MLB Player News

Brannon is on the 60-day injured list with Single-A Salem as he recovers from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports.

It's unclear when the 19-year-old slugging catcher had the procedure, but he will miss at least two months. Brannon hit .292 with eight strikeouts and three home runs in six games at Single-A last season.

Perez went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Monday's 6-4 loss to the Orioles.

Perez went 0-for-7 over the first two games of the season, but he's now homered twice and driven in six runs over the last two contests. The catcher is dialed in and has little risk of losing playing time -- he's started behind the dish three times and played at first base in his other game. Perez could also be the designated hitter on occasion, but manager Matt Quatraro looks committed to getting his bat in the lineup a vast majority of the time.

Vazquez is starting at catcher and batting ninth Tuesday in Milwaukee.

He and Ryan Jeffers have split the catching duties in the first four games of the season, with Jeffers drawing an additional start at designated hitter. Vazquez is the far less desirable fantasy option of the two, but the 33-year-old should have a much better season in 2024 than during a 2023 campaign in which he produced a .598 OPS.

Jeffers is not in the lineup for Tuesday's contest against the Brewers.

It's the first day off this season for Jeffers, who had started two games at catcher and one at designated hitter in the first three games. Christian Vazquez will do the catching for Louie Varland on Tuesday.

Diaz went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Monday's win over the Blue Jays.

Diaz tacked on a third multi-hit game to open up the 2024 campaign, with both knocks coming on solo homers Monday. The backstop ranks second in runs batted in for Houston and is slashing .444/.500/.778 in five games and 18 at-bats -- an impressive start after putting up 23 homers and a .282 average in 2023.

Kelly went 1-for-3 with a walk and a three-run home run in Monday's 5-0, 10-inning win over the Mets.

The game was tied 0-0 entering extra innings, but the Tigers scraped together two runs before Kelly's big blast put the contest out of reach. The 29-year-old is off to a good start with a 1.278 OPS across three games. Kelly and Jake Rogers both started in this one, with the latter serving as DH, and the two should continue to split time behind the plate in Detroit moving forward.

O'Hoppe is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Marlins, Erica Weston of Bally Sports West reports.

He'll give way to Matt Thaiss behind the dish after catching each of the Angels' first three games of the season while going 3-for-7 with a pair of walks, an RBI and a run scored. Angels manager Ron Washington said in spring training that he's hopeful to get O'Hoppe between 125 to 135 starts at catcher this season, and the 24-year-old is roughly on pace thus far with three starts through four games.

Langeliers went 3-for-6 with a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice fly over his last two games against the Guardians on Friday and Sunday.

The starting catcher started the season with an 0-for-3 showing on Opening Day before rapping out a pair of singles Friday, then getting on base two more times via another hit and the plunking Sunday in his return from a day off. Langeliers flashed some promising power a season ago with 22 home runs and 45 extra-base hits overall, and he also managed to lace seven (four doubles, one triple, two homers) of his 11 Cactus League hits for extra bases this spring.

Maldonado will start at catcher and bat eighth in Monday's game against Atlanta.

After resting in Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Tigers, Maldonado will be back behind the dish for the series opener versus Atlanta while backup catcher Korey Lee retreats to the bench. While starting the first two games of the season, Maldonado went 0-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts in losses to the Tigers. Despite coming off a season in which he posted a lowly .606 OPS over 407 plate appearances for Houston, Maldonado should see the majority of the starts at catcher for the White Sox in 2024 thanks mainly to his reputation as a defender and game caller.

Perez went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer, four RBI and two runs scored in Sunday's 11-0 win over the Twins.

Perez started off the game with a splash, launching a three-run home run off Minnesota starter Bailey Ober in the first inning, driving in teammates Bobby Witt and Vinnie Pasquantino in the process. He later added an RBI single in the second inning and another base knock in the third frame. Perez came into Sunday hitless through the first two games of the season, so he'll look to build off his impressive performance moving forward.