MLB Player News

Vazquez was the starting catcher for Chris Sale's debut Saturday against the Braves. He went 0-for-2 and caught all of Sale's four innings.

Sale worked primarily with Sandy Leon in 2018, so seeing Vazquez as his batterymate is an indicator of Boston's catching plans for 2019. Red Sox management said earlier this spring that they will keep two of the three catchers currently in camp, and it appears Vazquez will be one of them. Vazquez possesses all the requisite non-hitting skills a catcher needs, but he's not scaring anyone with a bat in his hand. After hitting .207 last year, Vazquez is batting .154 this spring.

Manager Ned Yost said Maldonado would make his Cactus League debut Tuesday against the Cubs, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports.

A late arrival to spring training after waiting until last weekend to sign with Kansas City, Maldonado is being eased into action with the big club. Since reporting to camp, Maldonado has caught in two minor-league games, with his most recent appearance coming Saturday. Maldonado is on track to serve as the Royals' primary catcher this season, though his workload could be monitored more carefully in the first few weeks of the campaign.

The Yankees optioned Higashioka to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.

Higashioka's demotion signals that the Yankees will roll with Austin Romine as their top backup to No. 1 catcher Gary Sanchez to begin the season. While Sanchez missed time due to injury in 2018, Higashioka shared work behind the plate with Romine and slashed .167/.241/.319 across 79 plate appearances.

Sanchez was assigned to minor-league camp Friday.

Sanchez never seemed to have much chance to capitalize on his big-league camp invitation and make the roster over either Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Jeff Mathis. The 30-year-old hasn't appeared in more than three major-league games in a season since 2014.

Maile went 0-for-2 in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees, dropping his spring batting average to .095 (2-for-21).

Offense isn't exactly Maile's calling card -- last year's .699 OPS in 68 games for the Jays was a career high -- so despite his spring struggles, his role as the backup to Danny Jansen doesn't appear to be in any jeopardy, especially with Reese McGuire also failing to make a good impression at the plate in camp.

Wynns (oblique) was cleared for on-field batting practice Friday, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Wynns has been hitting in the batting cage throughout the week as he recovers from a left oblique issue. The 28-year-old has been out of action for a little over a week, but appears to be nearing his return to spring games.

Maldonado will play in minor-league games Thursday and Saturday before potentially getting into big-league spring games for the Royals, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

He has not made his Cactus League debut on the big-league side since signing with the Royals, but there has been nothing to suggest he won't be ready to go for the start of the season.

Collins was reassigned to minor-league camp Wednesday.

Collins got to spend the first part of camp with the major-league squad but wasn't considered an option to open the season in the big leagues. He'll get his first taste of Triple-A this season after posting a .234/.382/.404 line with 15 homers in 122 games for Double-A Birmingham last year.

Zavala was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

The expectation is that Zavala will be the White Sox's No. 3 catcher this year, playing at Triple-A until an injury opens up playing time on the big-league roster.

Moore was reassigned to minor-league camp Tuesday.

Moore received a major-league camp invitation with his minor-league deal in February but was never particularly likely to make the team. The veteran has appeared in at least one major-league game in nine of the last 10 years but has only once gotten into more than nine games in a season.