MLB Player News

Casali will be behind the plate for Sunday's matchup with the Orioles, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

It's Casali's second start in a row and fourth in the Rays' six games, as he seems to have established himself as manager Kevin Cash's preferred option at catcher ahead of Hank Conger. As is tradition for the Rays, both catchers are more defensive-oriented than assets with the bat, so Casali shouldn't be expected to make waves in the fantasy realm even if retains the regular starting job throughout the campaign.

D'Arnaud is not in the starting lineup Sunday against the Phillies.

D'Arnaud has started each of the first four games of the season for New York, collecting just one base hit in his first 12 at-bats. He'll get a day off to clear his head, with Kevin Plawecki set to replace him and catch Sunday's starter, Matt Harvey.

Rupp is out of the lineup Sunday against the Mets.

Chalk this up as a regular maintenance day for Rupp, who started the first two games of the series for the Phillies. Veteran Carlos Ruiz will man the backstop in his stead.

Gomes went 1-for-4 with a solo homer in Saturday's 7-3 loss to the White Sox.

The five-year veteran backstop launched his first long ball of the season in the seventh inning of Chris Sale. Gomes has gotten off to a solid start in 2016, with hits in three of the first four games. With a clear-cut starting role, it remains to be seen if he can build on a somewhat disappointing 2015.

McCann was 1-for-4 with a two-run single in Saturday's 8-4 loss to the Yankees.

The Tigers catcher now has hits in back-to-back games, after going 0-for-5 in his first game of the season on Tuesday versus the Marlins. McCann figures to once again receive plenty of starts this season against left-handed pitching, which he touched up for a .320 average over 97 at-bats in 2015.

Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a run, two RBI and two strikeouts in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's 7-2 victory over Rochester on Friday.

Rodriguez went just 2-for-15 with one RBI and one run this spring, which wasn't too far off his 2015 campaign with Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, when he accumulated a combined .170 average over 176 at-bats. A promotion to the majors this year seems unlikely as long as he continues to bat below the Mendoza Line.

Mesoraco is not in the lineup Saturday against the Pirates, MLB.com reports.

Mesoraco will get a day off, as the Reds will insert Tucker Barnhart at catcher. Expect to see Mesoraco back behind the plate for Sunday's series finale.

Vazquez (elbow) caught all nine innings in Triple-A Pawtucket's season opener Friday. He shepherded three pitchers through a three-hit shutout.

At the plate, Vazquez reached base safely three times with a double and two walks, so overall it was an encouraging night for the catcher coming back from last year's Tommy John surgery. Let's keep in mind that Vazquez is on a rehab assignment and has not yet been assigned to the minors. When his 20-day rehab stint is over, the organization may officially send him down to Pawtucket, but he's expected to get back up to Boston at some point during the season. Coming off the elbow surgery, Vazquez will need to get to the point where he can catch games on consecutive days before the Red Sox trust him as the lead catcher.

Perez went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored in Friday's 4-3 victory over the Twins.

The veteran catcher legged out his first three-bagger since 2014 in a key eighth-inning rally, and then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Omar Infante. The 25-year-old is still looking for his first home run of the new season, but he's hitting .300 with an RBI over his first 10 at-bats.

Grandal (forearm) caught eight innings and hit a game-tying home run in a rehab game at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday night. He finished 1-for-2 with a solo homer and a pair of walks.

Although the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate lost in extra innings, that Grandal was able to make it through the bulk of a game behind the plate is a good sign. It's expected that he'll see additional game action in his rehab assignment before a potential return for the Dodgers' home opener Tuesday.