MLB Player News

Higashioka will sit Thursday against the Blue Jays.

Higashioka looks like the clear primary catcher for the Yankees at the moment, as he'd started five of the first six games prior to Thursday's contest. He hasn't done much with those opportunities, going 1-for-18 at the plate. Jose Trevino will replace him behind the plate.

Grandal isn't starting Thursday's game against the Mariners.

Grandal went 2-for-8 with a strikeout in his last two appearances, and he'll get a breather for the second time in the last four games. Reese McGuire will draw the start behind the dish and bat seventh.

Murphy went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run and a walk in Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Rays.

Murphy entered the contest with just two hits in his first 21 at-bats of the season, but he matched that hit total in the productive performance Wednesday. The backstop's third-inning three-run homer provided all the scoring Oakland needed to grab its third win of the campaign. Murphy's four hits this season have included one single, one double, one triple and one long ball.

Manager Brandon Hyde said Wednesday that Rutschman (triceps) has been making progress in his recovery, Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com reports.

Rutschman has been dealing with a right triceps strain since mid-March, and he's on the 7-day minor-league injured list to begin the regular season. However, he's been taking batting practice recently while going through a throwing progression. Although the 24-year-old's recent activity is certainly encouraging, he doesn't yet have a timetable to return to game action.

Raleigh is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the White Sox, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

All of Raleigh, Luis Torrens and Tom Murphy have now picked up two starts apiece at catcher this season, making it difficult to discern which of the three is atop the depth chart. Raleigh is sitting for the second straight day Wednesday while Murphy picks up a turn behind the dish.

Perez went 2-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs Tuesday in the Royals' 6-5 loss to the Cardinals.

Perez had been quiet through Kansas City's first four games, but he rediscovered the power stroke Tuesday that he displayed frequently during his 48-homer campaign in 2021. Fantasy managers should expect a fair amount of downturn in his power production in 2022, but he'll still be an elite contributor in home runs, RBI and runs relative to most other catchers while also producing a non-toxic batting average. Perez is also projected to handle one of the heavier workloads among all catchers; he played in 161 games in 2021 and has yet to get a day off in 2022.

Jeffers is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Dodgers.

With the Dodgers and Twins playing a day game after a night game in the series finale, Jeffers will be getting a breather after he spent all nine innings of Tuesday's 7-2 loss behind the dish. Gary Sanchez will pick up his third start of the season at catcher Wednesday after serving as the Twins' designated hitter Tuesday.

Maldonado is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Maldonado is 0-for-9 with three walks and two runs through his first three appearances of the season and will head to the bench Tuesday. Jason Castro will start behind the plate in his place.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said Tuesday that he expects Jansen (oblique) to miss "several weeks," Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

The skipper's comments imply that Jansen is dealing with at least a moderate strain of his left oblique, an injury he likely picked up during the Blue Jays' season-opening series with the Rangers. While Jansen is out, Montoyo said he plans to take a matchups-based approach to the catcher position. Alejandro Kirk is the leading candidate to see the bulk of the playing time behind the dish, but on the occasions he rests or serves as a designated hitter, the Blue Jays will turn to Zack Collins and Tyler Heineman to make starts at catcher.

Gallagher will start at catcher and bat ninth Tuesday against the Cardinals.

The Royals will give top backstop Salvador Perez a day out of the field and deploy him at designated hitter, opening up catching duties for Gallagher for the first time all season. Perez is expected to handle one of the bigger workloads among all No. 1 catchers this season, so Gallagher may struggle to get more than one start even in seven-game weeks when Perez is healthy.