MLB Player News

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Monday's 5-4 win over the Angels that Vazquez would be out of the lineup Tuesday for rest purposes, Bill Koch of The Providence Journal reports.

Vazquez has caught each of the past four days, so his planned absence comes as little surprise. Reserve backstop Connor Wong is slated to step in for Vazquez behind the dish, catching for probable starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi.

Heim batted fifth and went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 7-3 loss to Detroit.

Heim went deep in the ninth inning for his fourth home run of the season. This was the second consecutive game hitting out of the five hole, which has featured six different batters over the last nine games. Manager Chris Woodward is trying to find a solution there, and Heim is the latest to get a shot. At various times, the Rangers have batted Nate Lowe and Adolis Garcia fifth, but they have since settled into second and third, respectively. The other 10 players to hit fifth this season have a combined slash of .193/.267/.287.

Grandal was removed from Monday's game against the Twins with a strained left calf.

The 32-year-old dealt with tightness in his left calf over the weekend and aggravated the injury in his return to the lineup Monday. The severity of the injury remains unclear, but it wouldn't be a major surprise to see Grandal miss a bit of time given the recurring nature of the issue.

Grandal was removed from Monday's game against the Twins with an apparent left leg injury, Vinnie Duber of NBC Sports Chicago reports.

The veteran catcher suffered the injury on a check swing during the sixth inning and was helped off the field in the middle of his at-bat. Grandal dealt with with tightness in his left calf over the weekend before rejoining the lineup Monday, though it's unclear if he aggravated that issue or if he's dealing with a new injury.

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.