MLB Player News

Kelly is expected to receive a significant amount of playing time at catcher for the Tigers this season, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Kelly may not be part of a full-on timeshare with Jake Rogers, but the veteran backstop has impressed the club this spring after making offseason swing changes. The 29-year-old cranked his second Grapefruit League home run Wednesday and is currently sitting on an .897 OPS in 12 games. Kelly has slashed just .210/.281/.320 over the last two seasons but had a .768 OPS in the three seasons prior to that.

Sabol (groin) will return to action Wednesday for the Giants' Cactus League contest against the Angels, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Sabol is not in the lineup but will come off the bench and play some left field. It will be the 26-year-old's first game appearance since March 5, as he's been plagued by a right adductor strain. Sabol should be ready in time for Opening Day but appears ticketed for Triple-A Sacramento to start the season.

Bailey (hand) is starting at catcher and batting seventh for the Giants in Wednesday's Cactus League game versus the Angels, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Bailey went more than a week in between games after taking a foul tip off his right hand, but he's fully recovered now. The young catcher is 2-for-11 with one home run and a 4:4 K:BB over six contests this spring.

The Padres optioned Sullivan to Triple-A El Paso on Tuesday.

Sullivan logged seven hits in 25 at-bats this spring, but he will ultimately lose out on the backup catcher job to Kyle Higashioka. Sullivan slashed .328/.401/.517 in Triple-A last season, and he could return to San Diego in 2024 if he starts the minor-league season off in similar fashion at El Paso.

Wong started at catcher and went 2-for-3 with with a two-run home run in Monday's spring game against the Twins.

Wong went deep for the second time in as many games, upping his spring line to .433/.469/.833 with eight extra-base hits and eight RBI over 30 Grapefruit League at-bats. The spring production is a sign that offseason adjustments have worked, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. "He's made adjustments," manager Alex Cora said. "It started towards the end of the [2023] season. And in the offseason, [hitting coach] Pete [Fatse] came down here to Fort Myers. They started cleaning up a few things with the leg kick and all that." Wong said he's shorter to the baseball and trying to eliminate the swing-and-miss and choose better pitches overall. In 2023, Wong struck out 134 times in 403 plate appearances (33.3 K%).

Moreno started at catcher and went 1-for-3 in Monday's spring game against the Athletics.

Moreno was back in the lineup after being scratched last Thursday due to lower back tightness. In all, it was his first Cactus League game in a week. He's locked in as the Diamondbacks' primary catcher.

Godoy was reassigned to minor-league camp Monday.

Godoy put pen to paper on a minor-league contract that included an invitation to spring training in February, and he made the most of his chances before being sent down. He went 5-for-13 with three RBI, two walks and one run scored over 12 contests.

Bailey (hand) will return to Cactus League action in the next day or two, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Bailey got his right hand banged up on a foul tip nearly a week ago, but he looks to be back at or near 100 percent. The young catcher is 2-for-11 with one home run in six games so far this spring.

Atlanta reassigned Tromp to minor-league camp Monday.

Tromp looks to be third on Atlanta's organizational catching depth chart, but with both Sean Murphy and Travis d'Arnaud at full health heading into Opening Day, there wasn't a spot available for Tromp with the big club. He'll likely need Murphy or d'Arnaud to miss time at some point this season before he's summoned from the minors.

Moreno (back) will start at catcher and bat second in Monday's Cactus League game versus the Athletics, Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com reports.

The Diamondbacks wound up giving Moreno an additional day to recover from his lower-back tightness, but he's back behind the plate Monday for the first time in a week. Moreno has had a productive spring, going 4-for-17 with one home run and a 2:3 K:BB over seven contests.