MLB Player News

Rortvedt went 3-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base and two runs scored Saturday against the White Sox.

The former Yankee has had a relatively even share of the playing time at catcher alongside Rene Pinto, but Rortvedt has started three of the Rays' last four games. He had a big performance Saturday and narrowly missed his first home run of the season, which was originally ruled to have cleared the fence only to be overturned on replay. Rortvedt has benefitted from a .548 BABIP to inflate his batting average early on, though he has a 10.2 percent walk rate across 225 career big-league plate appearances, which gives him a boost in on-base leagues.

Rutschman went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 7-0 win over the Athletics.

Rutschman is on fire with an eight-game hitting streak, going 15-for-36 (.417) in that span with two homers, nine RBI and four runs scored. The catcher's surge has him up to a .324/.368/.438 slash line with three homers, 16 RBI, 16 runs scored and three doubles through 25 games. Rutschman's power numbers are more or less in line with his first two seasons and he's making more contact, but he's also posted a 6.1 percent walk rate so far. He's locked in as the Orioles' No. 2 hitter.

Kelly (ribs) is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Royals.

Kelly was scratched ahead of Friday's game against Kansas City due to left ribcage soreness. While Kelly won't start Saturday, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said that the backup catcher is available for the contest, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic.

Maldonado went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and scored twice in Friday's 9-4 win over Tampa Bay.

Maldonado hasn't exactly been the greatest offensive catcher in the big leagues this season, as his sixth-inning three-run homer gave him his first three RBI of 2024. The 37-year-old is still batting just .087 on the year, and fantasy managers should not expect him to have many more games similar to Friday's showing.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said that Kelly (ribs) wasn't available off the bench after all Friday, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.

Kelly was a late scratch from the lineup after his left ribcage "locked up" on him pregame. While the team isn't overly concerned about the injury, Hinch indicated that the injured list is a possibility since the club doesn't want to play short at catcher. Jake Rogers will be the Tigers' primary backstop while Kelly recovers.

Naylor is absent from the lineup for Friday's game in Atlanta.

It's the second straight game on the bench for the left-handed hitting Naylor, with this one coming against southpaw Chris Sale. Austin Hedges will do the catching for Logan Allen.

Banuelos was designated for assignment by the Orioles on Friday.

The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Ryan McKenna. It's the second time this month that Banuelos has been designated for assignment, so he could refuse this one if he wants to try his luck in free agency.

Kelly was scratched from the lineup for Friday's game against the Royals due to left ribcage soreness.

The Tigers are saying Kelly will be available off the bench, so while the injury was enough to knock him out of the starting lineup, it doesn't sound like it's a long-term concern. Jake Rogers will now do the catching for Reese Olson.

Trevino went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Thursday in a loss to the Athletics.

Trevino plated an early run for New York with his solo blast in the second inning, but the team's offense did not score again. Still, the homer continued a strong recent stretch of offense by the backstop, as he's built an eight-game hitting streak during which he's batting .423/.464/.654. The hot span hasn't moved Trevino out of a timeshare behind the plate, however -- both he and Austin Wells have played three games over New York's past six contests.

Perez went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run during Thursday's 2-1 win over the Blue Jays.

Although Thursday's game was called after five innings due to poor weather, Perez managed to make an impact, swatting a game-deciding, two-run shot off Jose Berrios in the first frame. Over the Royals last two series, Perez is batting .435 with eight RBI and one strikeout across 27 plate appearances.