MLB Player News

Mesoraco (hamstring) is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Cubs, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Reds will play it safe with Mesoraco after he was prematurely lifted from Sunday's contest with a tight hamstring. Even though the 28-year-old doesn't believe the ailment to be anything overly serious, the Reds will hold him out for an extra day given he's played in just 39 games over the past two seasons. Tucker Barnhart will draw the start behind the dish in his stead.

Sanchez caught a bullpen session for teammate Jhoulys Chacin on Monday as he recovers from a bone bruise in his foot, A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Sanchez is progressing well, but he'll likely have to go on a rehab assignment before returning to the majors. Expect him to return at some point during the Padres' current homestand, which runs until May 21.

Manager Bud Black said that Murphy (forearm) is "closer than you think" to returning from the disabled list, Nick Groke of The Denver Post reports.

He hasn't progressed to catching bullpen sessions yet, but this vote of confidence is still a promising sign for the prospect catcher. Given how much time he's missed, Murphy will likely need to go on a rehab assignment once he's gotten back to baseball activities, and although no official timetable has been revealed, Black's comments seem to point toward a return date sometime in the next couple weeks.

Grandal went 3-for-4 with an RBI in a 9-6 loss to the Rockies on Sunday.

Grandal has been unconscious at the plate of late, batting .462 (18-for-29) with 10 RBI over his last 10 contests, raising his season average to .292 in the process. While the hot streak has definitely pleased his owners, the streaky catcher hasn't reproduced the tremendous power he displayed last season. His current 16.0 HR/FB ratio is closer to his 17.8 percent career mark, so 15-20 homers may be a more realistic expectation as opposed to the 27 homers we saw last year (25.2 HR/FB).

Mesoraco left Sunday's game early with hamstring tightness, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Mesoraco said he could have kept playing through the tightness, so his removal seems simply precautionary. Mesoraco will rest up on the Reds' off day Monday with the hopes of being ready to go for Tuesday's series opener against the Cubs.

Rupp is out of the lineup for the second game of Sunday's doubleheader against Washington.

Rupp was productive at the plate in Game 1. He went 2-for-4 and scored a route during Philadelphia's victory over the Nationals. However, he'll be withheld from the lineup for Game 2 as Andrew Knapp is set to start behind the plate.

Stephenson continues to hit well at Low-A Dayton, hitting .287/.400/.435 in 135 plate appearances. Despite his strong start, the Reds intend to keep Stephenson at Dayton for the bulk of the season, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The good news is that Stephenson's surgically repaired wrist is fully healed and he's performing at the level the Reds once hoped for when they took him in the first round of the 2015 draft. As Enquirer writer Zach Buchanan points out, at age 20 Stephenson is still young for the level at Low-A.

Contreras is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cardinals.

Despite the fact that he's collected three hits (including two home runs) over his past two contests, Contreras will head to the bench for Sunday's series finale against the Cardinals. Miguel Montero will take over behind the plate.

Plawecki went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI in Saturday's loss to the Brewers.

He hasn't done much to threaten Rene Rivera's spot in the starting lineup, going 3-for-16 since being called up in April, and Plawecki could find himself back in Triple-A Las Vegas once Travis d'Arnaud (wrist) is finally ready to resume playing.

Realmuto is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Braves.

After starting the team's last five games, Realmuto will get a breather Sunday as the Marlins face off against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and the Braves. A.J. Ellis will draw the start in Realmuto's absence.