MLB Player News

Manager Tony LaRussa said Thursday that Grandal is an option to serve as the White Sox's No. 2 hitter to begin the season, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Though his spring debut was delayed by a minor knee injury, Grandal has since picked up two starts, going 1-for-5 with a walk between the contests. After batting second as the designated hitter in both of those games, he's slated to catch while occupying the two hole again Thursday versus the Royals, which seemingly supports LaRussa's assertion that Grandal will get a legitimate look at that lineup spot. Adam Eaton likely looms as the top challenger for the second spot in the order, but Grandal probably boasts the better bat of the two at this stage of their respective careers. Over the past two seasons, Grandal has compiled a .356 wOBA, 26 points better than Eaton's mark during that span.

Murphy (chest) will make his Cactus League debut Thursday against the Padres, catching and batting third, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Murphy was handled carefully to start camp as he made his way back from offseason surgery to address a collapsed lung. He's making his spring debut just two weeks before Opening Day, but it looks as though he should still have a good chance to break camp on the active roster.

Jansen has gone 4-for-20 (.200) through 10 Grapefruit League games with a double, a home run and a 6:8 BB:K.

Meanwhile, Alejandro Kirk is hitting .417 and has only struck out once in seven spring appearances. Jansen is still penciled in as the Jays' starting catcher, but the 25-year-old has struggled at the plate so far in the big leagues. If he can't improve significantly on his career .208/.297/.370 slash line while Kirk continues to rake, Jansen's defensive skills may not be enough to keep him in the No. 1 spot on the depth chart.

The Blue Jays optioned Moreno to their minor-league camp Thursday.

Moreno last played at Low-A Lansing in 2019, slashing .280/.337/.485 over 341 plate appearances. He'll likely make the jump to High-A Vancouver or possibly even Double-A New Hamsphire to begin 2021 as the Blue Jays look to get his developmental timeline back on track following the cancellation of the 2020 minor-league season. Among the young backstops in the organization, Moreno is third in the pecking order behind Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk.

Murphy, starting at designated hitter for the second straight game, went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run, a walk and two runs overall in a Cactus League win over the Royals on Tuesday.

The veteran backstop has ceded duties behind the dish to Luis Torrens the last two games while Murphy finishes recovering from a minor hip issue. The round tripper, part of a 15-hit barrage for Seattle, helped boost Murphy's spring average back over the Mendoza Line and marked his first time leaving the yard in exhibition play.

Grandal (knee) will catch in Thursday's spring game against the Royals, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

Grandal has spent some time as the designated hitter for the White Sox recently while dealing with knee inflammation, but he'll be behind the plate for the first time this spring during Thursday's Cactus League game. It's not yet clear whether the 32-year-old's slow start to camp will impact his availability for Opening Day, but Grandal will have two weeks to work behind the dish before the regular season starts.

Vazquez went 1-for-1 with a double and a walk in Tuesday's spring game against Atlanta.

Vazquez has hit safely in four straight Cactus League games and six of seven. He's made himself into a much better hitter since his early days in MLB when he came up as a defense-first backstop. The 30-year-old catcher's hard-hit rate has hovered around 40 percent the last two seasons after being below 30 percent during his first three seasons. That's made him a viable option as a DH, putting his bat in the lineup when he gets a break from catching. Vazquez, who appeared in 138 games in 2019, will be Boston's starting catcher in 2021.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he expects Higashioka (side) to catch in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Orioles, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Higashioka wasn't available to make his scheduled start Tuesday against the Tigers after experiencing some side soreness, but the Yankees don't seem too concerned about the injury. Boone noted that Higashioka had a "good day" in terms of treatment while he sat out Tuesday, and the 30-year-old will likely be able to work out in some capacity over the next few days. Higashioka looks on track to enter Opening Day as the top backup to Gary Sanchez.

Rogers is just 2-for-18 with nine strikeouts in Grapefruit League play.

Manager A.J. Hinch previously said defense will be the key to Rogers securing the backup catcher role behind Wilson Ramos, but the organization would certainly like to see a little more offense than this. Rogers struggled when he made his MLB debut back in 2019, posting a .125/.222/.259 slash line with 51 strikeouts across 112 at-bats. Until he cuts down on the whiffs, he'll likely continue to post subpar offensive numbers.

Athletics manager Bob Melvin said he expects Murphy (collapsed lung) to start at catcher in his Cactus League debut Thursday against the Padres, Shayna Rubin of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Earlier reports suggested that Murphy would make his first appearance of the spring Wednesday against the Royals, but the Athletics will instead give the 26-year-old an additional day to rest up before he debuts. Murphy was delayed at the start of camp while recovering from offseason surgery to address a collapsed lung, but the Athletics appear confident that he'll be ready to go for Opening Day.