MLB Player News

On Sunday, Major League Baseball revealed the National League reserves for the 2014 All-Star Game, which will be held on July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

The following players were selected as reserves:

C Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers
C Devin Mesoraco, Reds
1B Freddie Freeman, Braves
2B Dee Gordon, Dodgers
2B Daniel Murphy, Mets
SS Starlin Castro, Cubs
3B Todd Frazier, Reds
3B Matt Carpenter, Cardinals
IF/OF Josh Harrison, Pirates
OF Charlie Blackmon, Rockies
OF Hunter Pence, Giants
OF Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins

Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco collected three hits -- all singles -- and one RBI in four at-bats Sunday against the Brewers. Mesoraco struck out in his only at-bat that didn't produce a single.

Mesoraco is batting .368 (21 for 57) over his last 16 games. He has five doubles, six home runs, 14 runs and 15 RBI in that span.

The Reds placed catcher Brayan Pena on the paternity list and recalled catcher Tucker Barnhart from Triple-A Louisville. Barnhart went 3 for 28 (.107) in a previous major-league stint this year.

Reds starting catcher Devin Mesoraco will not be the Reds starting catcher Saturday against Milwaukee. He is "catching" a break as Brayan Pena will do the squatting behind the plate instead.

Mesoraco has been quite productive this season with a .313/.378/.642 stat line and 15 home runs in just 176 at-bats.

Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco went 2 for 4 with a solo home run in his team's 8-2 win over the Padres Tuesday.

Mesoraco hadn't homered in five games after going on a power tear a week ago, but racking up hits hasn't been a problem for the catcher. After smacking a ninth-inning blast Tuesday, Mesoraco has hit .314/.380/.645 with 15 home runs and 41 RBI in 172 at-bats.

A roster spot for promising minor league catcher Christian Bethancourt has been cleared by the Braves by the demotion of right-hander Juan Jaime to Triple-A Gwinnett. Bethancourt was called up to be the 26th man for the Saturday doubleheader, but the opening of the spot will allow him to stay.

The upshot could be the moving of Evan Gattis to left field and benching of unproductive B.J. Upton.

The 22-year-old Bethancourt owned a decent .273/.304/.372 stat line at the Triple-A level.

The clearing of a 25-man spot for Bethancourt indicates that Gattis, who is dealing with a back problem, could be out for a few more days but might not be destined for the disabled list.

Nationals catcher Sandy Leon has been optioned to the minors Thursday.

Leon filled in while Wilson Ramos was on the disabled list. Leon hit .169 over 59 at-bats in the majors. 

While I've known since probably his first week in action that Devin Mesoraco is the kind of catcher worth starting in every league every week, I've kept him on the fringes of the top 12 in my rankings, behind mainstays like Wilin Rosario and Brian McCann.

What can I say? Old habits are hard to break.

This latest stretch of five homers in five games is reason enough to break them, though. With it, Mesoraco not only legitimized his breakout by bouncing back from a 4-for-33 (.121) slump to begin the month of June, but he also emerged as the top catcher in Head-to-Head points per game, ahead of even Jonathan Lucroy. He leads the position in slugging percentage (.667) and OPS (1.054), and frankly, it isn't even close.

Now obviously, he won't continue to homer one out of every 11 at-bats, as he has so far, but with this latest surge, he's shown enough staying power that I'm not confident even a fully resurgent Rosario or McCann could overtake him (and I'm fairly confident in at least a moderate resurgence for both). When I next update my rankings, Mesoraco will be my eighth-best catcher, behind only Lucroy, Buster Posey, Carlos Santana, Joe Mauer, Yadier Molina, Miguel Montero and Evan Gattis.

It didn't take long for Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud to make an impact in his first game back from the minors, clubbing a three-run homer off Scott Kazmir during Tuesday's win against the A's. Tuesday's performance should be even further proof why you should consider adding d'Arnaud to your Fantasy roster.

d'Arnaud was a player featured in this week's Waiver Wire column, and I'm not backing down from my assessment. In fact, Tuesday's home run only strengthens it. 

The Mets demoted d'Arnaud in early June to get his confidence up, and he's done exactly that. He posted ridiculous numbers following his demotion, and it seems he's ready to carry that over into the majors. Perhaps we should take his minor-league numbers with a little grain of salt since he was back in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. However, manager Sandy Alderson said not all of d'Arnaud's home runs were in hitter's parks and some came against top-quality pitching. 

d'Arnaud came into the season as a fringe starter in Fantasy, as many of us were anticipating a breakout season. It might have taken a little longer than expected to happen, but now might be the time to start gaining confidence in d'Arnaud living up to his potential.

Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco, who tied a franchise record by homering in his fifth straight game Tuesday, is succeeding by "staying within himself," manager Bryan Price told MLB.com.

"He's doing it hitting in the four-hole, where I think at times you can as a hitter kind of inherit some extra sense of responsibility and maybe try to hit more home runs and extra-base hits and manufacture things that may not be there for you on a particular night if you don't get the pitches to hit," Price said. "He's really staying within himself. I know it's a cliche, but he's really doing a nice job of taking what he gets and really doing something with it."

Mesoraco, 26, is one shy of the all-time record for consecutive games with a home run by a catcher. The Giants' Walker Cooper homered in six straight in June 1947.