MLB Player News

Kirk went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in Sunday's loss against the Brewers.

Kirk launched a three-run blast in the first inning that scored George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero, the only runs that Toronto would score in the loss. The homer was Kirk's fourth in five games. Additionally, the catcher has nine hits during that span, including two two-hit performances and a four-hit game. Kirk is now slashing .322/.409/.523 on the season to go along with 10 home runs.

Heim went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run in a 6-4 loss to the Nationals on Sunday.

Heim hit his 10th home run of the year to tie his season total from 2021. The 26-year-old catcher has taken 171 at-bats to reach the double-digit home run mark, compared to 265 at-bats a year ago. The increased home-run rate combined with a serviceable .246 average make him a player of interest in two-catcher fantasy leagues.

Haase went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and an additional run scored in Sunday's 11-7 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Haase's fifth-inning blast briefly gave the Tigers a one-run lead, but their offense stalled out after that. The catcher is finishing June strong -- he's gone 11-for-33 (.333) with four multi-hit efforts in his last 10 games. He's up to a .216/.266/.371 slash line with four homers, 13 RBI, 15 runs scored, four doubles and a triple through 124 plate appearances. Tucker Barnhart is just 2-for-19 (.105) in his last seven contests, so Haase's hot hitting could allow him to see an uptick in playing time.

Barnhart is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Though Barnhart has resumed switch-hitting this season, the natural lefty hitter hasn't had much success from the right side of the plate (.226/.294/.226 slash line in 34 plate appearances versus southpaws). As such, the Tigers could keep him on the bench against lefty starting pitchers more often than not. Barnhart will give way to Eric Haase behind the dish in the series finale with southpaw Dallas Keuchel on the bump for Arizona.

Raleigh is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Angels.

Raleigh will get a routine breather after he started behind the plate in six of the past seven games. Luis Torrens will spell Raleigh, who has solidified himself as Seattle's clear No. 1 catcher by producing an .825 OPS in 35 games since being called up from Triple-A Tacoma on May 7.

Garver, who is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Nationals, said he'll eventually require surgery to address the forearm injury that has prevented him from catching since early May, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports. "Surgery is only option for me to be player I want to be," Garver said.

Garver was initially placed on the injured list May 10 due to the flexor strain, but the Rangers chose to activate him when first eligible even though his injury limited him exclusively to designated-hitter duties. Aside from a week-and-a-half-long absence due to testing positive for COVID-19, Garver has served as the Rangers' primary DH since coming off the IL, but the forearm issue may be hindering him at the plate. Since Garver is slashing a wretched .201/.288/.383 on the campaign, surgery could become a more realistic option while the 31-year-old is providing no value on the field and limited value at the plate. Per Grant, the Rangers are expected to wait until no later than the All-Star break to make a decision on whether to send Garver in for season-ending surgery, so fantasy managers may want to get a head start on finding a potential replacement for him in their lineups. Until such a decision is made, Garver should still get the bulk of the starts at DH, though Kole Calhoun will handle those duties Sunday.

Sanchez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rockies.

Sanchez will sit for the second time this weekend while Ryan Jeffers checks in behind the dish and while Byron Buxton gets a day out of the outfield to serve as the Twins' designated hitter. Though he's getting on base at a .250 clip in June and has produced only six extra-base hits (two home runs, four doubles) in 19 games on the month, Sanchez still appears to be the Twins' preferred option at DH.

McGuire is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Orioles.

Though he'll take a seat for the series finale, McGuire seems to have supplanted Seby Zavala as the White Sox's preferred option behind the dish while No. 1 backstop Yasmani Grandal (back) remains on the injured list. McGuire started at catcher in three of Chicago's previous four games.

Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

After going 4-for-30 at the plate with 11 strikeouts over his last eight games, Bethancourt is beginning to see his playing time trend downward. He'll find himself on the bench for the fourth time in seven contests and may need to turn things around quickly to remain a regular in the Oakland lineup.

Murphy is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

He'll be getting a breather in the series finale after starting each of Oakland's last six games at either catcher or designated hitter. Stephen Vogt will step in behind the dish Sunday while Seth Brown serves as the Athletics' DH.