s definitely easy to lose your confidence.”

Although Wilmer Flores is viewed as the favorite to win the starting job at shortstop for the Mets, Ruben Tejada still feels he can win the job, per NJ.com.

"Yeah, why not," Tejada said. "I have to demonstrate here why we're here and why I want to. Come here the same way every year, stay healthy, the first thing, and work."

Tejada started a team-high 105 games at shortstop in 2014 for the Mets. 

"I'm ready to work and do my job inside and outside and stay focused and positive, do everything in the right way and keep going," Tejada said.

Diamondbacks shortstop Chris Owings is expected to miss 8-10 spring games, according to MLB.com.

Owings is coming off shoulder surgery, and the team wants to play it safe with the injury. The 23-year-old is expected to open the season as the team's starter at short. He hit .261/.300/.406 over 310 at-bats last year. 

Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon is eagerly awaiting the start of spring training and is particularly looking forward to working with infield coach Perry Hill, per MLB.com.

"I was waiting on [Hill], like, a month ago," Gordon said. "I'm excited. I work hard. That's one thing I pride myself on, working as hard as possible. I'm just ready to take my game to the next level."

Gordon made the move from shortstop to second base in 2014. During his first All-Star campaign, Gordon posted a .981 fielding percentage in 144 games at second base for the Dodgers.

"There's a lot more second base in me," Gordon said. "There is a lot I still don't know. Honestly, I didn't really know how to learn on the fly with the Dodgers. Bone (nickname for Hill) is going to be a great teacher. I've heard nothing but great things about him, so I can't wait."

Indians infielder Zach Walters told MLB.com he played through a torn intercostal for approximately three weeks between August and September last season.

The utility man was traded from the Nationals to the Indians before the last year's deadline. As a result of the injury, he struggled to make an impact at the plate, slashing .170/.223/.432 with seven homers and 12 RBI over 88 at-bats.