MLB Player News

Sanchez went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Orioles.

Sanchez made hard contact in this one, as both of his hits were sharp line drives into left field. The 28-year-old could've had two doubles on the night, but he got out of the box a little sluggishly when he thought one of his hits was going to be caught and was limited to a single instead. Sanchez has been a bit inconsistent to begin the season, delivering two-multi hit games but also two 0-for-4 efforts. Nonetheless, he should be featured regularly behind the plate while getting a rest every five days when Kyle Higashioka steps in to catch for Gerrit Cole.

Plawecki went 1-for-3 with a run scored in Wednesday's 9-2 win over the Rays.

Plawecki drew the start behind the plate for a day game following Tuesday's 12-inning night game, in which primary backstop Christian Vazquez played the entire contest. That will be the routine whenever Boston's playing a night game followed by a day game. Vazquez served as the designated hitter Wednesday, which is a reminder that he's made himself into a much better hitter since arriving in the majors. That hitting ability allows manager Alex Cora to get his bat in the lineup at DH while not burdening him as a catcher, which could lead to more at-bats for Plawecki if he's able to carry forward last season's success.

Collins started at designated hitter and went 1-for-4 with two RBI in Wednesday's 8-4 loss to the Mariners.

Collins made his second straight start and has a home run and five RBI in the two games. He started at catcher Tuesday and gave the hot-hitting Yermin Mercedes a breather at DH on Wednesday. If or when Mercedes falls back to earth, Collins could be in line for consistent DH work, particularly against right-handed pitching.

Higashioka will be behind the plate for Gerrit Cole's starts a "fair amount" of the time, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Manager Aaron Boone didn't commit to Higashioka being Cole's personal catcher, but it sure sounds as if the backup backstop will get a chance to start most games when the Yankees' ace is on the mound. Higashioka started Tuesday, when Cole pitched seven scoreless frames and struck out 13 in a win over Baltimore.

Perez went 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk in Wednesday's loss against the Indians.

Perez clubbed his second homer of the season, but he has racked up just four hits in 19 at-bats to start 2021 while recording more than one knock just once in his first five games. Despite the slow start, the veteran backstop should once again be an integral component of the Royals' lineup throughout the season.

Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, an additional RBI and an additional run scored in Wednesday's win over the Rays.

Vazquez went deep in the fourth inning off Ryan Yarbrough, but his contributions didn't stop there -- the backstop also added an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth and later came around to score on a throwing error from shortstop Willy Adames. Vazquez went hitless in his first two games but has picked things up since then, assembling a four-game hitting streak while recording three multi-hit games during that span.

Jansen (knee) went 1-for-3 with a double and a strikeout in Wednesday's 2-1 loss to the Rangers.

Jansen missed one game with the knee injury. He smacked a double in the fifth inning off Rangers starter Kyle Gibson but couldn't come around to score. Jansen was lifted for pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez, who made the final out of the game. The 25-year-old Jansen is hitting just .182 with a run scored across 13 plate appearances to start 2021.

Murphy isn't in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Dodgers.

Murphy started each of the past two games and went hitless with a walk and four strikeouts in seven at-bats during that time. Aramis Garcia will take his place behind the plate Wednesday, batting ninth.

Jansen (knee) is starting Wednesday's game against Texas.

Jansen was available off the bench Tuesday but didn't appear in the contest. However, he'll start behind the dish and bat ninth Wednesday.

Collins went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, three RBI and a run scored in Tuesday's 10-4 win over the Mariners.

Collins opened up the scoring in the second when he took Nick Margevicius deep to right field to give the White Sox an early 3-0 lead. The 26-year-old later roped a double into the gap in right-center field for the first multi extra-base hit game of his young career. Collins got the start behind the plate in this one while Yasmani Grandal got the night off, and he should continue to rotate in and out of the lineup at either catcher or DH.