MLB Player News

Hedges went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Yankees.

Hedges gave the Guardians a one-run lead in the eighth inning, but the Yankees pushed back to walk it off in the ninth. This was the catcher's first long ball of the year. He's slashing a meager .125/.200/.219 with three RBI and four runs scored through 37 plate appearances. Hedges remains a quality defensive catcher, but his offense does little to make a case for him to be rostered in many fantasy formats.

Plawecki (illness) is expected to return from the COVID-19 injured list at some point during the Red Sox's four-game series in Toronto that begins Monday, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

Since Plawecki is vaccinated, he's eligible to cross the border and join the Red Sox in Toronto, but he'll first have to complete his quarantine and resume testing negative for the virus. Whenever he's activated, Plawecki is expected to replace Connor Wong as the top backup to No. 1 catcher Christian Vazquez.

Barnhart is starting at catcher and batting eighth in Sunday's game against the Rockies.

Barnhart rested in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader but will return to action Sunday. The veteran catcher has yet to really get going with a .574 OPS and no home runs or RBI through nine games, though he should continue to see regular playing time with Eric Haase on hand to spell him. Haase is starting in left field Sunday.

Haase is starting in left field and batting seventh in Sunday's game against the Rockies.

After a doubleheader Saturday, the Tigers are shuffling their lineup a bit Sunday, with Miguel Cabrera getting a day off and Austin Meadows shifting to DH. That opens up left field for Haase, who also started in left in the second game Saturday and went 0-for-3 with a walk. He has yet to really get going this season with a .172/.273/.310 slash line through 12 games.

Sanchez (abdomen) is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Sanchez was a late scratch from Friday's lineup with abdominal tightness and won't re-enter the starting nine Sunday. The 29-year-old appears to have avoided a serious injury after an MRI came back clean, but he'll now have four full days to recover thanks to Monday's scheduled off day before potentially missing additional time. Ryan Jeffers will start behind the plate again in his absence.

Higashioka is out of the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Guardians.

Higashioka went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly during Saturday's matchup with Cleveland but will head to the bench Sunday for the third time in the past four games. Jose Trevino will receive another start behind the plate for the Yankees.

Jeffers went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a solo home run and two additional runs scored in Saturday's 9-2 win over the White Sox.

He took Vince Velasquez deep in the fourth inning for his first homer, and first RBI, of the season. Jeffers has had a shaky start to the campaign, slashing .194/.293/.333 through 41 plate appearances, but with Gary Sanchez (abdomen) not making much of an impact at the plate either, the door is still open for either one to get hot and seize a bigger share of the work behind the plate.

X-rays on Perez's left hand returned negative after he exited Saturday's game against the Mariners after being hit by a pitch, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports.

Perez went 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored before departing. The 31-year-old will most likely receive a day off in Sunday's series finale, and an X-ray isn't always dispositive, but the initial report at least provides reason for optimism regarding Perez's outlook.

Perez left Saturday's game against the Mariners after being hit by a pitch in the hand, Joel Goldberg of Bally Sports Kansas City reports.

Perez was hit by an offering from Yohan Ramirez in the top of the seventh inning. He remained in the game to take his base, and he ultimately came around to score on a Carlos Santana home run. However, Perez was replaced by Cam Gallagher behind the plate in the bottom of the frame. The severity of the injury is unclear, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him out of the lineup Sunday.

Barnhart is not in the lineup for the second half of Saturday's doubleheader against the Rockies, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Barnhart went 2-for-5 in the afternoon game. He'll sit against southpaw Austin Gomber in the nightcap, as he did against the three previous lefties the Tigers faced this season.