MLB Player News

Mesoraco (hip, groin) has resarted catching drills, with bullpen catching being the next step. When he eventually sees game action, he probably will be exclusively behind the plate, because of the late start, eliminating outfield action when he needs a day off from catching as an option in the near term.

There still isn't a date for when Mesoraco will see spring training game action, but that would be the second step after bullpen catching duty. It's still possible that he could get a late start to the season, but he's progressing on the right path for now.

Rupp went 2-for-3 with two solo home runs in Wednesday's win over the Twins.

Rupp wasn't the only Phillie to homer twice Wednesday. Darin Ruf also went deep twice against the Orioles in a split squad game. Rupp hit his shots off of Tommy Milone and Casey Fien. He is expected to open the regular season with a larger share of the playing time behind the plate over Carlos Ruiz.

Mesoraco (hip) has resumed taking batting practice, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

After some starts and stops to his recovery from season-ending hip surgery last year, Mesoraco has taken another step in the right direction recently by logging some batting practice sessions. There is still no timetable for when he'll begin playing in games, but stringing some batting practice sessions together without any incident will put him on the right path toward his exhibition debut.

Maldonado is 3-for-9 with a double and run scored through four games this spring.

This is a good start for a player who hit just .210/.282/.293 in 2015. However, the only way he sees significant playing time this year will be if Jonathan Lucroy suffers another injury-plagued season, or if Lucroy is traded to another squad.

The Diamondbacks optioned Hernandez to High-A Visalia on Monday, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

Hernandez spent all of last season with the big club as a Rule 5 pick, but he appeared in just 18 games with the big club, and his assignment to High-A indicates the team still believes he has plenty of developing to do.

Mesoraco's spring debut will be delayed due to a minor groin injury, MLB.com reports. "I would say we've slowed things down a little bit. It's not anything alarming," Mesoraco said Saturday. "It's a little bit slower just to give me a little more time to do everything a little more. I would say within the next seven to 10 days, I will be out there."

The 27-year-old tried his best to ease any concern, describing the discomfort as "a very small minimal amount of groin and hip flexor tightness, soreness" and adding that it's something doctors said would probably happen. Now more than eight months removed from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip, Mesoraco has been able to hit and catch on the side and participate in team drills throughout the early stages of camp.

Murphy is positioned to begin the season as the Rockies' backup catcher behind Nick Hundley.

As Hundley's backup, Murphy could eventually see a significant share of the playing time, but Hundley's Coors Field driven resurrection at the plate last season may ultimately enable the Rockies to make a slow transition to making Murphy their eventual starter behind the plate. Murphy hit 23 homers across three levels last season, including three in 35 at-bats in the big leagues. In deeper leagues that require two starting catchers, Murphy may offer cheap pop even with Hundley in the fold in 2016.

Stewart, who batted .289/.320/.340 in 172 plate appearances in 2015, will again serve as Francisco Cervelli's backup behind the plate, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Fresh off signing a two-year contract, Stewart has hit for a decent average but offers little in the way of power or speed. His biggest contribution may actually come as starter Gerrit Cole's catcher. Cole went 12-4 with a 2.24 ERA when Stewart caught and 7-5 with a 3.59 under Cervelli's guidance.

Mesoraco (hip) is still on schedule with other Reds catchers, but the Reds still plan on going slow with him this spring.

"As much as he looks like he's on the same schedule as the other guys, as that pace picks up, we'll probably still be slowing him down a bit," Reds manager Bryan Price said on Sunday. "We're going to pump the brakes on Devin a bit and ease him back in." The article by Mark Sheldon speculates that Mesoraco will be held back a little during the front end of spring training games, so don't be alarmed when that happens.

Bethancourt says he is "100 percent" following offseason arthroscopic surgery in October to repair a torn meniscus, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Bethancourt's injury hadn't been officially reported during the time of surgery, but based on the backstop's optimism, it doesn't appear it will have a major effect on his 2016 season. In fact, walking up to the batter's box relatively pain-free could actually help the 24-year-old improve upon a less-than-stellar .200 batting average from a season ago. As it currently stands, Bethancourt appears to have an uphill battle for playing time in San Diego, as he'll have to compete with Derek Norris and Austin Hedges for reps behind the plate.