MLB Player News

Hedges was removed from Thursday's game after being struck by a pitch.

Nate Easley replaced Hedges as a pinch runner in the top of the sixth inning. Consider Hedges day-to-day with more information to follow on his status in the coming hours.

Casali agreed to a minor-league deal with the Rays on Wednesday, which includes an invitation to spring training, Steve Carney of 620 WDAE reports.

Casali is expected to join the team's camp Thursday. The catcher was recently released by the Rangers, the third different organization to release the 29-year-old this offseason, including Tampa Bay in November. Casali appeared in just nine big-league games for the team in 2017, and will be utilized in a similar capacity this season with Wilson Ramos and Jesus Sucre on the big-league roster.

Casali was released by the Rangers on Wednesday, Levi Weaver of The Athletic Dallas reports.

Casali has now been released by three teams this offseason, first by the Rays in November, then the Angels in January and now the Rangers. The 29-year-old owns a career .199/.285/.385 slash line over parts of four major-league seasons. He's probably good enough to latch on somewhere on another minor-league deal and could see another brief stint in the majors, though he's unlikely to be much of a fantasy asset even if he stumbles into unexpected playing time.

Vazquez is expected to open the season as the Red Sox's top catcher and will regularly bat ninth in the lineup, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

Despite hitting .346 from July 29 through the end of the season in 2017, Vazquez will have to settle for a spot at the bottom of the order due to the number of potent bats populating the Boston lineup. The low slotting in the batting order is harmful enough as it is to Vazquez's fantasy prospects, but he also projects to receive fewer plate appearances than most of top catchers around the league due to the team's plans to split the workload between him and Sandy Leon depending on which pitcher is starting on a given a day. With that in mind, Vazquez might not offer much intrigue outside of two-catcher mixed leagues or AL-only formats.

Contreras is likely best suited to hit fourth for the Cubs behind Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Contreras didn't hit fourth for the Cubs last season until June 5, as he generally was slotted into the bottom half of the lineup, though he did bat second once. From that date on, the young catcher batted .307 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI in 44 games batting cleanup. With studs like Bryant and Rizzo in front of him, Contreras could easily surpass the 74 RBI he posted in 2017. The 25-year-old figures to be one of the top fantasy producers at the catcher position.

Bethancourt (arm) recorded one at-bat during Monday's game against the Dodgers.

Bethancourt left Saturday's game after being hit by a pitch, but returned Monday to go 0-for-1 at the plate. Although it's likely he'll begin the season in the minor leagues, it's still good to see the 26-year-old catcher back out on the field. Manny Pina and Jett Bandy look to be the two backstops that will make Milwaukee's Opening Day roster with Stephen Vogt likely on the DL.

Sanchez was cut from major-league camp Monday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

After reporting to minor-league camp, Sanchez will likely be assigned to Triple-A Sacramento. Sanchez missed much of the Giants' games this spring as he had to tend to a hamstring injury. With Buster Posey and Nick Hundley poised to serve as the team's catchers this season, Sanchez will provide organizational depth.

McCann added about 15 pounds to his frame in the offseason and looks more muscular this spring, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

McCann figures to be a more important part of Detroit's offense this year, as J.D. Martinez and Ian Kinsler are both gone from last year's Opening Day lineup. The 27-year-old catcher set new career highs with 13 home runs and 49 RBI in 2017, and he could surpass those numbers if the added muscle leads to more power at the plate.

The Phillies have been shopping Rupp to other teams during spring training, two sources informed Matt Gelb of The Athletic Philadelphia.

After serving as the Phillies' Opening Day catcher in 2017, Rupp fell to third on the organizational depth chart at the position before the end of the season following the graduations of Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp to the big leagues. In addition to the added competition behind the plate, Rupp saw his offensive performance dip last season, hitting just .217 while striking out in a career-high 34.4 percent of his plate appearances. Rupp isn't a special defender either, so it's unlikely he would get the opportunity to compete for a No. 1 role if he lands with a new club before the start of the season.

Caratini is likely to begin the season at Triple-A Iowa, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The Cubs appear to be favoring veteran Chris Gimenez for the backup role behind Willson Contreras. Caratini hit an unremarkable .254/.333/.356 in 66 plate appearances for the Cubs last season. He has little left to prove as a hitter at the Triple-A level, however, having hit .342/.393/.558 in 326 plate appearances with Iowa last year, but the extra reps behind the plate could help him become more reliable defensively. He's unlikely to receive regular playing time at the big-league level this year unless Contreras suffers an injury.