MLB Player News

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.

D'Arnaud went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Orioles.

The 29-year-old could be in line to lose playing time behind the plate to Kevin Plawecki under new manager Mickey Callaway, but d'Arnaud is certainly making a positive impression on his new bench boss this spring, going 10-for-31 with three doubles, two homers and a 6:5 BB:K. Perhaps most importantly, d'Arnaud has looked healthy so far in camp, and if he can avoid the lengthy DL stints and lingering injuries that have plagued his career to date, he could still have some upside left in his bat.

In his second full spring training working with Jon Lester, Contreras is drawing high marks from the veteran left-hander, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Last spring, there was some uncertainty over who would catch Lester after the retirement of David Ross, who had served as the lefty's personal catcher. While Lester's ERA did jump from 2.44 in 2016 with primarily Ross behind the plate to 4.33 last year, Contreras was able to catch 12 of the 31 runners who tried to steal against Lester. Contreras also tied for the MLB lead with six catcher pickoffs. "As far as working with him and the way he goes about it, I love everything he does back there," Lester said. This bodes well for the young catcher's playing time outlook, as he won't be sitting every time Lester starts, though the team will no doubt still look to find regular rest opportunities for Contreras to keep him fresh.

Haase was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on Monday, T.J. Zuppe of The Athletic Cleveland reports.

Haase has held his own this spring, hitting .250/.348/.750 with three homers in 23 plate appearances, but he was never expected to break camp with the Indians with Roberto Perez and Yan Gomes ahead of him at the major-league level. Instead he'll report back to Columbus to open the season, where he should spend the majority of the campaign after working mostly with Double-A Akron in 2017.