Baseball Rule: Is Catching with the Mask an Out?

Question
a batter hit a pop-up that the catcher can field,he takes off his mask but holds it in his right hand and instead of catching the ball with his glove,he catches it with mask, is it an out? thank you

Answer
Dscappa,

It is NOT an out.  No player may use any portion of their uniform to catch a baseball.  They also can't throw their glove or other equipment at a ball.  The penalty for this play if the ball was fair, would be three bases for the batter.

Hope this helps!

Brian