MLB Player News

Garver (groin) is 4-for-11 with two walks in three games for Triple-A St. Paul during a rehab assignment.

It's not clear when Garver will be activated from the injured list, but he could return at some point in the next week. Garver has been out since the start of June due to a groin injury that required surgery.

Grullon was traded to White Sox from the Rays on Thursday for cash considerations, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Grullon has been a member of several organizations this season, including the Reds, Rays and Mets. He'll now land with the White Sox, who are in need of organizational depth at the position with Yasmani Grandal (knee) set to miss at least a few more weeks. Grullon has not logged a major-league plate appearance this season and is hitting .194/.282/.456 across 117 plate appearances at Triple-A.

Higashioka has been placed in the league's COVID-19 protocols while he awaits a confirmation of a positive test for the virus, Buster Olney of ESPN

Higashioka is one of three Yankees who reportedly received a positive test for COVID-19, but the Yankees are awaiting a second test to make sure that the initial result isn't a false positive. If his positive test is confirmed, the catcher will be away from the team at least 10 days.

Soderstrom is hitting .315/.400/.575 with 10 homers, two steals, 43 RBI and 36 runs across 50 games for Low-A Stockton.

The No. 26 overall pick from last year's draft, Soderstrom is just 19 years old -- two years younger than the average player in the Low-A West league -- but he's already showing an impressively advanced approach at the plate in his first pro season. He's drawing walks at a 10.9 percent clip, has kept the strikeouts low enough (23.5 percent) and is hitting the ball to all fields with authority. Soderstrom made a great impression in major-league spring training this year, and he seems poised to rocket through the organization -- particularly if the A's elect to move him off the catcher position, which would be a boon to his fantasy value while accelerating his timeline. They haven't said anything about doing so just yet, but Soderstrom's prospect profile isn't all that different from the likes of Bryce Harper and Wil Myers, who were both catchers at the outset of their careers. Accordingly, it may not be long until Soderstrom is routinely mentioned among the top few prospects in the game.

Perez (back) will start at catcher and bat seventh for the American League in Tuesday's All-Star Game at Coors Field, Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Perez dealt with back tightness in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Cleveland and sat out Sunday's series finale as a result, but the injury won't prevent him from taking part in the Midsummer Classic. The 31-year-old backstop earned his seventh All-Star nod after slashing .275/.300/.501 with 21 home runs, 53 RBI and 41 runs in 89 first-half games.

Murphy went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's 4-1 win over the Rangers.

Murphy popped a home run in his second straight game as part of a four-homer day for the Athletics. The 26-year-old catcher has showcased some nice power and ended the weekend with an RBI in three consecutive games. He'll head into the All-Star break slashing .222/.313/.427 with 12 homers, 31 runs scored and leading all players at his position with 43 RBI.

Rogers went 1-for-2 with a grand slam, two walks and two runs scored in Sunday's 12-9 extra-inning loss to the Twins.

Rogers blasted a 421-foot grand slam to give Detroit a 9-8 lead in the ninth inning but the Twins would eventually walk it off in the 10th. The 26-year-old catcher is up to six homers on the year, including three over his last nine appearances. Rogers is sporting an impressive .791 OPS through 35 games this season.

Sanchez went 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, a walk and two runs scored in Sunday's 8-7 loss to Houston.

Sanchez's three-run shot in the eighth inning was his 15th of the season and first of July. He entered Sunday's contest stuck in a 1-for-23 rut in six appearances this month. The slugging catcher raised his OPS to .785 through 268 plate appearances.

Jeffers was removed in the bottom of the fifth inning of Sunday's game against the Tigers with a left knee contusion, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports. He walked in his lone plate appearance before departing.

Provided follow-up tests on Jeffers' knee reveal nothing else concerning, he should be ready to go when the Twins return from the All-Star break to play a doubleheader in Detroit on Friday. Ben Rortvedt will catch the remainder of Sunday's contest.

Jansen went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Sunday's 3-1 win over Tampa Bay.

The catcher went deep in the third inning off Rays starter Rich Hill. It was Jansen's first long ball since he homered in three consecutive days May 6-8. The 26-year-old is up to four homers, nine RBI, 15 runs scored and a .168/.256/.303 slash line across 134 plate appearances.