MLB Player News

Stassi isn't in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rangers.

Stassi went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a strikeout in Tuesday's series opener, but he'll retreat to the bench for the second time in the last three games. Kurt Suzuki will start behind the dish and bat cleanup.

Sanchez isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.

Sanchez started each of the last three games and went 2-for-11 with a run, a walk and five strikeouts. Kyle Higashioka will take his place behind the dish and bat ninth.

Heim isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Angels.

Heim went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI on Tuesday, but he'll head to the bench for the third time in the last four games. Jose Trevino will start at catcher and bat sixth.

Jansen is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees.

Though he'll be on the bench Wednesday, Jansen caught both of the Blue Jays' previous two games and appears to have at least temporarily inched ahead of Alejandro Kirk. Neither Jansen nor Kirk will be behind the plate Wednesday, however, as manager Charlie Montoyo wants to give No. 3 backstop Reese McGuire another opportunity to catch for starting pitcher Jose Berrios after the two worked well together in Berrios' last start.

Kirk is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees.

Kirk will take a seat for the third game in a row while he remains in the midst of a cold stretch at the plate. Since his two-homer game against the Yankees on Sept. 7, Kirk is hitting .105 and reaching base at a .227 clip over a stretch of 14 contests. Kirk doesn't provide much value when he's not wielding a hot bat, so he looks like he could finish the season as the No. 2 option at catcher behind the more defensive-minded Danny Jansen.

Vazquez isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Orioles, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Vazquez started each of the last two games and went 0-for-5 with an RBI. Kevin Plawecki (foot) will return to the lineup at catcher and bat seventh.

Plawecki (foot) will start at catcher and bat seventh Wednesday against the Orioles.

Plawecki was hurting coming out of his last start Saturday against the Yankees after being struck in the foot by a pitch, but after three full days to rest up, he looks to be no worse for the wear. Christian Vazquez remains locked in as Boston's No. 1 catcher, but Plawecki has been the superior performer of the two since the All-Star break with an .813 OPS over 35 games.

Garver is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Tigers.

He'll take a seat after starting in each of the Twins' past three games while going a collective 2-for-8 with a double, a walk, two RBI and a run. Ryan Jeffers replaces Garver behind the dish, catching for starting pitcher Michael Pineda.

Stassi went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the Rangers.

Stassi put the Angels up early with a two-run blast in the second but the team only managed three hits the rest of the night and was unable to score again. The 30-year-old backstop does have two home runs over his last three games to put him at 13 for the year, but he's hitting a pedestrian .180/.279/.320 with four homers, 13 RBI, 16 runs scored and 14:48 BB:K in 37 games since the beginning of August.

Perez went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a double, a walk and three total runs in Tuesday's 6-4 victory versus Cleveland.

Perez exited Monday's contest with an apparent injury, but he turned out to be fine and was back behind the plate Tuesday. He appeared no worse for wear, reaching base three times and belting a 429-foot solo shot in the sixth inning. Perez broke the MLB record for home runs by a primary catcher in a single season last week, and he now leads the league with 47 homers and 118 RBI on the campaign. His RBI total is the highest in a campaign for a catcher since Mike Piazza drove in 124 runs in 1999.