MLB Player News

Perez is not in the Royals' lineup Thursday, 610 Sports Radio KC reports.

Drew Butera will slide in behind the dish to give Perez a break. The club has decided not to use Perez as a designated hitter anymore in order to preserve his health more effectively. Fantasy players should expect to get a little less work out of him, and this decision cuts into his value a bit. Still, he's one of the more reliable names at his position.

Perez won't be used as the designated hitter for the rest of the season, the Associated Press reports.

Perez has been the DH for 13 games this year, but manager Ned Yost believes that role is too risky for his All-Star backstop moving forward. An intercostal strain has hampered the veteran for a while now, and he missed 15 games after aggravating the ailment in early August. "When you're catching, you're staying loose and you're staying mobile," said Yost. "When you're [the DH], you have an at-bat and then sit." Although a slight reduction in at-bats will put a small dent in his value, Perez remains a top option across all formats.

Sanchez went 2-for-5 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in Wednesday's 10-2 win over the Tigers.

His mammoth August continues, and Sanchez is now slashing .311/.376/.757 through his last 20 games with 10 homers and 21 RBI. While he hasn't quite matched the production from his explosive 2016 debut, the 24-year-old's 26 home runs, 72 RBI and .892 OPS on the season still lead all starting catchers.

Stassi went 1-for-2 with a solo homer and two walks in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Nationals.

Stassi's just 3-for-14 this season, but two of his hits have left the yard. The catcher also has an impressive 1:3 K:BB over that span, and should continue to get a sizable chunk of playing time with Houston battling the injury bug behind the plate.

McCann is not in the lineup against the Yankees on Wednesday.

McCann will get the day off following Tuesday's start behind the plate, when he went 1-for-3 with a run scored in a loss. In his place, John Hicks draws the start, batting seventh.

Perez went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Rockies.

The All-Star catcher showed no rust in his return to action from an oblique strain that cost him 16 games. Perez will need to be a big part of the Royals' offense down the stretch if the team wants to remain in the AL playoff picture, but his career-high .514 SLG and .824 OPS on the year suggest he's up to the task.

Sanchez went 3-for-6 with a pair of home runs and four RBI in a 13-4 rout of the Tigers on Tuesday.

The first blast was particularly noteworthy -- a 490-foot missile to left that got the Yankees' scoring started right from the opening frame. It's unsurprising that Sanchez hasn't been able to maintain last season's unreal homer pace (20 in 53 games), but with 25 long balls in 91 contests this year, he's clearly established himself as the game's top power threat at catcher.

Perez is starting behind the dish and hitting fifth Tuesday against the Rockies.

After missing 16 games with an intercostal strain, Perez will slot back into the heart of the Royals' lineup. He is just one home run shy of tying his career high of 22, and with a .278 average, he is on pace to post his best mark in that category since he hit .292 in 2013.

Vazquez is out of the lineup Tuesday against the Indians, Evan Drellich of CSN New England reports.

Vazquez has recorded six hits over his last three starts, but that won't be enough to keep him in the starting nine Tuesday, as Sandy Leon picks up his third nod behind the plate in four games. It's been difficult to predict how the Red Sox's timeshare behind the plate will shake out from week to week, but things have generally favored Vazquez, who is slashing a career-best .290/.331/.730 for the season in addition to providing quality defense.

Gallagher was optioned back to Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday.

With Salvador Perez being activated from the disabled list, Gallagher is returning to Triple-A and wrapping up his first career stint in the majors. In his limited time, Gallagher went 5-for-13 with a home run and five runs batted in over five games.