MLB Player News

Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal certainly made the most of his one crack at the dish Friday night against St. Louis. He slammed a pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning off closer-for-the-game Pat Neshek.

The blast ended a power outage for Grandal that had lasted since July 20 and had sent his slugging percentage tumbling from .388 to .365.

Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado went 2 for 4 with a double and a solo home run in his team's 4-2 loss to the Cubs Wednesday.

Maldonado hit the second of back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning Wednesday but the Brewers were otherwise unable to score. He has hit .274/.358/.440 with three home runs and 14 RBI in 84 at-bats.

Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud went 2 for 4 with a solo home run in his team's 3-2 loss to the Nationals Wednesday.

d'Arnaud brought his team to within one run with his leadoff home run in the ninth inning, but the Mets weren't able to finish the comeback. The catcher has collected three home runs in his last five games. He owns a .230/.295/.398 line with 10 home runs and 30 RBI in 269 at-bats.

In CBSSports.com leagues, there are currently 15 catchers who have a higher ownership rate than Travis d'Arnaud's 57 percent. Outside of very deep leagues, D'Arnaud is not serving very many owners as a No. 1 catcher. Based on what he has done over the past seven weeks, that needs to change.

Since coming back from a minor league rehab stint on June 24, d'Arnaud has been the fourth-ranked catcher in standard Rotisserie leagues and fifth in Head-to-Head points leagues. After struggling to hit for power duirng his initial callup late last season and again early this season, d'Arnaud is finally collecting extra-base hits, just like he did in the upper minors.

There should be little doubt that d'Arnaud has taken his game up a notch. All six home runs he has hit since returning to the Mets have been categorized by the ESPN Hit Tracker as having "plenty" of distance (one actually fell into the "No Doubt" category). He also has a .270 batting average with 10 doubles over this recent stretch, but with a .287 BABIP, d'Arnaud doesn't appear to be benefitting from good luck on balls in play.

Perhaps most encouraging, the average distance of d'Arnaud's flyballs has increased dramatically since his return. According to BaseballHeatMaps.com, in d'Arnaud's first 39 games this year, he averaged 264 feet in flyball distance, but over his 37 games since, that mark has jumped to 287 feet.

As I noted in a recent blog post, d'Arnaud's surge in productivity hasn't done much for his Fantasy popularity in recent weeks, while other catchers with more limited upside, like Caleb Joseph and J.P. Arencibia have been getting picked up in droves. Not only is d'Arnaud a better mixed league pickup than either of these two backstops, but he is likely to be more productive going forward than Brian McCann or Kurt Suzuki, both of whom are far more widely owned.

If you're disappointed with the production of your catcher in a one-catcher league, it's time to give d'Arnaud a try. Chances are good that he will be there for the taking on your league's waiver wire.

Giants catcher Hector Sanchez has passed his concussion test, according to CSN.

Sanchez will resume his rehab assignment in the minors. He's been working his way back from concussion-related issues, but a foul tip pushed him back slightly. He'll serve as the designated hitter during his rehab assignment Tuesday, and plans to catch Wednesday. Sanchez is hitting .196 over 163 at-bats. 

Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud has slugged two home runs in his last three games, but he will be hard-pressed to make it three of four. He is out of the lineup for the Monday afternoon game in Philadelphia. Anthony Recker will crouch behind the plate instead.

d'Arnaud has six hits with six runs scored in the last five games after starting August in a slump.

Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco totaled his third career multi-homer game Sunday, powering the Reds to a 7-2 win over the Marlins.

Mesoraco put Cincinnati up 2-1 with a two-run homer off Brad Hand in the first inning. He then crushed a grand slam in the fifth inning with two outs, chasing Hand from the game. It was his fourth career grand slam. 

Mesoraco reached 20 home runs for the first time in a season with his two-homer performance. He came into Sunday's game mired in a 7-for-29 slump in August.

Catcher Hector Sanchez is getting tested for a concussion after taking a foul tip off the mask during his Friday rehab start from Triple-A Fresno.

Sanchez had been working his way back from a concussion that prompted the Giants to place him on the disabled list on July 26.

The Reds have promoted catcher Tucker Barnhart from Triple-A Louisville and sent down utility player Donald Lutz.

Lutz hasn't received an extended opportunity in his stints with Cincinnati this season. He has seven hits in 33 at-bats.

Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud went 2 for 4 with a solo home run in his team's 5-4 win over the Phillies Friday.

d'Arnaud began August hitless in 10 at-bats over a four-game span, but he's 4 for 11 with a double and a home run in his last three outings. He has hit .225/.289/.375 with eight home runs and 28 RBI in 253 at-bats.