MLB Player News

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.

Murphy went 1-for-4 with an RBI fielder's choice, a triple, a hit-by-pitch and a run in a win over the Rays on Monday.

Murphy has followed up an impressive spring at the plate with just two hits in his first 18 plate appearances; however, both knocks have gone for extra bases, as the backstop also laced a double Opening Day against the Phillies. The 27-year-old has also struck out on six occasions, however, whiffing at least once in each of the Athletics' first four games.

Stassi went 1-for-1 with three walks and scored twice in a 6-2 win over Miami on Monday.

Stassi helped ignite the Angels' offense by getting on base in each of his four plate appearances. The backstop entered the contest having gone 1-for-6 on the season but boosted his OBP to .500 with the patient performance Monday. Stassi has started behind the plate in three of the team's first five contests to begin the campaign.

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

The Mariners have rolled out a three-man rotation at catcher to begin the season, with Raleigh and Luis Torrens both picking up two turns behind the plate while Tom Murphy has started once. Raleigh's superior defense might be enough to give him the edge over Torrens as the nominal No. 1 option, but the 25-year-old backstop may need to show some improvement at the plate to maintain his spot atop the depth chart. Through his first 154 plate appearances in the big leagues, Raleigh is slashing .182/.234/.308 with a 35.1 percent strikeout rate.

Barnhart is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Red Sox.

The quick turnaround for Tuesday's 1:10 p.m. ET first pitch in addition to Boston starting a lefty (Rich Hill) likely explains why Barnhart -- a switch-hitter who is more comfortable batting from the left side -- is taking a seat. Dustin Garneau will fill in behind the dish for Barnhart, who has only produced one hit through nine plate appearances but has been masterful in guiding the Tigers' young pitching staff. Barnhart's game-calling savvy was a key reason why right-hander Matt Manning delivered the best start of his young career in Monday's 3-1 win.

Vazquez is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Tigers, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

He'll sit for the second time in three games, likely due to the early start time (1:10 p.m. ET) for Tuesday's contest. Kevin Plawecki will check in behind the dish for Vazquez, who is off to a 2-for-10 start to the season and has yet to produce any counting statistics.

Heineman had his contract selected by the Blue Jays and will be active for Monday's game against the Yankees, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

The 30-year-old was unable to grab a spot on Toronto's Opening Day roster but will join the big-league club with Danny Jansen (oblique) landing on the injured list. Heineman is unlikely to see much action since the Blue Jays still have Alejandro Kirk and Zack Collins as options behind the plate.

Jansen was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday with a strained left oblique, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Jansen was 4-for-7 with two solo home runs and a double through the first three games of the season, but he'll now be sidelined by the oblique strain. It remains unclear how long the 26-year-old will be unavailable, but he'll be eligible to be activated from the injured list April 21.

Jeffers is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Mariners, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

He'll take a seat for the first time in 2022 after starting the Twins' first three games at either catcher or designated hitter. Jeffers' superior defense may give him the upper hand on Gary Sanchez for playing time behind the dish, but the former's high strikeout rate will make it difficult to count on him for fantasy purposes as anything more than No. 2 catcher in most mixed leagues.

Manager Aaron Boone said that Rortvedt (oblique) will "significantly" increase his hitting activity Monday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Rortvedt underwent recent imaging that showed no lingering signs of the strained right oblique that shut him down early in spring training, so he'll begin ramping up in preparation for making his season debut. The young catcher had already been cleared fully for defensive work, so he could be cleared to begin a rehab assignment within a few days if he responds well to facing live pitching. Rortvedt is seemingly on track to come off the 10-day injured list at some point in the second half of April.