MLB Player News

Barnes is batting .389/.522/.889 this spring as he battles for a spot on the Dodgers' bench.

If you assume that Carl Crawford and Alex Guerrero crack the 25-man roster and the Dodgers carry 12 pitchers, there won't be room for Barnes. He's been seeing time at positions other than catcher this spring to improve his versatility

The Pirates reassigned McGuire to minor-league camp Monday.

He's expected to serve as the full-time starter for Double-A Altoona. McGuire, who went 1-for-10 in Grapefruit League action, remains the organization's top catching prospect. His defense is already major-league ready, but he's a work in progress, offensively. McGuire batted .254/.301/.294 in 374 at-bats for High-A Bradenton in 2015.

Diaz went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI against Detroit on Sunday.

The catcher is set to start the season with Triple-A Indianapolis after Pittsburgh resigned backup Chris Stewart to a two-year deal. After slashing .312/.366/.421 in 404 minor-league plate appearances in 2014, he fell off last year (.271/.330/.382) and oddly made only two plate appearances as a September recall. The organization still values Diaz, however, as the Bucs reportedly turned down an offseason deal which would have sent the catcher to Texas in exchange for first baseman, Mitch Moreland.

The Mets are in the market for a backup catcher, which is another indication that Plawecki opens the season at Triple-A Las Vegas, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports.

Rather than have Plawecki see 1-to-2 games a week backing up Travid d'Arnaud to open the season, the Mets would prefer he sees regular action and about 150-200 at-bats for the 51s, after which the team could promote Plawecki and have him serve as d'Arnaud's backup. New York is not enamored with Johnny Monell or the other catchers in camp and may not find that backup available, meaning Plawecki could end up breaking camp with the team.

Contreras went 3-for-3 with two doubles in a split-squad loss to the Dodgers on Saturday.

Contreras is one of the best prospects in the Cubs' system, and with David Ross retiring at the end of this season and Miguel Montero not getting any younger, Contreras could be behind the plate for the Cubs on Opening Day 2017. Though Saturday's hits were his first this spring, Contreras has also walked four times in his 10 plate appearances. The walks aren't a fluke - Contreras has been improving his walk rate every year he's been in the minors. If you have a reserve-list dart to throw this year, you can do worse.

Manager Terry Collins admitted Saturday that there's a chance Plawecki is left off the Opening Day roster, Matt Ehalt of the Bergen Record reports.

Plawecki smacked a two-run homer off Tyler Lyons during Saturday's spring game with the Cardinals, but the skipper offered up a sobering dose of reality after the exhibition. While some sort of timeshare with Plawecki and top option Travis d'Arnaud would make sense to keep both players healthy for the long haul, near-everyday at-bats in the minors would allow Plawecki to stay sharp until there's a more pressing need for his services at the major league level.

Grandal is dealing with a right arm contusion and will receive several days off, MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports.

Manager Dave Roberts said Grandal may be able to return to action Monday, so he will be held out through the weekend, and possibly beyond. However, given that he is dealing with only a bruise, his status for Opening Day should not be affected.

Mesoraco (hip) can be expected to play in games mid-to-late next week, per manager Bryan Price, the Cincinnati Enquirer's C. Trent Rosecrans reports.

He has restarted catching drills, and should play exclusively behind the plate when he does get into games, as he doesn't have time to get sharp at two positions due to his late start this spring. Mesoraco would need to return next week and be setback free from then until Opening Day in order to be ready for the start of the season.

Mesoraco (hip, groin) has resarted catching drills, with bullpen catching being the next step. When he eventually sees game action, he probably will be exclusively behind the plate, because of the late start, eliminating outfield action when he needs a day off from catching as an option in the near term.

There still isn't a date for when Mesoraco will see spring training game action, but that would be the second step after bullpen catching duty. It's still possible that he could get a late start to the season, but he's progressing on the right path for now.

Rupp went 2-for-3 with two solo home runs in Wednesday's win over the Twins.

Rupp wasn't the only Phillie to homer twice Wednesday. Darin Ruf also went deep twice against the Orioles in a split squad game. Rupp hit his shots off of Tommy Milone and Casey Fien. He is expected to open the regular season with a larger share of the playing time behind the plate over Carlos Ruiz.