MLB Player News

Stassi went 1-for-6 with a solo home run in Sunday's 10-9 extra-inning loss to the Indians.

Stassi has been surprisingly effective with bat in hand this season, hitting .300 with four homers and 14 RBI through 80 at-bats (29 games). Behind the plate, his 2.72 catcher's ERA is second only to teammate Brian McCann's 2.57. Stassi has handled Houston's elite starting staff well while holding his own at the plate, which should lead to continued regular use, roughly about 2-3 starts per week.

Perez went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run Sunday against the Rangers.

Perez took Cole Hamels deep in the third inning for his ninth home run of the season. While he has just a .284 on-base percentage for the season, he's shown plenty of power with nearly half of his 32 hits going for extra-bases. That hasn't slowed of late, as he now has four home runs in his past 10 games.

Garver is out of the lineup Sunday against the Mariners, Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Garver will take a seat after going 0-for-8 while starting behind the plate in the first two games of the series. The pair of hitless outings has dropped his season average to .220, but Garver is in no immediate danger of surrendering primary catching duties with Jason Castro (knee) out for the season and 35-year-old backup Bobby Wilson a career .212/.266/.320 hitter in the majors.

McCann is out of the lineup Sunday against the White Sox, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

It's just a routine rest for McCann after he was behind the plate for the first two games of the series. Grayson Greiner will serve as the batterymate for Tigers starter Blaine Hardy for the matinee game.

Gomes is out of the lineup Sunday against the Astros, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

He'll give way to Roberto Perez in the series finale after starting behind the plate Friday and Saturday. Gomes is hitting .248/.314/.432 with six home runs and 12 RBI across 137 plate appearances this season, making him a low-end No. 2 option in mixed leagues that start two catchers.

Vazquez is out of the lineup Sunday against the Braves, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Vazquez started the past two games behind the dish, so he'll just be picking up a routine rest Sunday. Sandy Leon will catch for lefty Chris Sale in the series finale.

Gonzalez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Saturday's 8-4 win over the Tigers.

Gonzalez made his major-league debut Saturday, a couple of days after getting the callup from Triple-A Charlotte. The 25-year-old Gonzalez has a reputation as a good pitch framer, but his .163/.271/.185 line at Triple-A should scare off fantasy owners. He and Omar Narvaez, who leads the majors in passed balls (eight), will share the catching duties until Welington Castillo finishes serving his 80-game suspension.

Maldonado is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees.

Maldonado will head to the bench for a breather after starting the previous nine games behind the dish. In his place, Jose Briceno will make his major-league debut at catcher, hitting ninth.

Sanchez (calf) went 1-for-3 with a walk in Friday's win over the Angels.

He was back behind the plate, which suggests the calf cramping that kept him out of Wednesday's lineup is no longer an issue. Sanchez has added 30 points to his batting average over the last two weeks and is slugging .539 with 12 homers, making him pretty easily the most valuable catcher in fantasy to this point.

Narvaez went 1-for-3 in Thursday's 9-3 loss to the Orioles.

Narvaez will shoulder a heavier load after primary starter Welington Castillo was suspended for 80 games. The White Sox called up Alfredo Gonzalez from Triple-A Charlotte for depth at the position, but this is his first exposure to the majors. That suggests Narvaez will receive the greater share of at-bats, but at .188/.278/.250 through 73 plate appearances, he's not an attractive fantasy option.