MLB Player News

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.

Maile recorded his first hit of spring, a home run, in Tuesday's exhibition game against the Dodgers.

Maile has not done much hitting this spring, but he has not had many opportunities to do so, only appearing in five games thus far. He will open the season in the minors, barring any unforeseen developments with the Brewers' catching situation.

Nido (foot) will catch and bat ninth for the Mets in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reports.

Nido will re-enter the Mets' spring lineup for the first time since March 7 after being withheld from action for just over a week with a bruised left foot. The 26-year-old looks on track to enter the season as the top backup to No. 1 catcher James McCann.

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.

Stephenson looked good blocking balls in the dirt in Tuesday's spring training loss to the Rockies, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

The Reds were hesitant to play Stephenson behind the plate last season because of his defense, especially in comparison to the defensive skills of starter Tucker Barnhart. Stephenson went 0-for-2 with a walk Tuesday and is only 4-for-19 at the plate this spring, albeit with three walks. With Curt Casali gone, Stephenson is the clear backup to Barnhart right now.

Nola will throw and do light blocking drills while waiting for inflammation and fluid in his fractured middle left finger to subside, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

Nola's finger fracture is on his non-throwing hand, so he should still be able to partake in some catching drills while he recovers from the injury. Though Nola could feasibly play through the issue, manager Jayce Tingler suggested Monday that the team may decide to play it safe with him. "It doesn't have to be 100%; at some point it will be a pain-tolerance deal," Tingler said. "I think if it was his choice, he would prefer to take on the pain right now. We're going to pull the reins back on him to make sure that we don't do that too early."

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.