TEMPE, Ariz. — Early in spring training, Mike Ashman, one of the Angels batting practice pitchers, came up to catcher Anthony Murine, and asked how his shoulder was feeling.

Mulrine just shrugged at yet another case of mistaken identity.

No, he’s not Chris Rodriguez.

“It happens all the time,” Mulrine said. “I’m convinced people have conversations with me and don’t realize. Then I think, ‘That was a weird conversation.’”

Mulrine is a 23-year-old catcher who played mostly at Double-A last season. Rodriguez is a 23-year-old right-handed pitcher who debuted in the majors last season, and also formed a battery with Mulrine a handful of times at Double-A. Mulrine is 112 days older, and they grew up about 30 minutes apart in South Florida.

They also look alike enough that those around the organization confuse them constantly.

Well, at least they think Mulrine is Rodriguez. Not so much the other way around.

“No, not at all,” Rodriguez said with a smile. “But he loves it. Every time someone comes up to him and says, ‘Chris,’ he’ll run to me and say ‘You won’t believe what happened.’”

It started last spring in big league camp, when Angels traveling secretary Tom Taylor gave Mulrine a contract to sign, thinking he was Rodriguez. Taylor has jokingly called him “C-Rod” ever since.

Manager Joe Maddon said they’ve grown to look more like each other.

“There’s a strong resemblance,” Maddon said. “Separated at birth.”

Both players get a kick out of the confusion. They happily posed for a photo together. Ideally, one day they’ll form a battery in the big leagues. Rodriguez is missing most of this season after undergoing shoulder surgery, and Mulrine was just sent back to minor league camp on Sunday.

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