MLB Player News

Plawecki will earn more starts against right-handed pitching this season, Kristie Ackert of The New York Daily News reports. "With the way our catchers are, the way they hit, we're going be able to cover opposing pitchers pretty good. Obviously [Travis] d'Arnaud is really good against lefties and I feel like Plawecki hangs in there really good against tough righties," Mets manager said Mickey Callaway said Friday. "So I think we'll base who's catching more on that type stuff, (rather) than who (pitchers) prefer to throw to."

This situation likely won't devolve into a full platoon, as Plawecki's career .628 OPS against RHP is actually worse than d'Arnaud's .704 mark, but it sounds like Callaway will use Plawecki's .270/.345/.459 line in 84 plate appearances against righties in 2017 as an excuse to split reps behind the plate more evenly this season. This will do more to hurt d'Arnaud's fantasy value than boost Plawecki's, but the 27-year-old does become marginally more interesting as a bargain option at catcher in deep NL-only formats.

Realmuto will remain sidelined from Friday's spring game after taking a foul ball off his left knee during Thursday's contest, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Realmuto could return to the lineup as soon as Saturday's game against the Phillies, which signals that this is just a minor injury for the 26-year-old. Tommy Telis entered Friday's lineup in his absence.

Realmuto was scratched from Friday's lineup due to a left knee contusion, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

It's unclear when Realmuto suffered what sounds like a minor injury, but he will sit out the Grapefruit League contest. Tomas Telis will start behind the dish and hit fifth in his place. There had been a lot of trade rumors surrounding Realmuto a few weeks ago, but as nothing developed on that front and teams are in full swing this spring, it would be surprising if he were traded before the start of the season. Look for him to hit in the middle of a very poor Marlins lineup all season. He should be considered day-to-day.

Davis is expected to resume baseball activities Saturday after suffering a concussion during batting practice last Friday, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports.

Davis said that Wednesday was the first day that he felt "like a human being" after battling concussion-type symptoms for the better part of the past week. The 27-year-old will likely need a little more time before returning to Cactus League games.

D'Arnaud went 2-for-2 with a walk, a solo home run and a second run scored in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees.

The blast was his first of the spring, and d'Arnaud is now slashing a strong .294/.455/.529 through 17 at-bats. The 29-year-old played a career-high 112 games last season and as a result slugged a career-high 16 homers and 57 RBI, but his rate stats remained mediocre, and even if he can stay healthy in 2018 there's little reason to expect a sudden renaissance from the one-time top prospect.

Contreras is 5-for-14 with a home run through five Cactus League games.

Contreras was strong last spring training as well, posting a 1.147 OPS, and he wound up with 21 home runs, 74 RBI and a .276/.356/.499 line in the regular season. The 25-year-old should be able to equal or surpass those numbers if he stays healthy. Last season, Contreras was limited to 117 games, mainly due to a hamstring injury that cost him almost a month.

Barnes (elbow) is in the lineup as a catcher for Tuesday's game against the Cubs, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Barnes has appeared in three games this spring, all as a designated hitter. He's been battling a minor elbow injury since the start of spring, but since he's back catching more than three weeks before Opening Day, he should be fine by the start of the regular season. He's expected to back up Yasmani Grandal this season.

Martinez was moved to minor-league camp Sunday.

Although Martinez played one game at both Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis, the majority of his 2017 season was spent at High-A Palm Beach. He had a tough time being productive on offense, as he hit .189/.273/.204 over 60 games with Palm Beach.

Mesoraco is 4-for-11 with two doubles in his first six games of spring training and hasn't been hurt so far, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports. "He looks as healthy as I can remember, going back to 2014," Price said. "He just looks normal. There's no concern about his hip labrum or the shoulder issue that he had. I think more than anything, I feel good about where he is physically because I think he can be very productive if he can stay on the field and remain healthy."

The Reds have made it clear that Tucker Barnhart is the starter over Mesoraco, but if he can somehow recapture his 2014 form, the latter could easily turn that into at least an even timeshare.

Barnes (elbow) is scheduled to catch Tuesday's game, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Manager Dave Roberts had previously been vague about the status of Barnes, but now he has a firm date in sight. Barnes has seen plenty of reps as a designated hitter, but a return to backstop will mark a milestone in his recovery. Despite the step in the right direction, Barnes remains projected to be the short side of the LA catching platoon.