Fortes went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against Atlanta.

Fortes has now gone 3-for-10 with a walk and two runs scored covering five spring outings. The right-handed-hitting backstop is lined up as Tampa Bay's primary catcher, but the lefty-hitting Hunter Feduccia is a threat to Fortes' reps behind the plate as well. Fortes slashed just .213/.307/.348 with three homers, three doubles, and 11 RBI across 101 regular-season plate appearances after being traded from the Marlins to the Rays at last year's deadline, and he'll likely slot somewhere into the lower part of the lineup to open 2026.

Higashioka (back) will start at catcher and bat third in Sunday's Cactus League game against the Mariners.

The veteran backstop had been out of the spring lineup for the past four days due to a back issue but appears to be good to go moving forward. Heading into his second season in Texas, Higashioka is likely to be part of a timeshare with Danny Jansen behind the dish.

Hunt is dealing with an oblique injury and has been shut down from activity, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Hunt signed a minor-league pact with San Diego in December and has been taking part in big-league camp, though he hasn't seen action in any spring games. The 28-year-old isn't on the team's 40-man roster and wasn't expected to be a serious contender for an Opening Day job even prior to suffering the injury. San Diego added fellow catcher Brendan Durfee to major-league camp to take Hunt's place.

Atlanta reassigned Tromp to minor-league camp Sunday.

With Tromp sent out, Atlanta is left with Jonah Heim, Jair Camargo and Sandy Leon as its backup options at catcher behind Drake Baldwin in big-league camp while Sean Murphy (hip) remains out. Tromp is expected to open the 2026 campaign at Triple-A Gwinnett after he spent most of the past season in the minors.

Basallo (abdomen) is starting at catcher and batting cleanup in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.

The 21-year-old departed Thursday's spring game due to abdominal discomfort, but he's ready to retake the field after getting a couple days off. The fact that Basallo is immediately working behind the plate rather than being eased back in as the designated hitter is a good indication that the injury wasn't a serious concern.

Rutschman went 2-for-2 with a solo home run and an additional run scored during Saturday's Grapefruit League game against Atlanta.

It was the first big fly of spring training for Rutschman, who's now gone 4-for-15 (.267) with a double and two walks over his first 15 at-bats of the spring. The switch-hitting backstop was a big disappointment in 2025, as evidenced by a career-worst .673 OPS across 365 regular-season plate appearances, but Rutschman is all set to reprise his role as Baltimore's top catcher in 2026. Although top prospect Samuel Basallo (abdomen) does present some competition for action behind the dish, he's more likely to serve as the Orioles' primary designated hitter.

Basallo (abdomen) will start at catcher in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against Boston, Jake Rill of MLB.com reports.

Abdominal discomfort forced Basallo out of Thursday's game early, but he was never brought in for imaging and is now set to return behind the plate after a two-day break. The 21-year-old backstop has begun the spring 2-for-8 with three runs scored through four contests.

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said Friday that Higashioka will be out of the lineup until Sunday due to a back injury, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.

The veteran backstop, who turns 36 years old in April, is projected to split catching duties with Danny Jansen this season. Higashioka slashed .241/.291/.403 with 11 home runs, a career-best 47 RBI, 33 runs scored and a 20:72 BB:K across 327 plate appearances last season for Texas.

Basallo (abdomen) believes he'll be ready to return to Grapefruit League play this weekend, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Basallo was pulled from Thursday's game against the Tigers due to right-side abdominal discomfort, but he thinks it was merely cramping and imaging was deemed unnecessary. Consider the young slugger day-to-day.

Dingler (elbow) is batting fifth as the designated hitter in Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.

The 27-year-old catcher is coming back from arthroscopic surgery in January on his right elbow, and he's still working through his throwing progression. Dingler has been fully participating in all other baseball activities, so he'll enter the lineup Friday as the DH. He could gain full clearance within the next week and should be good to go for the start of the regular season.