MLB Player News

Hedges is out of the lineup for Sunday's game at Kansas City.

Hedges is 0-for-7 across the first two games of the season and will head to the bench for Sunday's contest. Bryan Lavastida will start behind the plate for the Guardians in his major-league debut.

Grandal is not in Sunday's lineup against the Tigers.

As expected, Grandal started each of the team's first two games at catcher. He'll draw his first day of rest Sunday, with Reese McGuire taking over behind the dish and hitting eighth.

Kirk is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rangers.

Kirk served as the designated hitter Opening Day and worked behind the plate Saturday for Toronto, and he'll receive the day off in the series finale. George Springer will serve as the designated hitter Sunday with Raimel Tapia roaming center field, while Danny Jansen starts at catcher.

Murphy went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and two runs scored in a 4-3 win Saturday in Minnesota.

Murphy walked and scored in the third and hit a solo home run in the fifth off starter Sonny Gray. It was the season debut for Murphy, as Cal Raleigh started on Opening Day. Murphy is a defense-first catcher but has hit for power at the major-league level.

Maldonado will sit Saturday against the Angels.

Maldonado went 0-for-7 in the first two games of the season. He tied for third in starts behind the plate last season with 118 but will get his first off day of 2022 in just the third game of the year, with Jason Castro set to catch for Justin Verlander.

Grandal went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Tigers.

The catcher took Casey Mize deep in the top of the sixth inning for his first long ball of the year, scoring Jose Abreu in the process. In 93 games in 2021, Grandal blasted 23 homers and drove in 62 runs while producing a career-high .940 OPS. He'll look to replicate last season's success now in Year 3 with the White Sox.

Mejia went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, three RBI and two runs in the 5-3 win over the Orioles on Saturday.

The catcher opened the scoring in the contest, notching a single in the bottom of the second inning off of Jordan Lyles and driving in teammate Josh Lowe before later scoring on a Brett Phillips ground out. Mejia busted the game wide open in the following inning, blasting a 2-2 fastball from Lyles over the fence, once again scoring Lowe and putting the Rays up 5-2. The 26-year-old is expected to operate in a timeshare with Mike Zunino behind the plate this season, though Mejia is the better option against right-handers.

Murphy went 1-for-4 with a double and a run in a loss to the Phillies on Friday.

Murphy was virtually unstoppable during Cactus League play with a .433 average, and he got the regular season off to a positive start with his two-bagger off Aaron Nola, the only non-home-run extra-base hit for the Athletics on the afternoon. The 27-year-old racked up career highs in home runs (17) and RBI (59) in 2021, but his .216 average and .306 on-base percentage left ample room for improvement.

Jansen is not in Saturday's lineup against the Rangers.

He went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk on Opening Day and will head to the bench in the day game following the night game. Alejandro Kirk will start at catcher while Raimel Tapia slides into the outfield and Lourdes Gurriel shifts to designated hitter.

Raleigh isn't starting Saturday's game against the Twins.

Raleigh drew the start in Friday's Opening Day win and went 1-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout. Tom Murphy will start behind the plate and bat ninth Saturday.