MLB Player News

Stassi will be out until Wednesday as he flies to Houston to have his hand examined, Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The Astros will keep their fingers crossed that no significant problems are found, but we should learn more in the next few days. Stassi's numbers in spring training haven't exactly impressed so far, as he's 2-for-16 with four strikeouts.

Contreras went 3-for-3 with two doubles in a split-squad loss to the Dodgers on Saturday.

Contreras is one of the best prospects in the Cubs' system, and with David Ross retiring at the end of this season and Miguel Montero not getting any younger, Contreras could be behind the plate for the Cubs on Opening Day 2017. Though Saturday's hits were his first this spring, Contreras has also walked four times in his 10 plate appearances. The walks aren't a fluke - Contreras has been improving his walk rate every year he's been in the minors. If you have a reserve-list dart to throw this year, you can do worse.

Manager Terry Collins admitted Saturday that there's a chance Plawecki is left off the Opening Day roster, Matt Ehalt of the Bergen Record reports.

Plawecki smacked a two-run homer off Tyler Lyons during Saturday's spring game with the Cardinals, but the skipper offered up a sobering dose of reality after the exhibition. While some sort of timeshare with Plawecki and top option Travis d'Arnaud would make sense to keep both players healthy for the long haul, near-everyday at-bats in the minors would allow Plawecki to stay sharp until there's a more pressing need for his services at the major league level.

Vazquez caught four innings in Friday's spring game against the Blue Jays, the Boston Herald reports.

Vazquez, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery on his elbow, did not face a stolen-base attempt but nearly nailed a runner at first base after a swing-and-miss. Making those types of throws are important as the Red Sox want to see how the elbow reacts when throwing from different arm angles. The 25-year-old backstop will go five innings in his next start.

Grandal is dealing with a right arm contusion and will receive several days off, MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports.

Manager Dave Roberts said Grandal may be able to return to action Monday, so he will be held out through the weekend, and possibly beyond. However, given that he is dealing with only a bruise, his status for Opening Day should not be affected.

Mesoraco (hip) can be expected to play in games mid-to-late next week, per manager Bryan Price, the Cincinnati Enquirer's C. Trent Rosecrans reports.

He has restarted catching drills, and should play exclusively behind the plate when he does get into games, as he doesn't have time to get sharp at two positions due to his late start this spring. Mesoraco would need to return next week and be setback free from then until Opening Day in order to be ready for the start of the season.

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.

Vazquez came out of his first game action in nearly a year fine and is scheduled to catch four innings Friday, the Boston Herald reports.

Vazquez caught two innings Tuesday, his first game since undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in early 2015. Because Boston was careful with him early in camp, Vazquez is on a delayed schedule and is unlikely to open the season at the major-league level. The concern isn't whether Vazquez can catch a full game, but rather how many consecutive days can he play the position. We expect him to be with Boston at some point during the season, but he may not be a full-timer until 2017. And even then, there's the presence of Blake Swihart, which makes assessing Vazquez's potential playing time cloudy.

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.

Vazquez (elbow) made his spring debut Tuesday, catching two innings and grounding out in his only at-bat.

It has been 361 days since Vazquez last participated in a game. That's when he suffered an elbow injury that eventually led to him undergoing Tommy John surgery. The Red Sox are being overly cautious with Vazquez, whose next activity will be catching a bullpen session Wednesday followed by some innings a game Friday. All signs point to him starting the season at Triple-A Pawtucket.