MLB Player News

Kirk isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Cubs.

Kirk will grab a seat on the bench Saturday after going 0-for-4 with a couple of strikeouts during Friday's loss. Brandon Valenzuela will fill in as Toronto's catcher and bat fourth.

Manager Aaron Boone said Saturday that Wells (head) will likely return from the injured list and start Sunday, Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports.

Wells landed on the injured list June 6 with cervical headaches but has been playing in rehab games since Tuesday, going 2-for-12 with a pair of homers and an additional RBI across three contests. He'll presumably reclaim his job as New York's primary backstop once he's activated, though he may not take on an everyday role after posting a .533 OPS through 169 plate appearances to begin the season.

Heim went 1-for-1 with a two-run home run in Friday's extra-inning win over the Angels.

Pinch hitting for Colby Thomas at designated hitter with the Athletics down to their final out in the ninth inning, Heim delivered a towering, two-run homer to tie the game and force an extra inning. It marked his sixth long ball of the season. The veteran backstop faces an uphill battle for regular playing time behind Shea Langeliers, but Heim has been productive enough at the plate to earn starts in four of the past seven games between catcher and designated hitter. In June, the switch hitter has gone 12-for-29 (.414) with four homers, two doubles, five RBI and five runs scored across 11 games.

O'Hoppe went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, an additional run scored and a walk in Friday's loss to the Athletics.

O'Hoppe went hitless Thursday in the series opener, but he bounced back admirably Friday with his fourth long ball of the season. This was his fourth multi-hit effort over his last eight games, and the backstop is hitting .341 with two homers and a .924 OPS across 14 games since the beginning of June.

Dingler went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in Friday's 4-3 win over the White Sox.

Dingler continued his scorching-hot June with another multi-hit performance, his sixth in his last 10 games. In 15 contests overall this month, the Detroit backstop is slashing .377/.403/.738 with five home runs, 15 runs scored and 17 RBI. The strong start to the season has established Dingler as one of the top catchers for fantasy leagues.

Caratini went 1-for-2 with a solo home run and two walks in Friday's 9-5 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Caratini has homered three times over 12 games in June. He's batting .389 (14-for-36) this month, including six extra-base hits, seven RBI and a 5:5 BB:K. The veteran catcher is now hitting .231 with a .677 OPS, five homers, 26 RBI, 14 runs scored, five doubles and no stolen bases through 204 plate appearances this season.

Rutschman (head) isn't in the lineup for Friday's game against the Dodgers, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Rutschman will take a day to recover after getting hit in the head by a bad throw while running to first base in the ninth inning of Thursday's game. Samuel Basallo will fill in behind the plate, moving Taylor Ward into the DH spot and giving Jeremiah Jackson a start in left field.

Wells (head) went 2-for-5 with two homers and three RBI in a rehab appearance with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday.

This was Wells' second rehab game after he landed on the 10-day IL due to cervical headaches June 6. Given his performance Thursday, the backstop appears to be feeling much better. Per Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday that the team hasn't yet made a decision on when Wells will return to the big-league club, but that could happen at some point this weekend.

Langeliers went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in a 5-0 win against the Angels on Thursday.

Langeliers had the key hit in a big first inning for the A's, clobbering a 430-foot homer to center field to account for the first three runs of the contest. The blossoming star extended his on-base streak to 11 games with the long ball, and during that stretch he's clubbed three homers and driven in six runs. On the season, Langeliers' 19 homers rank second among catchers behind Hunter Goodman (21), and Langeliers' .870 OPS trails only Drake Baldwin among catchers with at least 200 plate appearances.

Perez went 3-for-5 with a solo home run, an additional run scored and a double in a 14-6 rout of the Cardinals on Thursday.

Perez made history in the sixth inning with a 385-foot solo blast to left field. It was his 137th regular-season homer at Kauffman Stadium, establishing a record for long balls hit at the ballpark, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The home run was also Perez's 313th in his career, putting him four away from reaching George Brett's franchise mark of 317. Perez came into Thursday without a homer over his previous 17 games, a span during which he batted just .157 (11-for-70).