MLB Player News

Grandal twisted his right knee during drills and will sit for at least the first two spring games until his inflammation subsides, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Catchers come with inherent injury risk, as do players in their early thirties, so this certainly isn't the ideal place for Grandal to be in early in camp. The injury doesn't appear to be a particularly worrisome one, and he still has more than a month to get up to speed by Opening Day, but the worry here is that spring knee issues could foreshadow similar problems throughout the year for a player at his age and position.

Plawecki cleared the intake process Saturday and resumed workouts, Bill Koch of The Providence Journal reports.

Plawecki was absent from the first few days of camp while on the COVID-19 injured list, though the Red Sox didn't specify whether he had the virus himself or had merely been exposed to someone who did. Whatever the reason, he still has over a month to prepare for Opening Day, so his push for the backup catcher job shouldn't be significantly affected.

Plawecki is going through the intake process to report to camp Thursday, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Plawecki missed the start of camp while on the COVID-19 injured list, though it's not clear if he tested positive for the virus himself or had merely been exposed to someone who else who did. In either case, he'll still have over a month to prepare for the upcoming season, so he should be at minimal risk of missing Opening Day.

Murphy (chest) has resumed some baseball activities but hasn't yet started hitting, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Murphy underwent a pair of surgeries during the offseason to address a collapsed lung, and he's had a slight delay to spring training as a result. Assuming his recovery continues to progress smoothly, the catcher still expects to be ready in time for Opening Day.

Huff suffered a grade 2 hamstring strain while running the bases and will be shut down for two weeks, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

Huff will rehab for the next two weeks before the team administers an MRI to determine the next steps. He was not expected to break camp with the Rangers and is now doubtful to get any meaningful at-bats in major-league camp. "Obviously it pushes everything back," manager Chris Woodward said. "It may not impact when we would have called him up, it may impact the amount of at-bats he has before we call him up... He still needs to get reps." Huff made his MLB debut last season when Texas fell out of contention, hitting .355 with three home runs and four RBI in 31 at-bats.

Mejia, once considered one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball and part of the Rays' return from the Padres in the Blake Snell trade, has high expectations going into 2021, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

Mejia is still just 25 years old and already has one solid big-league season under his belt, having slashed .265/.316/.438 with 21 extra-base hits (11 doubles, two triples, eight home runs) and 22 RBI across 244 plate appearances as a rookie with the Padres in 2019. However, last season was essentially a wash for Mejia, who lost his father in January 2020 and then struggled to a .077/.143/.179 line across 42 plate appearances over a 17-game span. The switch-hitting backstop gets a fresh start in Tampa Bay and looks set to complement to the right-handed Mike Zunino behind the plate.

Trevino is the early favorite to win the starting catching job, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. He is healthy again after finishing 2020 with a wrist injury.

The Rangers have an open competition at catcher, but manager Chris Woodward tipped his hand Monday. "I want Jose as our catcher, like, right now," Woodward said. "He's earned that right -- going into camp knowing he's the lead guy." Trevino is the leader among a group that includes Drew Butera, Jonah Heim and Sam Huff. Non-roster invitee John Hicks is also in camp. Trevino is considered a defense-first catcher who slashed .250/.280/.434 over 83 plate appearances in 2020.

Stubbs is hoping to play outfield and second base during spring training games, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Stubbs made last year's Opening Day roster as a third catcher but made just one start and had 10 plate appearances. With Jason Castro on board to back up Martin Maldonado in 2021, Stubbs faces a similar situation, so he seeks greater versatility to increase playing time.

Perez has not yet arrived at spring training due to a visa issue, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The veteran catcher inked a minor-league deal with the Athletics on Jan. 29 but will apparently have to wait a bit longer before getting a chance to jump into workouts. With fellow backstop Sean Murphy still on the mend from lung surgery and not likely to start baseball activity "for a while" according to manager Bob Melvin, Perez could be in line for a solid allotment of reps alongside Aramis Garcia in early workouts and Cactus League games.

Garver enters spring training fully healthy after he struggled with an intercostal last season that he says limited him more than he thought after video review, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. "It was probably one of the better offseasons I've had just as far as strength, mobility and being healthy coming into camp," he said.

Garver's 2020 season could hardly be more different than his 2019 breakout season. Garver went from hitting 31 home runs with a .630 SLG, to struggling with injuries, being lost at the plate, and slugging just .264. It's a good sign he's back to full strength, but his 2019 season may have been unsustainable anyway due to a 29 percent HR/FB rate. The Twins are likely to limit Garver's playing time to keep him fresh. He'll likley split playing time with Ryan Jeffers, who established himself in Garver's absence, even though both hit right-handed.