MLB Player News

Jeffers is not starting Monday's series opener against the White Sox.

The catcher gets a day off after going 1-for-6 with two walks and two strikeouts in Saturday and Sunday's contests. Jeffers has hit a lowly .100 in his last nine games, but he has drawn eight walks in that span. Ben Rortvedt will start behind the dish and bat eighth Monday.

Rogers isn't starting Monday's game against the Rangers, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Rogers has gone 2-for-8 with two runs and three strikeouts, but he'll be out of the lineup for a second straight game. Eric Haase will start behind the plate and bat fifth.

Grandal (calf) is starting Monday's game against the Twins.

Grandal left Friday's win over the Tigers with calf tightness and missed the last two games while he recovered. However, he'll start behind the plate and bat fifth Monday. The 32-year-old has crossed the plate in nine of his last 10 appearances, and he's slashed .323/.405/.724 with four home runs, a double, 14 RBI and 10 runs during that time.

Stubbs was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land on Monday, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Stubbs started in one game during his most recent stint on the major-league roster, and he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He'll now head back to the minors since Martin Maldonado (bereavement) will return to the active roster ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Athletics.

Maldonado (bereavement) will be active for Tuesday's series opener against Oakland, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The catcher hit .235 with a homer, four RBI and four runs in his last 10 games before going on the bereavement list Wednesday. Garrett Stubbs returns to Triple-A Sugar Land now that Maldonado is back with the Astros.

Stassi is out of the lineup Sunday versus Baltimore, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Stassi went 3-for-7 with an RBI, a walk and a run over the first two games of the series and will receive the day off Sunday. Kurt Suzuki will fill in behind the plate and bat seventh.

Murphy is out of the lineup Sunday versus the Red Sox, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Murphy was behind the plate for the first two games of the series and will take a seat for the finale. Aramis Garcia will start at catcher and bat ninth in his place Sunday.

Huff (knee) hit a home run that measured 511 feet and was struck at 115 mph for the ACL Rangers on Friday, Nick Trujillo of MLB.com reports.

Huff, who is at the Arizona Complex League, launched the homer during the fourth game of a rehab assignment. The long ball has been Huff's calling card -- he hit 28 homers over two minor-league stops in 2019, then muscled out three over 10 games for the Rangers in 2020. It's uncertain how long his stay in the ACL will be -- he's appeared in five games thus far -- or what the organization plans for his next step. Prior to Huff's MLB introduction in 2020, the highest level he reached was High-A for a 97-game stint.

Haase went 3-for-4 with two three-run home runs in Saturday's win over the White Sox.

Haase started in left field and made his presence felt with two three-run jacks -- an inside-the-parker in the fourth inning off Dallas Keuchel and another one in the seventh off reliever Jace Fry. Haase has now homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season and is hitting .412 with three long balls and seven RBI over his last five games.

Grandal (calf) remains out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Tigers, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The 32-year-old's encouraging comments Saturday suggested that he'd be back in the lineup Sunday, but the team is likely resting its star catcher, who exited Friday's game with calf tightness, as a continued precaution. Zack Collins is catching Sunday, and will continue to start behind the plate until Grandal is ready to return.